Hippeis, not Hippies

[Ghostmojo]

Doesn't the one comment rather support the other - they were a selected 'elite' who fought around the king (i.e. also accompanying him to Thermopylai (regardless as to whether they were proper Hippeis or not) and Leuktra) - there to fight and protect (bodyguard) the king (royal)?

There is a big difference between an elite unit that would fight in the place of honor along the battle line and a unit dedicated to act as a life-guard for one of the kings.

Indeed there is, however, there is also a semantic argument going on here. In later history certain units were definitely created as bodyguard units - from Praetorians to Napoleon to Hitler and so on (although obviously there was also an honourable aspect to this). I haven't used the term Life Guard as such. As they didn't do much swimming :wink: (sic) nor (more seriously) was an urban threatening proletariat in the streets - the kings didn't obviously need/require a permanent armed guard within their own city (they lived in houses rather than palaces for example). Also considering the fates of Kleomenes I, Pausanias (OK a Regent), Agis IV and others - it is clear the state didn't sanction a full time protective force of any size within the city. However, on campaign - given everything we know about the personage of the kings - besides his two immediate champions - he was clearly important enough as the front-line fighting commander to require a unit for his protection. We only have to remember the fighting that took place at Thermopylai and Leuktra to recover the fallen king's body to appreciate the importance of his role and his being. Therefore, I offer the suggestion that this bodyguard role swung into effect when hostilities commenced and the army marched. In peacetime (or what passed for pax Spartana) they would be held as a nominal reserve. We do not actually know for certain whether the hippeis existed for a set period (up to 30) - or for life - or whether the call-up/selection by the Hippagretai was at prescribed times or when general mobilisation occured. Nor do we know for sure whether they held the role for selecting replacements for fallen unit members, if the unit was a permanently standing affair (as it might have been if we can accept they were also involved in Krypteia operations against Helots). I think enough references exist from ancient commentators - as well as learned modern scholars to accept their role as a royal bodyguard on campaign and certainly on the battlefield. There were obviously positions of honour on the battlefield - one of which traditionally was afforded the Skiritai (for as long as they existed as a Lakedaimonian unit).

I know I have discussed this before, but I believe they were definitely a Royal Guard when required. I say this because the Hippeis were originally cavalrymen (knights) drawn from the Spartan aristocracy (i.e the king's peer group) for a specific purpose - given that all Spartan adult males were warriors anyway.

Hippeis in Crete were still horsemen in classical times and not a king's guard.

Yes I know that. The Kretans also fell foul of disunity of competing (often piratical) city-states much like the mainland. It was also a rank of status within Athenian society. Hippeis may well have been the Greek term for cavalry but at Sparta the term had developed into something more specific - a term (rather than accurate description) denoting origins (think of grenadiers in late C18th/C19th) and status, rather than actual employment; although given the Spartans love of hunting and horses in general perhaps they were still supposed to be decent equestrians (although I recognise the problem with that theory given the dire state of Spartan cavalry)? We clearly have to disassociate the actual nomenclature from the reality of the constitution of the unit itself. I think we also have to remember the nature of the social status of the hippeis at Sparta. They were (initially at least and presumably throughout the classical period) drawn from the full Spartiate ranks and from the aristocratic class at that. They were in a very real sense the kings' peer group. There may well be (although Herodotos is not clear about this) a direct correlation with the 300 picked men who fought at the Battle of the Champions (although the nature of that conflict suggests the king was not present) in 545 [size=85:3ht93zgk]BC[/size] - given they were supposed to be the best of the best. Did the hippeis exist at this time? Did they surround both kings in battle when both kings actually fought (prior to Kleomenes I/Damaratos)? Were they created or more formally instituted as a guard once the decision had been made to restrict the royal prerogative to only one dyarch in the field at any given time? In any event, at some point they ceased being cavalrymen and became heavily armed hoplites - that much is certain.

Only in Sparta Hippeis were some "creme de la creme" unit. As Paul says in other cities Hippeis meant social class able to provide cavalry. City states never relinquish control of the elite unit entirely to one person. Pelopidas is a notable exception. So in my opinion the 300 hippeis were a unit at the disposal of King in case of emergency

I'd go along with much of that, although I reiterate I believe in the case of the Spartan Hippeis, the role although formal, was principly prescribed to campaigning and not dyarchical civic duties - and in case of a king's departure from the city he would choose to have the Hippeis accompany him - perhaps rather than the state formally relinquish them to him (although the two things may well be deeply entwined). Here we remember Leonidas I reselecting his guard as non-bachelors. Whether it was an appreciative Spartan state or the king/s in person who afforded Themistokles the honour of the Hippeis as his personal escort across Lakonia (or who gave him his fine chariot) - I really cannot say - but that would suggest the possibility of some (special occasion) civic duties too. This subject also enfringes upon the discussion as to whether Sparta was really a thoroughly militaristic society, or just created that famous mirage of being one.