The Hoplite Revolution and Greek Warfare.
Hoplite warfare was a representation of a source of living, and a form of values and relations between the Polis. Only the men considered to be a Hoplite, and part of the unit known as Phalanx, were able to afford the expensive Hoplite armour. The uniform was made with a lot of metal: bronze armour on the shins and chest, bronze helmet, with a small slit of the person to breathe. Not only was the armour very precise, the way that war was taken care of was as well.
A war was not a spontaneous action; in fact, there was a process involved. The army was made up of farmers and citizens of the Polis. The first step was and assembly put together by the citizens. In an assembly the citizens would vote on weather or not war should be enforced. When the decision is made to go forth with war, agreements are made with the enemy. So that the population would know there was war in order, a speech was made to the rest of the citizens. War was very formal and done with much care. .
The Hoplite's tactics for war were very particular compared to recent or even pre-modern war tactics. There were 2 kinds of men that made up the army. One was the younger very talented man, and the other was a veteran with strength. The younger men would stay up front until they died away. They were equipped with weapons called pikes, it was a wooden spear with an iron tipped around 9 feet long. The older men would stay in the rear and push forward. When a man would die, the next man behind him would automatically move forward. It was a process repeated over and over until the war was over. This way infantry was very useful, and was unbeatable for many years.
When the battle was over, when the hoplites were victorious, the men would take the jewellery and other possessions as trophies. In most instances the enemy would ask for a truce, but the hoplites still ended up taking the dead.