Faction of Athens
This thread was a suggestion of kosta84 so here it is.I copy/paste here my suggestion about an Athenian roster with the proper depth.I have also corrected some spelling mistakes of the original post.
"Well,we see in the preview that the faction of Athens controls Attica,Boeotia and Euboea.So the list changes accordingly.CA has already confirmed the "Thureos hoplites" and "Thorax hoplites" units for Athens,but I purposely ignore them in the list because they are too generic for my taste.
So here it is.Let's hope you enjoy it as much as the Spartan roster.
Athenian units
1)Athinaioi Epilektoi(Athenian Chosen).General unit-Elite heavy hoplite phalanx.The best that the city of Athens has to offer.Carefully selected among those who excel in the sport games of the city and especially wrestling to ensure the fighting spirit and natural level of fitness required for an elite phalanx.Those men are placed right in the center of the Athenian phalanx with the duty to protect the Athenian commander.Causing respect to allies and fear to enemies,this unit is a formidable force.Their equipment is Phrygian/Attic/Thracoattic helmet with red vertical crest,red tunic with short sleeves,brown leather spolas for groin protection,different types of muscled breastplates above the spolas,kopis,dory,sandals and hoplon shield with a red "A" in a white circle as symbol,to show that "A"thens of "A"ttica is guided by "A"thena herself.
Special characters
-Polemarchos(General).He uses the same equipment as the main unit but with a Corinthian helmet with high red with white crest to show his position.
-2 Akolouthoi(2 followers).The two most trusted men of the general,chosen among the Athenian war counsil of ten captains to fight on his left and right side on the battlefield with the duty to protect him by putting their own lives in the danger.They wear Corinthian helmets with red vertical crests.The rest equipment is the same as the main unit.
-Avlitis(musician with avlos)Same equipment as the main unit but also caring the avlos.
2)Athinaioi Palemachoi(Athenian Veterans).Elite heavy hoplite phalanx.The elite veterans that have fought many wars and had the skill to survive.Their grey and white hair and often beards make clear to the enemy that they're facing elite experienced troops forged in the flames of constant battle.Those troops are positioned at the back of the hoplite phalanx to make sure that the hoplites of the front will not try to run away and to have elite experienced troops ready to take action when the battle is going bad for the front lines or to present a formidable obstacle to any enemy that will try to attack the Athenian phalanx at the rear.Their presence inspires the younger Athenians to greater performances on the battlefield.Their equipment is the same that the "Athinaioi Epilektoi" use but without crests.
Special character-Lochagos(captain) equipped as the main unit but with Corinthian helmet with red vertical crest.
3)Athinaioi Oplitai(Athenian Hoplites).Heavy hoplite phalanx.The tombs of Athenian warriors that have been found from that era show great uniformity for the Athenian hoplites in contrary with the Athenian armies of some centuries before.Athens had reformed its army after the crushing defeats by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian war.They were determined never to live the same experience again.They reorganized the army in the Spartan standards with uniformed armour and all the hoplites had equipment which was from that time forth granted by the state and not bought individually anymore.They all wore different types of muscled breastplates made of brass or bronze,brown leather spolas underneath for groin protection,Phrygian/Attic/Thracoattic types of helmets with no crest,kopis,dory,sandals and hoplon shield with the letter "A" as a symbol.They also wore red tunics with short sleeves under the armour just like the Spartans.They maintained the Corinthian helmet with crest for the commander.They doubled the time spent in military service for the state from one year to two years for every young man.The first year was dedicated to intense training and the second year was for manning the garrisons around Athens.The city might not have the wealth anymore to support war campaigns,but the Athenian phalanxes are more formidable than ever before and the walls of the city,that are of the greatest possible quality,guarantee the protection of the city.If an enemy hopes to attack their beloved city he will definitely need the best kind of siege equipment and a huge land army to have hopes in successfully invading the city.
Special character-Lochagos(captain) equipped as the main unit but with Corinthian helmet with red vertical crest.
