Let's talk about spears, baby

The spear is probably one of the oldest weapons on earth, right after the club. It's also the primary weapon of the hoplite.

So, lets start with the basics. A Greek hoplite spear was six to eight feet long, probably made from ask or yew (or really any wood available, but something with a little give was better -a little flex means less breakage.)

There's a point at each end of the spear. The main blade could be anywhere from six inches to a food long, usually a flat leaf shape with a rib in the middle. The rib is a thick part that runs most of the length of the blade, to make it stronger and less likely to break. Given the fact that spear blades were bronze or iron the metal could often break, especially in the thick of combat. A rib helped keep the spear blade intact after impact.

The other end of the spear was called the “butt spike”. You can laugh about this, I did. Sometimes, you've got to set your spear down, but you don't want it lying flat where its hard to grab, and you don't want to stick the main spear point in the ground, making it dull. So you use the smaller butt spike to drive the spear into the ground, making it easy to grab the spear at a moments notice, and to keep the blade sharp. The butt spike also can act as a secondary blade in case your primary blade breaks, or your spear snaps.

It's at this point I should mention that what I'm describing is pretty general. Military equipment in the ancient world varied greatly, especially in the non-professional armies of the classic Greeks.