Greek Chariot-Borne and Mounted Infantry

Abstract

This article attempts to answer criticism of the writer's paper on "Homeric, British and Cyrenaic Chariots," published in AJA 69 (1965) 349-52. It presents at greater length the literary evidence for historic parallels to "Homeric" chariotry—that is, for the use of chariots as transports for heavily armed soldiers who normally fought on foot. The theory that Homer's chariots are a heroic convention, superimposed upon stories that really assume the existence of cavalry or of mounted infantry, is examined and opposed, with special reference to the problems raised by the fortification of the Achaean camp and the episode of the horses of Rhesus. It is argued that the Homeric evidence (including the rare mentions of riding in the epic) is consistent with the actual conditions of Greek warfare during the Geometric period, but (chiefly on the evidence of archaic vase-painting) the view that chariot-borne heroes were replaced during the seventh century B.C. by mounted hoplites is supported. The article discusses the recent literature of the various problems raised, and also examines older discussions to which the writer was unable to do justice in his earlier paper.