4)Athinaioi Ippeis(Athenian Cavalry).Heavy cavalry.The noble families of Athens had the wealth to maintain horses but Athens didn't form a proper cavalry unit for a long time.Most of the nobles used their horses only for their chariots in order to participate in the chariot races of the city.Solon had created a law that every noble who makes at least 300 medimnoi (an Athenian coin) was obligated to buy,train and maintain a horse,but that law brought poor results.The first Athenian cavalry with good fighting skill probably came from the Paionidai tribe of Peisistratos,as they carried his horse symbol on their shields.But it is recorded that the Athenians fought without cavalry support in the Persian wars.
Around 442 BC however,when Diphilos was in power,Periklis created a law that every tribe of the ten Athenian tribes was obligated to grant at least 100 skilful riders.As a result,a skilful cavalry unit of 1.000 riders was created.Each tribe also granted a commander for its riders,called "Phylarchos".Two of those 10 commanders were chosen per year to be in general command of the whole cavalry unit as "Ipparchos".The "Ipparcheion"(their stables/recruitment camp) was near the Agora,but it is not known where exactly.
Both the riders and the horses had to pass specific tests every year.Those who failed were kicked out of the unit.During the Peloponnesian war and beyond the state granted one drachmie (Athenian coin) to every man that maintained a horse training for war.When that man took his horse in war an extra bonus of money was granted by the state that had to be returned after the end of the war unless the animal died or became useless during its survice in battle.
The Athenian cavalry was usualy formed by young wealthy nobles.They were also supported by mercenary light missile cavalry that I'll talk about later.
The unit managed some notable successes during the Peloponnesian war.The Athenian captains knew that they were going to be defeated in phalanx battle against the Spartans.But they were determined to not let them pillage and destroy the lands of Attica unpunished.The pillaging took place by light infantry or hoplites that had left their heavy armours in camp.The Peloponnesians had to be divided in small groups to pillage many areas at the same time.So the Athenians unleashed their heavy cavalry and caused them heavy casualties.The pillaging groups had to be supported by hoplites that followed at their back.
The Athenian cavalry was also a constant threat to the islands near the city as the Athenian ships carried the unit around.
In the campaign against Sicily the unit suffered heavy losses.The final blow came in the battle of Tamynai in Euboea.Nothing stops the player from recreating the unit however.
Their equipment was cavalry muscled breastplate(it was a shorter version than that of the infantry to let the rider sit comfortably on the horse)/reinforced linothorax(some used spolas also for upper leg protection),Attic/Boeotian types of helmet,Boeotian cavalry boots,cavalry kopis(longer than the normal) and xyston(cavalry long spear with iron leaf-shaped edge at both ends).Their tunics at the era of the game should be exomis/tunic with short sleeves/chlamis(a tunic with short sleeves made of hard leather for extra protection) in the standardized red colour.
5)Athinaioi Peltastai(Athenian Peltasts).Medium missile infantry.A unit that comes from the legacy of the Iphikratian reforms in early 4th century BC.Iphikratis had campaigned in Trace for some years and it is believed that he was very influenced by their war tactics and equipment.The unit is equipped with the Iphikratian Thyreos as a shield,spolas,linothorax,greaves,Attic helmet,javelins and kopis.This unit cand handle melee combat well.
6)Athinaioi Thorakitai(Armoured Athenians).Heavy missile infantry.They are a unit that comes from the Iphikratian reforms also.They use the same equipment that the Athinaioi Peltastai use,but with heavy chain armour instead of linothorax.This unit is more than capable in melee combat also.
7)Iphikratioi Epivatai(Iphikratian marines).Medium infantry.Diodoros and Cornelius Nepos inform us that Iphikratis heavily influenced by his campaign in Persia reformed his hoplites once he returned in Greece.That he replaced the hoplon shield with his version of Thyreos shield that was strapped to the left hand like the Makedonian Peltie and left the left hand free to hold a weapon.So he took advantage of that and lengthened the spear notably.Nepos says doubled,Diodoros says that he added half of the original spear size.In either case we're talking about heavy spears that ranged from at least 3,30m to 6m(!) that had to be wielded with both hands.That means that his "hoplites" were a hybrid between hoplite and phalangite.They also inform us that he lengthened their kopis notably (almost doubled) and granted them linothorax armour.
But many modern historians doubt the claim that hoplites actually fought like that,since the sources and researches don't support it.But who were those hoplites that he reformed then?Could Diodoros and Nepos be wrong?
