Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #greekmilitaryhistorynerdout
Most recents (1)
Interesting blog, Athenian armies don't often get this kind of attention! Although, the mass levy (pandemei) raises more questions. We cannot assume that they maintained the equal tribal sizes. If all men were called, then the deme of Archanae had 3,000 hoplites to join up
If we assume they joined their tribe, so two other demes, we potentially have ca. 4,000 in one tribe which is almost 1/3 of Athens' hoplite strength at the beginning of Pelop. War. The pandemei was a system for emergency or quick planning, used to override the very slow
system of katalogoi. It was usually used for raiding plans, or emergency defences. Delium is a little unusual in this instance, but not I dare say an anomaly. What made the system easier to handle was the tribal basis, so people always knew who to follow, who was leading.
