The other hoplites react immediately, hurrying behind the cover of the wagon. “I think there’s something over- “he starts to say before he is cut shot by an arrow which smashes into his face, piercing through his skull and instantly killing him. As the pair continue to look at body one of the other hoplites sees a flash of blue from one of the outcrops in the distance. “This is bigger than any arrow I’ve ever seen before,” Markos says puzzled. The shaft of the arrow is longer than its target is tall and has punched all the way through the man’s armour and body and it clear he is already dead. Two of the hoplites, including the captain Markos, check the struck hoplite who hangs limply from the side of the wagon. The other hoplites whirl their heads around to the direction the arrow has come from but cannot see any archer. As he says this the faint sound of an arrow in flight catches their attention, just as one of the hoplites is thrown back with great force. “Who by though?” another hoplite chimes in. Maybe they were interrupted?” another hoplite suggests. “What kind of bandits hijack a wagon and then don’t take anything?” one of the hoplites asks.
#Athenian hoplite shield driver#
The body of the driver lies slumped against the wheel and a cursory glance reveals a large puncture wound through his chest, the cause of which is unknown. They are surprised to find that the contents of wagon have been almost completely untouched. On a dusty plain not far from the outskirts of Athens, a group of hoplites crowd around the wreckage of a wagon. The Athenian fleet fell into decline after the Peloponnesian War, with the decisive surprise attack by a Spartan fleet at Aegospotami. The most well-known battle in which the Athenian Navy participated was the battle of Salamis in the Persian Wars, the about 360 Greek triremes, including 180 Athenian vessels decisively defeated a large fleet of 600-1200 Persian ships by taking them by surprise in a narrow strait of Salamis, trapping the Persian fleet in a narrow strait with little room to maneuver and sinking or capturing 300 Persian ship. Of all the ancient Greek city-states, the city of Athens had by far the most powerful naval force.
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