View source for The Concept of Hippeis

{{Short description|Ancient Greek social class, those who could afford to do service as cavalry}}
{{Redirect|Hippeus|text=Hippeus is also the name of the son of [[Heracles]] and twin brother of Antileon, by Procris, the eldest daughter of [[Thespius]] and Megamede}}
{{Italics title}}
[[File:Rider BM B1.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A [[Laconia]]n [[Black-figure pottery|black-figured]] cup by [[Rider Painter]] featuring a member of the ''hippeus''.]]
'''''Hippeis''''' ({{langx|grc|ἱππεῖς}}, singular ἱππεύς, '''''hippeus''''') is a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] term for [[cavalry]]. In [[Ancient Athens|ancient Athenian]] society, after the [[Solonian Constitution|political reforms of Solon]], the ''hippeus'' was the second highest of the four social classes. It was composed of men who had at least 300 [[medimnoi]] or their equivalent as yearly income. According to the [[timocracy|Timocratic Constitution]], the average citizen had a yearly income of less than 200 medimnoi. This gave the men who made 300 medimnoi the ability to purchase and maintain a [[war horse]] during their service to the state.<ref name="Worley 1994">{{Cite book|last=Worley|first=Leslie J.|title=Hippeis: The Cavalry of Ancient Greece|year=1994|publisher=Westview|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=978-1-85367-303-0|pages=45}}</ref>

Its counterparts were the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Equites|''equites'' (equestrians)]] and [[Horses in the Middle Ages|medieval]] [[knight]]s.<ref name="Connolly 2006">{{Cite book|last=Connolly|first=Peter|title=Greece and Rome at War|year=2006|publisher=Greenhill Books|isbn=978-1-85367-303-0|pages=40}}</ref>

==Early formation==
In [[Sparta]], the ''hippeus'' was the royal guard of honour. It consisted of 300 Spartan youths under the age of thirty. They would serve as heavily armed infantry soldiers in the King's bodyguard.<ref name="Connolly 2006"/> The Athenian cavalry was formed after the [[Greco-Persian War]] in the 5th century BC; it originally consisted of 300 men and then increased to 1,200 men following Athens' [[Fifth-century Athens|Golden Age]]. This included 200 mounted bowmen (''[[hippo-toxotai|hippotoxōtæ]]'') and 1,000 Athenian citizens. The ''hippeus'' continued drilling in times of peace. They also took part in processions at public festivals. They were commanded by two ''hipparchi'', who superintended the levy. Subordinated to each ''hipparch'' were five ''phylarchi'', who each commanded a ''phyla''. Both sets of officers were drawn from the two highest classes. It was the duty of the [[Boule (ancient Greece)|boule]] (council) to see that the cavalry was in good condition and to examine new members with respect to their equipment and eligibility.<ref name="Xenophon Hipparchikos">{{Cite book|last=Xenophon|title=On the Cavalry Commander|translator=}}</ref>

[[File:Amphora warrior departure Louvre F12.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Fully armed ''Hippeus''. Attic black-figure amphora, 550–540 BC ([[Louvre]])]]

The number of horsemen dispatched was determined by the decree of the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|popular assembly]]. Every horseman received equipment money on joining and a subsidy for keeping a groom and two horses; this grew to be an annual grant from the state, amounting to forty [[Talent (weight)|talents]], but regular pay was only given in the field.

