ANCIENT HOPLITIKON of MELBOURNE Inc. Archaic Hoplites

Greek Independence Day 2001

The Age Newspaper article on Historical Re-enactment 27/06/2010, Nick Moutzouris and Arthur Porporis featured.

International Greek Festival Watford UK 2006

Histories Chapters 2006   Military History Magazine Athens Greece

Greek Independence Day 1995

Antipodes 2007

Antipodes 2007

Antipodes Festival 2007

 
Antipodes Greek Festival 2007-2010  Lonsdale St. Greek Festival(s) & now Antipodes again 2015-2023
 
 
 
"ZEUS, Giver of all gifts, You who are surrounded in Dark Clouds.
Lord of Thunder,
May You free mankind from
pernicious ignorance !" 
Kleanthis Stoic Philosopher 330 BCE - 230 BCE
Photography by AMY YAO               
Someone with bad breath was constantly looking up at the sky and making prayers, then the God Zeus leans down and says:
"You have God's in the Underworld too !"

Australia Day Federation Square 2007

Australia Day Federation Square 2007

Pako 2007

Pako 2007

 

2004 Athens Olympic Torch Relay
Craig Sitch 2004 Athens Olympic Torch Relay

300 Premier IMAX Melbourne 2007

300 Premier IMAX Melbourne 2007

 
2004 Athens Olympic Torch Relay Melbourne
300 Premier at IMAX Melbourne 2007 
  
New book by Con Iggulden, Number '2' in the UK  Bestseller List  2018 , Ancient Hoplitikon of Melbourne Inc. Featured front Cover.
THE FALCON of SPARTA, Masterfully depicts the ferocity, heroism, and savage bloodshed that was the Ancient World. 
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, ONE ARMY WAS FEARED ABOVE ALL OTHERS.
401 B.C.E The Persian King Artaxerxes rules an Empire stretching from the Aegean to northern India. As many as fifty million people are his subjects. His rule is absolute.  The sons of Sparta, those whose fathers and grandfathers fell at Thermopylae and perished in the Peloponnesian Wars, work as mercenaries for Persian princes eager to play the game of thrones. When Cyrus the Younger, brother to the Great King, lays claim to his fathers crown, he does so with an elite army of Spartans at his side. 
Yet battles can be won - or lost -with a single blow, Princes fall. And when the dust of civil war settles, a small band of Spartans are left stranded in the heart of the enemy's Empire, without support, without food and without water.  Far from home, surrounded by foes, it falls to the young soldier Xenophon to lead the survivors against Artaxerxes' legendary Persian warriors.
New Novel release for 2020,  Ancient Hoplitikon of Melbourne Inc. Credited Cover.
ON THE PLAINS OF MARATHON AN ARMY GATHERS.....
490 B.C.E. King Darius of Persia has brought about a Golden Age , a world of prosperity and peace. He would make the Greeks part of that greater nation, if they would just lay down their spears and shields - and call him king.
The people of Athens have known tyrants before. Instead of kings, they have the Assembly, where each man can vote and be heard. Though a vast empire shakes the earth, they will not give up what they have won.
When the enemy comes, Athenians march to a place known as Marathon. Those present will set the path for all Greece: Aeschylus the playwright, Themistocles the self-made man, Aristides the Just - and Xanthippus, father to Pericles.
In time, another son of Persia will decide their fates. He will bring a great host, a leviathan of land and sea. Yet as waves crash against the shore at Thermopylae, a small force may yet choose to stand against him - and refuse to give way.
Filled with political scheming, invasions, treacheries, ambition and honour, The Gates of Athens is the story of those who chose to resist tyranny - and by doing so, changed the course of history.

Greek Independence Day 1998

  Greek Independance Day  1995 - 1998
 Hellenic Museum of Melbourne Incursion, Public interaction with Swordsmanship,  12th December 2021

Apollon Boedromia 2010 Bendigo, Ritual Hymns and Libations before the Symposium.

Apollon Boedromia Symposium 2010, Hymns to Apollo and Dionysus.

"HOPLITODROMOS" (Armoured Race) in honour of Apollo Boedromos, perfomed in traditional attire at Bendigo 2010. First of it's kind in Australia !

HOPLITODROMOS, ( Amoured Race ) all members are eager to take part !

