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Hoplite

Prerequisites

Requires:

• Infantry Tactics
• Only buildable by "Roman" cultures

Summary

• Ancient defensive unit

Gameplay

The Hoplite is an excellent defender. One of the few units whose defensive capabilities exceed its attack strength, the Hoplite is ideal for City Fortification in the Ancient Age.

Historical

Hoplites were the extremely disciplined, heavily armed foot soldiers that comprised some of the fiercest and most effective fighting units in ancient Greece and Sparta. Clad in a bronze helmet, breastplate and greaves and armed with a large shield, a sword and a six-foot long thrusting spear, hoplites fought in a close, shoulder-to-shoulder formation called a phalanx. Before the hoplite’s arrival on the battlefield around the 8th century BC, warfare primarily consisted of individual combat. Advances in bronze working made new and heavier armor and weapons available. Hoplite phalanxes were typically eight, but sometimes as much as fifty, ranks of soldiers. They would break enemy ranks with their highly compact formation and were considered the best fighters in the Mediterranean.