The hoplitodromos or hoplitodromia (Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

: , English translation

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: "race of soldiers") was an ancient foot race

Athletics (track and field)

Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

, part of the Olympic Games and the other Panhellenic Games

Panhellenic Games

Panhellenic Games is the collective term for four separate sports festivals held in ancient Greece. The four Games were:-Description:The Games took place in a four-year cycle known as the Olympiad, which was one of the ways the Greeks measured time...

. It was the last foot race to be added to the Olympics, first appearing at the 65th Olympics in 520 BC, and was traditionally the last foot race to be held.

Unlike the other races, which were generally run in the nude, the hoplitodromos required competitors to run wearing the helmet and greaves of the hoplite

Hoplite

A hoplite was a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Hoplites were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in a phalanx formation. The word "hoplite" derives from "hoplon" , the type of the shield used by the soldiers, although, as a word, "hopla" could also denote weapons held or even...

 infantryman from which the race took its name. Runners also carried the aspis

Aspis

"Aspis" is the generic term for the word shield. The aspis, which is carried by Greek infantry of various periods, is often referred to as a hoplon .According to Diodorus Siculus:-Construction:...

, the hoplites' bronze-covered wood shield, bringing the total encumbrance to at least 50 pounds. As the hoplitodromos was one of the shorter foot races, the heavy armor and shield was less a test of endurance than one of sheer muscular strength. After 450 BC

450 BC

Year 450 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year of the decemviri...

, the use of greaves

Greaves

Greaves may refer to*Greave, armour that protects the leg *Greaves Greaves is also a surname, which may refer to:*Jimmy Greaves, English footballer*John Greaves, English mathematician and antiquary...

 was abandoned; however, the weight of the shield and helmet remained substantial.

At Olympia and Athens, the hoplitodromos track, like that of the diaulos

Diaulos (running race)

Diaulos was a double-stadion race introduced in the 14th Olympiad of the ancient Olympics...

, was a single lap of the stadium (or two stades; about 350-400m). Since the track made a hairpin turn at the end of the stadium, there was a turning post called a kampter (καμπτήρ) at each end of the track to assist the sprinters in negotiating the tight turn — a task complicated by the shield carried in the runner's off hand. At Nemea

Nemea

Nemea is an ancient site near the head of the valley of the River Elissos in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. Formerly part of the territory of Cleonae in Argolis, it is today part of the prefecture of Corinthia...

 the distance was doubled to four stades (about 700-800m), and at Plataia in Boeotia

Boeotia

Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...

the race was 15 stades in total.

The hoplitodromos, with its military accoutrements, was as much a military training exercise as an athletic contest. Encounters with squads of expert Persian archers, first occurring shortly before the hoplitodromos was introduced in 520 BC, must have suggested the need for training the Greek armored infantry in fast "rushing" maneuvers during combat. Additionally, the original 400-meter length of the hoplitodromos coincides well with the effective area of the Persian archers' zone of fire, suggesting an explicit military purpose for this type of training.