A copy of Themistocles' order to evacuate Athens was discovered on stone in ... exchanged his riding equipment for the shield of a hoplite, showing that he had chosen not to fight as a knight ...

With a fleet of 300 triremes; 13,000 hoplite infantrymen ... when his carefully constructed strategy relied on Athens weakening the enemy from the sea. Then in 430, barely a year after the ...

Sparta and Athens fought a long war ... This formation was known as a ‘phalanx’. A hoplite had to pay for his armour himself, unless his father was killed in battle. Then he was given his ...

Observed at 19:00, Tuesday 18 March BBC Weather in association with MeteoGroup, external All times are Eastern European Standard Time (Europe/Athens, GMT+2) unless otherwise stated.