The answer actually comes from Xenophon,who informs us that when Iphikratis returned from Persia he was appointed general by the Athenians to replace Timotheos(Hellenica 6.2.13-14).Xenophon clearly says that "as soon as we was made general,Iphikratis went to work vigorously on manning the ships and saw to it that the captains did this work too"
This means that Iphikratis was reforming the navy.Athens,as other Greek states,used light hoplites as marines and indeed such marines were the only hoplites that Athens had at the time that saw regular service,since the bulk of the city's hoplites were a militia really that was called up only when needed,whereas the Athenian navy was constantly patrolling the sea routs that linked Athens's scattered territorial possesions.
Fighting on ships with heacy interlocking shields was very impractical,so it makes perfect sence to replace the shields with lighter ones.The gap between the two opposing ships also required longer spears for proper reach.
Xenophon also inform us that they didn't wear greaves but light boots that were easy to untie that Iphikratis himself had designed for them and that are still called "Iphikratids" after him even today.That makes perfect sense also because the decked warships were equipped with a balustrade which protected the lower legs and that indeed makes the extra weight of greaves superfluous.
Xenophon's claim also makes perfect sense if we keep in mind that Iphikratis had fought against Egyptian naval armies.Armies that fought with similar shields with the Iphikratian Thyreos and spears that long that got close to sarissas.So the influenses are clear there.
The confusion probably came from the fact that as real marines,they also fought on land with the exact same equipment when the situation required it.
As a sum up,their duty is to man the great warships of Athens and their equipment should be Attic helmet,tunics with short sleeves in blue colour,linothorax,spolas,"Iphikratids" boots,Iphikratian Thyreos,shorter version of sarissa and the Iphikratian kopis.
This unit can also be used on land as a very effective type of sarissa phalanx(which doesn't require shield wall).
8)Athinaioi Epivatai(Athenian marines).Light infantry.There were also Athenian marines that fought with the old traditional tactics.Those men form the best Greek navy and fight proudly and without fear in the name of their beloved city.Their equipment is notably more traditional.They use Attic helmet,kopis,blue exomis,sandals and hoplon shield painted blue with a white anchor as a symbol,which is believed to be the official symbol of the Athenian navy.
Attic Allies
9)Oplitai tis Attikis(Attic hoplites)Light hoplite phalanx.Hoplites from the lands around Athens that are loyal to the Athenians.They can't afford the heavy armours of the Athenians but are very eager to fight to the Athenian side and with high spirit.Their equipment is not standardized but the most commonly used pieces are Attic/Boeotian/Pylos helmet,tunic with short sleeves in several colours,some use linothorax/spolas/chlamis-others don't,some use greaves-others don't,kopis,dory,sandals and hoplon shield.Every city had its own symbol.
10)Sfendonitai tis Attikis(Attic slingers).Light missile infantry.Their equipment and tactics were the same traditional that all the Greek slingers generally used.Exomis in several colours,sling,leather peltie,a big dagger and leather pylos-shaped skull cap.
11)Akodistai tis Attikis(Attic Javelinmen).Light missile infantry.Their equipment is basically the same with the "Sfendonitai tis Attikis" unit.But they carried javelins instead of the sling.
12)Toxotai tis Attikis(Attic Archers).Light missile infantry.Their equipment is basically the same with the "Akodistai tis Attikis" unit.But they wear also tunic with short sleeves,they wear leather hats instead of skull cups,they carry bows instead of javelins and also a quiver.
13)Epivatai tis Attikis(Attic marines).They use the same equipment that the Athenian marines use,but without standardized exomis colour and shield symbol according to the city of the marrine.
Boeotian Allies
14)Ieros Lochos(Sacred Band).Elite heavy hoplite phalanx.A unit that was formed at 379 or 378 BC by Gorgidas,the Theban king.There are reports by many sources of 300 elite Thebans many years before that date,but they were not an organized unit and didn't train daily for war and war only.They were more like the best athlets at wrestling of the city at that time.Herodotos and Thukydidis both record an elite force of 300 Thebans allied with the Persians who were annihilated by the Athenians in the battle of Plataea at 479 BC.Herodotos describes them as the "best and bravest" among Thebans.Diodoros also records 300 picked men present in the battle of Delium in 424 BC.They are not mentioned with the name "Sacred Band" though until 378 BC.It is believed that they fought scattered in the first two lines of the Theban phalanx before that date and that Gorgidas reformed them in an organized independant unit that (following the example of the Spartans who were their enemies at the time) trained daily and exclusively in the arts of war with all of the unit's expenditures being paid by the state and the unit operated individualy from the main Theban phalanx.
