Ancient Greek warfare the rise of the city-state evolved a new style of warfare: the hoplite phalanx. Hoplites were armored infantryman, armed with spears and shields, and the phalanx was a formation of these soldiers with their shields locked together and spears pointed forward. The Chigi vase, dated to around 650 BC, is the earliest depiction of a hoplite in full battle array. With this evolution in warfare, battles seem to have consisted mostly of the clash of hoplite phalanxes from the city-states in conflict. Since the soldiers were citizens with other occupations, warfare was limited in distance, season and scale. Neither side
Thracian warfare tribal wars also kept Thrace from becoming a major regional power due to the lack of a central government. At the onset of the Peloponnesian War, the Thracian tribes were united under the rule of Sitalces, king of the Odrysae. It was allied with Athens during the conflict. However, the kingdom was again split into different parts after the death of king Seuthes. It was during this time when Philip of Macedon conquered a large swath of Thrace, absorbing the territory and its tribes into Macedon. The "Odrysian kingdom" (Ancient Greek, "Βασιλεία Όδρυσων") was a union of Thracian tribes that