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hoplite[hop´lIt] Pronunciation Key, heavy infantry soldier in the armies of classical Greece. Hoplites were usually protected by helmets, cuirasses, and leg armor. They carried large shields, javelins, heavy swords, and sometimes battle-axes and fought in the tightly organized phalanx formation. In classical Greece, hoplites were often citizens of city-states, who paid for their weaponry as a duty of citizenship. Among the most famous hoplites was Socrates, who fought for Athens during the Peloponnesian War.
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