Xenophon,Plutarch and Plato all agree that the unit was formed by 150 pairs of homosexual Theban men with the purpose of greater cohesion and denial in retreating.Each pair consisted of an older lover and a younger beloved.The origin of the "sacred" appellation of the Sacred Band is unexplained by Dinarchos and other historians. But Plutarch claims that it was due to an exchange of sacred vows between lover and beloved at the shrine of Iolaos at Thebes.
Pelopidas was the general of the king Gorgidas at the time.Pelopidas was placed as the commander of the Sacred Band.He was the only Theban with the privilege to be protected by such an elite unit,which operated as his personal guard mainly in the battles.The unit was undefeated for 35 years but in the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC they were surrounded by the cavalry of Alexander the Great while still engaged in melee combat and were completely annihilated.
Nothing stops the player from reintroducing the unit however.Their equipment should be Boeotian types of helmets with vertical crests in random colours,different types of muscled breastplates,brown leather spolas with groin and shoulder protection,tunics with short sleeves in several colours,xiphos,hoplite greaves,sandals,dory and hoplon shield.
It is certain that a special unit as this would have its own symbol.From the Homer's Odyssey we learn that the 2 brothers Amphion and Zithos were the founders of Thebes who also built the walls of the city.But the city's founder according to Apollodoros and some Boeotian legends is Kadmos.Kadmos had a big statue of Athena outside of his house.The official emblem of Athena was the gorgoneion.The gorgoneion is also very common on the city's coins at the time.So it is believed that the Sacred Band used it as its symbol.Their gorgoneion would look in the Boeotian art style,which was quite different than the Athenian or the Spartan gorgoneion.
Special character-Lochagos(captain).He uses the same equipment generally as the main unit.The Thebans didn't differenciate their officers.
15)Oplitai ton Plataion(Hoplites from Plataea).Medium hoplite phalanx.Well known for their heroic deeds in the battle of Marathon,where they were placed in the left Greek flank that defeated the Persian opposing flank and then attacked the Persian center at their rear.They numbered 1.000 men at that battle and in the end of it they had lost only 11 men!
They were an Ionian Greek tribe as Pafsanias informs us,just like the Athenians.So they obviously chose the side of Athens in the wars of Athens against Thebes.The Thebans looked like evil oppressors to their eyes and they were sworn enemies of Thebes.They were always one of the strong phalanxes of central Greece.
Herodotos tells us that in order to avoid coming under Theban hegemony,Plataeans offered to "put themselves into Spartan hands". However, the Spartans refused this offer after considering the problems that distance would cause and wishing to cause mischief between the Boeotians and the Athenians recommended that the Plataeans ally themselves with Athens instead. This advice was accepted and a delegation sent to Athens, where the Athenians were agreeable to such a proposal. On learning that Athens had accepted the alliance, the Thebans sent an army against Plataea but were met by an Athenian one.Corinth attempted to mediate the dispute, and achieved an agreement that set the border between Thebes and Plataea. In addition, Thebes made a commitment not to interfere with cities that did not want to be a part of a Boeotian state. However, after the Corinthians had left and Athenians were starting their journey home, they were set upon by the Boeotians. In the subsequent battle the Athenians prevailed and set the river Asopos as the border between Thebes and Plataea.
With Athens as their ally, the Plataeans were able to avoid subjugation by their neighbours and maintain their freedom. In honour of this debt, at the battle of Marathon Plataea alone would fight at the Athenian side. Herodotus describes how, on the eve of battle and faced with the formidable Persian expeditionary force, the Athenians had despaired of the Spartans, or indeed anyone else, coming to their aid in what seemed to be impossible odds. Sentinels spied dust clouds in the north and initially feared that another Persian army, or a Persian ally, was on the way to the battlefield. Instead it was the Plataeans coming "panstratia" which means in full strength/with every available fighting man of the 1.000 Plataean hoplites that existed at the time,in Athens's hour of greatest need. They were led by their general Arimnestos. In acknowledgement and gratitude of their ally's fidelity, the Athenians gave the Plataeans the honour of fighting in the left flank during the battle. After the battle, the Plataeans were allowed to share Athenian memorials and in the (normally exclusively Athenian) religious rites,sacrifices and games asking for the blessing of Athens's patron gods.
