Hippeis, not Hippies

[PMBardunias]

Hippeis may well have been the Greek term for cavalry but at Sparta the term had developed into something more specific

Undeniable. But I think you miss the point Stephanos and I have both been making. There are Hippeis or Equites or whatever the local derivation all over the place because only the elite of mediterranean society can afford to rear horses and arm them for war. Thus the hippo/horse reference denotes only the ability to afford one. Grenadiers spring from units of semi-suicidal men who took up the most dangerous tasks during sieges and were treated as elites because of it. Other units are raised specifically as guards whose prime focus lay with their royal patron.

The Spartan Hippeis surely originated as the first type, from horse owners, then lost their horses, but retained their status as elites. The question is whether they would ever have seen themselves as the last.

Also, we must be careful with placing too much emphasis on the number 300. The one time we see 300 specifically tied to the King's life, or loss theireof, they are not the Hippeis. The 300 at the battle of champions may not have been either as you noted. And the number may not be so rare even outside of Greece, Gideon fought the Midionites with 300 elite men.

Kings often took very few men with them, and we are told as noted above that 100 was the number on one occaision. IN assuming the 300 hippeis performed this function are we obscuring a 100 man unit? Were I a Spartan king, with what I know of Spartan politics, my guard would be the members of my Phiditia and a core group most loyal to me, with a sprinkling of olympic winners now and then.