Hippeis, not Hippies

[Paullus Scipio]

Ghostmojo/Howard wrote:

the evidence is thin, occasionally contradictory, and always second hand.

…the evidence may be thin, as with all ancient subjects drawing on a handful of sources, and second hand ( no works by Spartan historians exist) but it is certainly not contradictory, or even occasionally so. From Herodotus to Xenophon, the picture is consistent. The ‘Royal Bodyguard’ and the Hippeis are two different entities, the latter selected by ‘Hippagretae’ as the best of Sparta’s young men, 300 strong; and the former, selected by the King to be his companions/bodyguard, 100 strong. The Hippeis belong to, and are always part of, Sparta’s main Army, and are never spoken of as accompanying the King; the ‘Doryphoroi’ are with the King whether the main Army is present or not. The 'doryphoroi'/bodyguard are never called Hippeis and the Hippeis are never called 'Bodyguard'.

it is not unreasonable, nor improbable, to deduce he was surrounded by a body guard - and that the Hippeis served that purpose.

….What need for ‘deduction’ when our sources tell us the King had a bodyguard ? Herodotus couldn’t be more specific! ( see earlier post), and neither could Xenophon when speaking of the King’s “Doryphoroi’/Bodyguard – and both these authors also speak of the Hippeis, but NOT as Guards.

However, when Leonidas I set off for Thermopylai - the 300 hundred accompanied him performing what must be seen as a protective role (especially in light of the Delphic prophecy). We can argue/discuss til the cows come home whether the Thermopylai contingent were the actual Hippeis/part hippeis/other body etc., but in my opinion they were - due to L1 replacing men who had no sons with those that did. Otherwise he might well have said "I'm not taking the Hippeis this time" (knowing this was likely to be a suicide mission) but selecting another unit instead - and why be so prescriptive about the 300 figure?

The idea that Leonidas knew he was going on a suicide mission likely belongs to Legend, not history, as does the ‘only fathers’ idea. If it were true, then by definition none of the Hippeis went – because they were all under 30, and Spartans could apparently only marry and have legitimate children after 30.What is more, Leonidas does not take a particular unit, but the 300 are “chosen by himself” apparently individually. ( Her VII.205.2) – rather like an enlarged ‘Bodyguard’.
Significantly too, Herodotus never calls the 300 'Hippeis', though he speaks of them elsewhere. It is inconceivable that if Sparta's 'Best of the Best' were present, Herodotus would not have mentioned the fact
As to the number 300, which frequently crops up in connection with Spartan forces and dangerous missions, it may have had some connection to the ‘three phyles’ at some point in the distant past, but it also happens that if you take the age groups 30-55, and pick by lot or otherwise one ‘enomotia’/file/platoon from each of the Lochoi (six Morai/Twelve Lochoi), you get 300 ( 12 x 25), as Lazenby has pointed out – which suggests the Spartan Army had always been organised into six Morai of two Lochoi each all the way back to the mid sixth century and the ‘Battle of the Champions’, which is also consistent with Demaratus’ 8,000 total for the Army ( Her VII.234.2).

The fact that the 300 never went abroad (by that I take it you mean outside of mainland Hellas) is hardly surprising since the regular Spartan army hardly ever did either.

…exactly the point! The Hippeis are part of the Army, and only appear when the Army is present. The King on the other hand frequently went off on various expeditions, accompanied by his bodyguards, advisors and even ‘Gentlemen volunteers’ from the Perioicoi, but NOT the Hippeis. It would be a strange ‘bodyguard’ that never accompanied the ‘body’ they were supposed to be ‘guarding’!

You acknowledge this point……..

I recognise and accept the possible incongruity of sending a king abroad without his 'bodyguard' (i.e A2), however, I would postulate that once Sparta (unwisely) embarked upon empire-building-running on a larger stage - all previous bets were off.

…and then totally dismiss it for no apparent reason. What does “all bets were off” mean ? The Hippeis are no longer ‘Guards’ ? Where is there any hint of evidence? The evidence, from Herodotus to Xenophon, never says, suggests ,or hints that they were the King’s bodyguard in the first place !

Although I remember distinctly reading somewhere (just can't remember where) that the Hippeis fought with (or as a part of) the first mora (regiment) of Spartan infantry - more accepted wisdom states they remained apart. If they did - one has to wonder why, when their size would have made them smaller than many units they might have faced………..In any event they would have formed part of a continuous line when required so their smaller size might not have mattered much.

Several scholars have tried to equate mention of the ‘Agema’/leading unit of the first Mora with the Hippeis, based on the fact that the later Macedonians had a Guards unit called the ‘Agema’, but this is spurious. Xenophon is describing a manoeuvre and ‘Agema’ simply has its natural meaning of leading unit. As you rightly point out, you can’t fit 300 into the Mora/Lochoi structure without ‘fudging’ numbers in some way. As you also rightly point out, since they all fitted into a single Phalanx anyway it didn’t matter - no one unit faced any other unit.

There is simply no escaping the fact that our sources:
1. Never describe the 300 Hippeis as in any way being a 'Royal Bodyguard', or accompanying the King.
2. Do describe a separate unit of 'Bodyguards', 100 strong who do accompany the King, who are never called 'Hippeis'/ knights but are called 'Doryphoroi'/Bodyguards
3. Our sources, thin as they are, are consistent with this throughout. ( and as has been remarked frequently elsewhere, if you reject the sources you are left with nothing - unless they are demonstrably wrong.)