In 479 BC Plataea was the site of the final battle where the Persians were defeated and the second Persian invasion of Greece was repelled.That was the last time that a Persian army attacked mainland Greece.
Thucydidis tells us that in April 431 BC an armed force of 300 Thebans commanded by two leading Theban generals/politicians were admitted after dark on a stormy moonless night into Plataea by two private citizens who expected the Theban force to immediately capture and kill the democratic leaders and bring Plataea into alliance with Thebes. Instead the Theban commanders harmed no one but attempted to persuade all of the citizens of Plataea to join with Thebes's allies. The democratic leadership accepted the offer but quickly found that the invading force could be overpowered owing to their small numbers, especially given their ignorance of the streets, the bad weather, and the darkness. The enraged citizenry then attacked them. In one of the rare instances in which both women and slaves took part in what amounted to warfare, the citizenry killed about 180 of the three hundred Thebans. Others escaped with the help a Plataean woman who provided them with an axe to break open one of the town's gates. Some of the invaders tried to escape by jumping off the city wall, but most of these were killed in the fall. Another contingent entered a large open building, mistaking it for an exit from the town. The Plataeans locked the building and held them there for a short time before killing them all. A second larger force was supposed to reinforce the invading force, but the weather and the flooding of the Aesopus river delayed them. The Plataeans, to forestall any attempt by the second force to capture Plataeans who lived outside the walls agreed to let their Theban prisoners live if the Thebans did no further harm. Each side alleged later that the other had taken an oath to the agreement and then broke it, a potentially serious issue in the propaganda war that would accompany future relations.
When the invaders entered the town, a messenger was sent to Athens to alert the Athenians to what was happening. A second messenger later that night apprised the Athenians of the outcome. The Athenians sent a messenger back to Plataea instructing them not to kill the prisoners, but he arrived too late. The enraged citizenry had already killed them all. The Athenians also sent a force to relieve Plataea. Women, children, and men too old or otherwise unfit for military service were evacuated to Attica, (the territory governed by Athens). Thucydidis, our main source (Book II.1-6) for the events of these few hours, in which Thebes and its Boeotian allies lost about 12% of their total army, regards the preemptive strike against Plataea as the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, which would go on for another 27 years. He tells us that "the treaty had now been broken by an overt act after the affair at Plataea" and that "Athens and Lakedaemon now resolved to send embassies to the King and to such other of the barbarian powers as either party could look to for assistance."
During the summer two years after these events occurred,Archidamos II finally led the Peloponnesian force against Plataea and began to raze their crops. The Plataeans, in response, dispatched a herald reminding the Spartans of the glorious deeds the Plataeans performed during the Greco-Persian war and of the oath the Spartans swore to protect them and keep them independent.In 479 BC Pafsanias, the Spartan general, had decreed that Plataea was on holy ground, and it should never be attacked.The Spartans responded by demanding Plataean neutrality in return for their protection. After consulting Athens, Plataea rejected the Spartan proposals and began in earnest to prepare a defence. The Spartans then quickly invested the city, and employed several innovative, yet unsuccessful tactics to bypass the Plataean defenses.The Spartans were not the best at besieging.Failing in these undertakings the Spartans built a wall of circumvallation and left enough troops to guard the walls, then retired.
The winter of the next year found the Plataeans in a desperate situation.They were besieged by the Spartans and Boeotians with Athenian help doubtful in arriving.Their stores were running dangerously low and only a brilliant stroke of luck could salvage their position.The Plataeans therefore devised a plan to break past the Spartan defenses and escape.Originally all the men were to join the attempt, but the danger being great, only 220 ultimately agreed to go.They accordingly waited for a dark, stormy night, and implemented the plan.Catching the guards by surprise, 212 men managed to evade capture,yet Thucydidis writes "it was mainly the violence of the storm that enabled them to effect their escape at all."