APOLLON Boedromia 2010 Festival in honour of the Protector of Warriors, Apollon Boedromos (run to help someone, to run, cry for aid, hasten to help).Boedromia (bohdromia), Boedromion (bohdromiwn).This is the month where the Greater Eleusian Mysteries are performed, where the year began which was so vital to the Greeks. Celebrated on the 7th day of the month of Boedromion (September). The nameBoedromos by which Apollo was called in Boeotia and other parts of Greece, seems to indicate that by this festival he was honoured as a martial God, who either by his actual presence or by his oraclesafforded assitance in the dangers of war. The origin of the festival is, however, traced by different authors to different events in Greek history. Plutarch (Thes.27) says that Theseus, in his war against the Amazons, did not give battle till after he had offered a sacrifice to Phobos; and, that in commemoration ofthe successful battle took place in the month of Boedromion, the Athenians, down to his own time, continued to celebrate the festival of the Boedromia. The Ancient Hoplitikon has continued the ritual and will be celebrated annually. Colours: Red and Gold,Element: Fire, Altar: Upon cloth of red and gold place a fiery sun, two crossed spears, and three torches. Offerings: Song and Music,Daily Meal: Food of yellow and red,Boedromia Invocation: APOLLON

65th Olympiad in 520 BCE (Before Common Era) the 'Hoplitodromos' was introduced to the Olympic program.

HOPLITODROMOS (Race in Armour)

This was the last of the foot-races, competitors wore a helmet and greaves and carried a round shield, although it is possible that in later years both helmet and greaves were discarded. Twenty-five runners were allowed to take part, for whom a set of shields was kept in the Temple of Zeus. Presumably this was to ensure that each athlete carried a shield of the same weight. In some of the games contestants were decked out in armour from head to foot. A curious. clanking race, it must have had both serious and comic connotations : Serious because all athletic training was devised to keep the male citizen population physically fit for war. It's position at the very end of the festival left a final reminder of this to the assembled crowds.

However amusing mishaps and collisions inevitably occurred on scenes from pottery we often see athletes who have dropped their shields and are stooping to pick them up. The Greeks themselves must have considered it something of a persion since when Peisthetairos, a character in Aristophanes 'Birds', sees the chorus advancing in their feathered costumes, he likens the motely crew to the armed runners in the Hoplitodromos.

At Olympia and Athens the Hoplitodromos track, was a single lap of the stadium (or Two stades; about 350-400m ) At Nemea the distance was doubled to Four stades (about 700-800m) and at Plataea in BOEOTIA the race was 15 stades in total. The original 400-meter length of the Hoplitodromos coincides with the effective area of the Persian Archers' Zone of Fire, suggesting an explicit military purpose for this type of training.

HOPLITODROMOS Scene, Red Figure Column Krater by the Syracuse Painter ca. 460 BCE

Athenian 'EPILEKTOI' Elite of Attica,"Ariston" Archon of Athens."Philaidon" Klan 650 B.C.

Australian Hellenic Golf Tournament Sandhurst 2007

MMFAT 2005

6 th Century B.C. Hoplite Warfare
  Ancient Hoplitikon of Melbourne - Mosaic of past and recent events...
Image Copyright Nikos Panos, Athanasios Porporis. Photo:Athanasios Porporis. Digital Imaging:Nikos Panos(Photoshop) & VipeProductions(3D studio Max)
Marathon 2,500 year Anniversary 2011

Boedromia 2008

          The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest principles.     PLATO

MMFAT 2007

Hoplitikon Last Stand

"KOTTABOS" a game of skill and one to master if intoxicated.

PAKO FESTIVAL 2007

   
 
Hellenic Museum Block Party 12th December 2021
Nafsika Stamoulis Foundation
Former Royal Mint Building
280 William Street, Melbourne 
Victoria Australia.
        
OPEN HORISONS EXHIBITION
Directly from the Archaeological Museum of Athens Greece
First time, exclusive to Australia hosted by Melbourne Museum Victoria
23 April-14 August 2022, Ancient Hoplitikon of Melb greeted the Exhibition with frequent
incursions, with a Living History element for the public and Greek Community of Victoria.
Journeys and connections tells the story of ideas, influences that form and build communities.
Kyneton High School Incursion 5th Sept 2022
Phalanx Weapons Drill & Tactics
Swordsmanship with training swords
Students are introduced to the Legacy of Ancient Greek Culture,  how Hoplites developed skills on the battlefield, Political Will and thought, Slavery, Faith systems, Trade/Commerce with the first development of Numismatics, Mythologies and Philosophies that influenced Western Civilization. Todays Institutions which were a direct result from the conduct of War. Phalanx drill, Swordsmanship, Javelin and the Hoplitodromos (Race in Armour) a great way to immerse students in Year 11 & 12 Classics with Living History Reenactment.
Queanbeyan Medieval Festival NSW  2023
In support of our Colleagues / Brothers in Arms, the Sydney Ancients

MMFAT 2008 "HOPLOMACHIA" Phalanx Weapons Drill.

Philip II of Macedon

Hoplitikon 2007