L'Expérience Hoplitique : De la déroute en Grèce antique

Video summarizing the hoplite experiment conducted in August 2025 This video presents the results of the hoplite experiment conducted in August 2025, which brought together nearly 400 people armed as hoplites to test and observe the dynamics of flight and pursuit during the rout of a hoplite formation in ancient Greece. Considering the historiographical debate dating back to the 2000s between those who believe the impact was physical and those who believe it was emotional, we organized this scripted experiment to fill the main gap in the sources: the lack of descriptions of routs and the ensuing pursuits. By scenarizing the approach and charge, based on the classic case of the Battle of Coronea in 394 BCE, and relying on nearly 400 volunteers trained over eight months beforehand and organized into lines of eight, supervised by two reenactment associations and academics, and following clearly defined protocols, we were able to recreate a hoplite rout 16 times at 25m, 15m, or 5m before impact. This allowed us to draw several lessons about the shock (despite the initial retreat before the intended contact of the charge), individual and collective behaviors, and the dynamics of casualties in the pursuit zone. This provides materials for historiographical debate and also offers an alternative perspective to the idealized images disseminated by film and comics. Bibliography : -P. Krentz, "The Nature of Hoplite battle", Classical Antiquity 4, 1985, p. 50-61 -P. Krentz, "Casualties in Hoplite battle", Greek, Roman and Byzantine studies 26, 1985, p. 13-20 -V. D. Hanson, The Western Way of War, Berkeley, 1989 -A. Goldsworthy, "The Othismos, Myths and Heresies: The Nature of Hoplite Battle", War in History 1, 1997, p. 1-25 -H. van Wees, Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities, Londres, 2005 -A. Schwartz, Reinstating the Hoplite. Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece, Stuttgart, 2009 -C. Matthew, Storm of Spears. Understanding the Greek Hoplite at War, Barnsley, 2012 -V. D. Hanson, "The Hoplite Narrative", dans D. Kagan et G. F. Viggiano (éd.), Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece, Princeton, 2013, p. 256–275. -D. Kagan et G. F. Viggiano, "The Hoplite debate", dans D. Kagan et G. F. Viggiano (éd.), Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece, Princeton, 2013, p. 1-56 -D. Jacquet et N. Baptiste (éd.), Expérimenter le maniement des armes à la fin du Moyen Âge, Bâle, 2016 -P. Bardunias et F. Ray, Hoplites at War: A Comprehensive Analysis of Heavy Infantry Combat in the Greek World, 750-100 BCE, Jefferson, 2016 -R. Konijnendijk, Classical Greek Tactics: A Cultural History, Leyde, 2018 -T. Lucas, L’organisation militaire de la Confédération Béotienne (447-171 av. J.-C.), Athènes, 2023 -R. Saou, Les modèles grecs de la guerre. Pratiques et expériences combattantes dans l'espace égéen (début IVe - fin Ier s. a.C.), Bordeaux, 2025 -H. W. Lanphier, "The Bronze Hoplite Panoply and the Othismos in the Early Phalanx", Greece and Rome 72, 2025, p. 292-310 Comments: -We did not assign to the rearguards the role of attempting to contain the collapse because we chose to work on mass collapses documented in historical sources where these rearguards had clearly failed. Either they themselves fled, or the most determined among them were too few in number to prevent the rout from spreading. -This study focuses on hoplite engagements and hunts in which cavalry did not intervene. We are situated at the heart of the battlefields and phalanxes, in the symmetrical confrontations between hoplite units, far removed from the wings and cavalry. The participation of the latter (if they had managed to eliminate their counterparts, which was no small feat) belonged to a much later stage of the routs, which we are not analyzing here. To help the channel financially: https://www.helloasso.com/association... 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:29 Opening credits 00:01:36 First words 00:02:53 Presentation of the experiment 00:07:38 Historiographical summary 00:12:33 Methodology 00:20:44 Limitations et criticisms 00:23:54 Exposition of the results 00:24:27 Individual point of view during one iteration 00:26:45 Remarks 00:30:05 The shock 00:31:37 Shock 1 : No shock 00:33:20 Shock 2 : Thin shock 00:35:00 Shock 3 : Deep shock 00:36:35 Opened shock and spontaneous collapse 00:40:08 The free hunt 00:41:56 Vanquished behaviours 00:44:48 The three veils of hunters 00:48:27 Losses and statistics 00:54:12 Conclusion 01:02:00 Acknowledgments 01:07:43 Credits