The remaining Plataeans finally surrendered to the Spartans the summer of the next year, as all supplies they had were exhausted, and no hope of help remained.They had trusted the Spartans to a fair trial, as the Spartans had promised to "judge them all fairly", and that "only the guilty should be punished" if they yielded.
Yet, when the Plataean prisoners were brought before the judges,no trial was held.No chance for apology was offered.The Spartans simply asked each of the prisoners if they had done the Lakedaemonians and allies any service in the war,to which the prisoners after a heated debate ultimately had to answer "no".
Thus the Spartans killed over 200 of the Plataean defenders "among which were 25 Athenians" according to Thucydidis.The Thebans ultimately razed the entire town and built on to the precinct of Hera an inn two hundred feet square,with rooms all round above and below,making use for this purpose of the roofs and doors of the Plataeans.Of the rest of the materials in the wall, the brass and the iron, they made couches which they dedicated to Hera, for whom they also built a stone chapel of a hundred feet square.
The choice of Hera as the goddess glorified at the expense of the dispossessed Plataeans might have been motivated by Hera's alleged jealousy of Zeus giving birth to Athena,patron goddess of Athens, without recourse to her.
The conspicuous worship of Hera at Plataea continued long past the circumstances of the war.In later times the temple was renowned for a sculpture of Hera seated as a bride by Kallimachos as well as the matronly standing Hera.
At the era of the game they follow the standards of that time,fighting with Boeotian/Attic helmets,different types of linothorax/chlamis,hoplite greaves,sandals,xiphos,dory,tunics with short sleeves in several colours and hoplon shield with the head of Hera with neclace and earrings for symbol.That symbol is also the most common figure found on coins of the city in that era.
16)Thespieis Oplitai(Thespian hoplites).Medium hoplite phalanx.700 of those hoplites fought and died together with the 300 Spartans in the battle of Thermopylae willingly.They could have left but they chose to stay and die.Their great heroism was a surprise for the whole of Greece after that battle.They definitely earned the respect of the Spartans.Soldiers like these,who spit death in the face and choose to die instead of retreating,are formidable enemies for any kind of army.Their numbers might be very small,but their fighting skill is certainly more than impressive.Xerxes pillaged their city as a payback.
In the summer of 423 BC the Thebans accused the Thespians of being too friendly towards Athens and for that reason the Thebans razed Thespia to the ground.During the Peloponnesian war the lords of Thespia were oligarchs and kept the city allied to Thebes despite the opposing will of the Thespian people.In 414 BC the Thespians revolted against their lords and tried to kill them.But the Thebans were informed in time and marched to Thespia as fast as possible.They forced the democrats return to Athens.
In 387 BC with the peace of Adalkidas they got rid of the Theban hegemony.Agysilaos,king of Sparta,fortified Thespia the same year.But the hostility of the two cities was not over yet.In 373 BC the Thebans razed the Thespian walls and forced them to fight with them at Leuctra at 371 BC.When Epameinodas offered the chance to any ally that wants to leave the battlefield to do so,the Thespians were the first to abandon them.After the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC they joined the Boeotian league and in 335 BC they participated in the pillaging of Thebes by Alexander the Great.It was payback time.
The Thespians were very close to Athens not only in the matters of war,but also conserning their level of structions,architecture and art like sculpting.Many wonderful tomb columnes have been found in Thespia.Many pieces of great pottery and statues that are very close to the level of the Athenian arts.It was like a high level Attic city positioned in Boeotia actually.
The hate of the Plataeans and Thespians for the Thebans has deeper roots actually.It was not just a matter of tribe or structures.The Plataeans and the Thespians were the only two Boeotian cities that fought against the Persians.All the other Boeotian cities betrayed their country and made alliance with the Persians.But it was not only the fact the the Thebans looked like filthy traitors to their eyes.The Persian attack had resulted in the pillaging and destruction of their cities.The Thebans not only participated in those actions,but especially in the battle of Plataea they fought against the Greek alliance with an unexpected frenzy and they looked and were determined to cause as much damage as possible to the Greeks and especially their hated and sworn enemies,the Athenians,who were constantly attacked by the Theban heavy cavalry.Even after the defeat of the Persians the Thebans continued charging the opposing Greeks to stop them from persuing.The fact that they showed such eagerness to kill their own country's soldiers was something that the Plataeans and the Thespians never forgot.
