Hippeis
(
ἱππεῖς). The Greek term for horsemen and knights.
1.
Among the Athenians, the citizens whose property qualified them for the second class.
2.
Among the Spartans, the royal guard of honour, consisting of 300 picked young men under the
age of thirty, who, although originally mounted, afterwards served as heavy-armed
footsoldiers.
The cavalry of Athens, which was first formed after the Persian War, and then consisted of
300 men, from the time of Pericles onwards consisted of 1200 men—viz. 200 mounted
bowmen (
ἱπποτόξοται), who were slaves belonging to the
State, and the 1000 citizens of the two highest classes. They were kept together in time of
peace, and carefully drilled; at the great public festivals they took part in the
processions. They were commanded by two
ἵππαρχοι, each of
whom had five
φυλαί under him and superintended the levy.
Subordinate to these were the ten
φύλαρχοι in command of the
ten phylae. Both sets of officers were drawn from the two highest classes. It was the duty of
the council to see that the cavalry was in good condition, and also to examine new members in
respect of their equipment and their eligibility.
The number of horsemen to be despatched to the field was determined by the decree of the
popular assembly. Every citizen-soldier received equipment-money on joining, and during his
time of service a subsidy towards keeping a groom and two horses; this grew to be an annual
grant from the State, amounting to forty talents ($10,400 in intrinsic value), but regular
pay was only given in the field.
At Sparta it was not until B.C. 404 that a regular body of horse was formed, the cavalry
being much neglected as compared with the infantry. The rich had only to provide horses,
equipment, and armour; for the actual cavalry service in time of war, only those unfitted for
the heavy-armed infantry were drafted off and sent to the field without any preliminary
drill. In later times every
μόρα of heavy-armed infantry
seems to have had allotted to it a
μόρα of cavalry, of
uncertain number. By enlisting mercenaries and introducing allies into their forces, the
Spartans at length obtained better cavalry.
The utility of the Greek citizen-cavalry was small on account of their heavy armour, their
metal helmet, and their coat of mail, their kilt fringed with metal flaps, their cuisses
reaching to the knee, and their leather leggings. They did not take shields into action. As
weapons of offence they had the straight two-edged sword and a spear, used either as a lance
or a javelin. Shoeing of horses was unknown to the Greeks, as was also the use of stirrups.
If anything at all was used as a saddle, it was either a saddle-cloth or a piece of felt,
which was firmly fastened with girths under the horse's belly.
The Thessalians were considered the best riders. Cavalry became really important for the
first time in the Macedonian army under Philip and his son Alexander the
Great. Although in earlier times the number of horsemen in the Greek forces was only very
small, in the army which Alexander marched into Asia they formed nearly a sixth part of the
infantry. The Macedonian cavalry was divided into heavy and light, both consisting of
squadrons (
ἶλαι) of an average strength of 200 men. Of the
heavy cavalry the choicest troops were the Macedonian and Thessalian horsemen, armed in the
Greek fashion, who were as formidable in onslaught as in single combat; in order and
discipline they far surpassed the dense squadrons of the Asiatic cavalry, and even in
attacking the infantry of the enemy they had generally a decisive effect. The light cavalry,
which was constituted under the name of
πρόδρομοι
(skirmishers), consisted of Macedonian
σαρισσοφόροι, so
called from the
sarissa, a lance from fourteen to sixteen feet long
(Polyb. xviii. 12), and of Thracian horsemen. The heavy cavalrymen had each a mounted servant
and probably a led horse for the transport of baggage and forage. In the time after Alexander
there came into existence what were called the
Tarentini equites, or
light-armed spearmen, with two horses each (B.C. 192,
Livy, xxxv. 28,
29). See
Exercitus.