Othismos: The Importance of the Mass-Shove in Hoplite Warfare

As A RESULT of recent work on hoplite tactics, the traditional notion that othismos (ὠθισμόϛ), or literal shoving, played a decisive role in hoplite battles has been called into question. ¹ Since this long-standing idea has come under attack as a theoretically improbable tactic, it seems appropriate, after a brief examination of the traditional view and the objections lodged against it, to offer some arguments of a likewise theoretical nature in support of the assumption that hoplite battles were generally decided by a mass-shove.