Their equipment is different than it used to be,but their proud legacy is the same.They use black tunics with short sleeves,Attic/Phrygian/Boeotian helmets,different types of linothorax,hoplite greaves,sandals,kopis,dory and hoplon shield with the head of Aphrodite as symbol.The worship of Eros,god of love,was very wide in the city of Thespia and the connection with Aphrodite,the Goddess of beauty and love is obvious.Aphrodite is also very common on the coins of the city in the era.
17)Thivaioi Oplitai(Theban hoplites).Medium hoplite phalanx.The hoplites of Thebes in that era fight in phalanx formation with small front but huge depth.That tactic was first introduced by Epameinondas and it was specifically designed as an anti-Spartan formation.But it proved that effective that the Thebans kept it as their standard fighting tactic.The normal Theban hoplites were citizens recruited in times of war.They were nowhere near as good as the Sacred Band.In fact,the source of their strength is the huge depth of their formation and they owe that to the strategic brilliance of Epameinondas.Other than that they are no better than any other recruited hoplite of central Greece.
Their equipment was typical Boeotian equipment of the era.Boeotian/Pylos helmets,different types of linothorax/chlamis/Boeotian spolas(it had short sleeves too for shoulder protection also),tunics in light colours (like white,light brown,light grey and orange) with short sleeves,sandals,xiphos,dory,Boeotian boots(they were used only by cavalry outside of Boeotia) and hoplon shield with the club of Hercules as symbol.The Thebans believed that Hercules came from Thebes and that he was their ancestor.
18)Thivaioi Ippeis(Theban cavalry).Heavy cavalry.It is believed that among the Boeotian cavalry there was a small elite unit of heavy Theban cavalry,probably 300 like the Sacred Band.That unit trained intensely and was the best cavalry unit that the whole of Boeotia had to offer.They were heavily equipped and their duty was to lead the Boeotian cavalry from the front lines and engage where the battle was most severe to ensure victory.
Their equipment was quite heavy for a Greek cavalry unit.Different types of Boeotian helmets,cavalry types of muscled breastplates,cavalry kopis,Boeotian spolas,xyston,tunics with long sleeves in the light Boeotian colours,Boeotian boots,some of them even used brass/bronze bracers that stretched from the wrist to almost the elbow for guarding the lower hands too.
The charge of such a heavily armoured cavalry unit against infantry would be destructive for the infantry and due to such heavy armours the unit is great in prolonged battle also.
19)Boiotoi Oplitai(Boeotian hoplite).Light hoplite phalanx.Those hoplites are used to bulk the numbers of the Theban armies mainly.They are equipped with notably lighter armours than the Thebans.They use Boeotian/Pylos helmets,tunics with short sleeves in light colours,some use light body armours like chlamis/spolas/linothorax-others don't,Boeotian boots,xiphos,dory and hoplon shield.Every city had its own symbol.
20)Boiotoi Ippeis(Boeotian cavalry).Medium cavalry.The Boeotian plains provide great training grounds for the riders from Boeotia to perfect their tactics.Boeotia also has a rich population of horses,so that makes the forming of cavalry units easier.The Boeotian cavalry first appears in the Archaic age in the battle of Kerissos,where the Boeotian cavalry succesfuly repelled the charge of the Thessalian cavalry.It actually proved too effective against the Megarans and Phleiudioi in the battle of Plataea.It reached its high point during the Peloponnesian war where it played a major role in defeating the Thracian mercenaries in Mikalissos.It also ensured the Theban hegemony over Boeotia after it defeated the Thespians,a sworn enemy of Thebes.It played a major role in the battle of Leuctra where it charged the Lakedaemonic cavalry with such power that the Lakedaemonic cavalry not only routed very fast,but it also run blindly backwards instead of reatreating to the side and it fell on the Spartan phalanx and disorganized its lines.
But they later proved not as good as the Thessalian cavalry and were defeated by them.And even more later they were also defeated by the Athenian cavalry.The final blow came at Chaeronea in 338 BC where the unit was nearly annihilated.But again,nothing stops the player from reintroducing it.
Their equipment was lighter than that of the Theban cavalry,but very effective also.They wore Boeotian helmets,some used different types of linothorax/Boeotian spolas-others didn't,tunics with long sleeves in light colours,Boeotian boots,cavalry kopis,xyston and Boeotian shield to repel missiles.