===Sparta's cavalry===
In 424 BC, a regular body of horses was formed, remedying long-standing neglect when compared with the infantry. The rich had only to provide horses, equipment, and armour; in time of war, those deemed unfit for service as hoplites were drafted to the cavalry and dispatched without any preliminary drill. In later times, every hoplite ''[[Mora (military unit)|mora]]'' seems to have been allotted 60 cavalry.<ref name="Connolly 2006"/> By enlisting mercenaries and introducing allies into their forces, the Spartans eventually obtained better cavalry.<ref name="Worley 1994"/>

==Citizen cavalry==
[[File:Orient méditerranéen de l'Empire romain - Mosaïque byzantine -5.JPG|thumb|right|250px|[[Roman mosaic]] depicting hippeus in combat with [[Amazons|Amazon]], 4th century AD ([[Louvre]])]]

The utility of the Greek citizen-cavalry was low on account of their heavy armor, their metal helmet, and their coat of [[mail (armor)|mail]], their metal-fringed kilts, their [[cuisse]]s reaching to the knee and their leather leggings. They did not take shields into battle. As offensive weapons, they had a straight two-edged sword and a spear, used either as a [[lance]] or thrown as a [[javelin]]. Horseshoes and [[stirrup]]s were unknown to the Greeks. The closest approximation to a saddle was either a saddle cloth or a piece of felt that was firmly fastened under the horse's belly. The [[Thessaly|Thessalians]] were considered the best riders. Trained in horsemanship as well as infantry warfare, the [[Sacred Band of Thebes]]<ref>The Theban Sacred Band, James DeVoto in The Ancient World, Vol.XXIII, No.2, 1992</ref> may have accompanied the great Theban cavalry commander [[Pelopidas]] to Pelopidas's fatal confrontation with [[Alexander of Pherae]] in 364 (Pelopidas taught [[Philip II of Macedon]] many cavalry skills). Cavalry first became important in the Macedonian army under [[Philip II of Macedon]] and his son [[Alexander the Great]]. Although in earlier times the number of horsemen in the Greek forces was low, in Alexander's later army they formed nearly a sixth. The Macedonian cavalry was divided into heavy and light, both consisting of squadrons (''ilai'') of an average strength of 200 men. The light cavalry, which was formed under the name of ''prodromoi'' (skirmishers), consisted of Macedonian ''sarissophoroi'', so-called from the [[sarissa]], a lance from 14 to {{convert|16|ft}} long ([[Polybius]], XVIII, 12), and of [[Thrace|Thracian]] horsemen. The heavy-cavalry men each had a mounted servant and probably a led horse to transport baggage and forage. After Alexander, ''Tarentini equites'', or light-armed spearmen, with two horses each, emerged (192 BC, [[Livy]], XXXV 28, 29).<ref name="Connolly 2006"/>

==Evolution==
Three main evolutionary stages transpired in ancient Greece, starting in the [[Mycenaean period]] approximately 1400 BC. The first stage consisted of turning a regular horse into a war horse and using it to pull a [[chariot]], which was used to carry infantrymen to battle and to transport the injured. In the second stage, the chariot was replaced as the fighting platform by the horse itself. Mounted soldiers were used to screen the army, harass the enemy and pursue fleeing enemies. In the third stage, in the 4th century, the cavalry charge emerged.<ref name="Worley 1994"/>

==See also==
*[[Corpus vasorum antiquorum]]
*[[The Knights]]
*[[The Sacred Band of Stepsons]], fictional ancient cavalry
*[[Pentacosiomedimni]], the class above, who had at least 500 [[medimnoi]] of wet or dry goods (or their equivalent) as yearly income
*[[Zeugitae]], the class below, who were possessors of a yoke of oxen, with at least 150 [[medimnoi]] (or their equivalent) as yearly income
*[[Thetes]], the lowest class, who were workers for wages, or had less than 150 [[medimnoi]] (or their equivalent) as yearly income
*[[Solon]], the reformer who established the hippeis

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Xen.+Cav.+1.1 Perseus Project – Xenophon's ''On the Cavalry Commander'']

[[Category:Ancient Greek military terminology]]
[[Category:Military ranks of Sparta]]
[[Category:Cavalry]]
[[Category:Combat occupations]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek titles]]
[[Category:Heracleidae]]
[[Category:Military history of ancient Thessaly]]
[[Category:Obsolete occupations]]
[[Category:Positions of subnational authority]]
[[Category:Greek words and phrases]]