The unit has a strong charge and it can stand in prolonged combat,but not as much as the Theban cavalry.
21)Boiotoi Psiloi Ippeis(Boeotian missile cavalry).They generally use the same equipment with the "Boiotoi Ippeis" unit but Pylos/Boeotian helmet or pylos-shaped skull cup for the head,exomis instead of tunic,no body armour or just chlamis/spolas,and javelins instead of the xyston.
22)Boiotoi Toxotai(Boetian archers).They are generally the same as the "Toxotai tis Attikis" unit.
23)Boiotoi Akosistai(Boetian javelinmen).They are generally the same as the "Akodistai tis Attikis" unit.
24)Boiotoi Sfendonitai(Boetian slingers).They are generally the same as the "Sfendonitai tis Attikis" unit.
Euboean Allies
25)Eretrioi Oplitai(Eretrian hoplites).Medium hoplite phalanx.They were equipped with Attic helmet,tunic with short sleeves in several colours,different types of linothorax/spolas/chlamis,some use greaves-others don't,kopis,dory,sandals and hoplon shield with the head of a bull as symbol.
26)Eretrioi Epivatai(Eretrian marines).Light infantry.They participated in the battle of Salamis with 7 ships.The city was destroyed in 490 BC by the Persians and rebuilt later.The Eretrian marines are equipped as typical Greek marines with exomis in several colours,Attic helmet,kopis and hoplon shield with the Eretrian octapus as symbol.(like the one of the 3 patterns Jack posted)
27)Evoieis Oplitai(Euboean hoplites).Light hoplite phalanx.They use Attic helmet,tunic with short sleeves in several colours,some use linothorax/spolas/chlamis-others don't,some use greaves-others don't,kopis,dory,sandals and hoplon shield with a full bull from the side as symbol.(like the one of the 3 patterns Jack posted)
28)Evoieis Epivatai(Euboean marines).Light infantry.The same as the Eretrian marines.But their shield symbol is differentiations of the bull.
Other Allies
29)Epivatai tis Salaminos(Marines of Salamis).Light infantry.They are the same as the Athenian marines.Their shield symbol is not known to us and there are no pictures of coins from the city.The island had very close relations with Athens however and it is highly possible that they used similar symbols with those of the Athenians.
30)Aiginioi Epivatai(Aeginan marines).Light infantry.Same as the marines of Salamis.Their shield symbol was the turtle of Aegina.Those men played a major role in the battle of Salamis.The turtle was the symbol of Artemis,the guarding Goddess of the island.
Mercenaries
31)Thrakes Romfaioforoi Peltastai(Thracian peltasts bearing romphea).Light missile infantry.The Thracians had long hair and took extensive care of it.They asked the Thracian blacksmiths to design a helmet that would protect their hair from being cut.The blacksmiths made the Thracophrygian type of helmet that was massively used by the Thracians.It had a bronze "bearded" face mask and space above their head to put the hair inside so that it wouldn't be cut.They had that much vanity,yes.They were good skirmishers but not that good in close combat.
Their equipment was dark coloured exomis,their Thracophrygian helmet,white Celtic peltie shield for repeling the enemy missiles,two javelins of the "mesagylon" type,the Thracian romphea(a two handed sword for melee combat) and Thracian boots.
32)Skythioi Ippotoxotai(Scythian horse archers).Light missile cavalry.They were extensively used for manning the patrols around the walls of Athens.At the era of the game they were not in Athens anymore as Athens couldn't afford them.When the Athenians told them to leave actually they were pissed off and while leaving they attacked and pillaged Attic villages and cities without walls.Nothing stops the player from re-recruiting them.
Their equipment was Scythian tunic with long sleeves,Scythian trousers,Scythian boots,Scythian skull cup,a piece of leather from animal used as a kind of saddle,Scythian bow,a quiver and a Scytian sword.
33)Kritikoi Toxotai(Cretan archers).Light missile infantry.I described them in the Spartan list.
34)Rodioi Sfendonitai(Rhodian slingers).Light missile infantry.I described them in the Spartan list.
That's it.Let me know what you think."
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Originally Posted by Stavroforos
