Hoplite: The ancient Greek foot soldier

Civilized warfare on a grand scale in Greece began with the rise of Mycenaean civilization during the 2nd millennium BC.

In the Archaic periods, weapons, equipment, and tactics changed significantly with the appearance of the Greek hoplite and the invention of the phalanx formation (massed ranks and files of hoplites).

Hoplites were the heavy infantry soldiers of the armies of the Greek city-states from about 650 B.C. until the end of the Hellenistic Age, about 30 B.C. Hoplites were protected usually by helmets; breastplates; greaves (armor worn from the ankle to the knee), and large, round, bronze shields. These shields, called hoplons, were approximately three feet in diameter.

The hoplite was part of a whole formation of phalanx. He did not stand in his chariot literally above the masses of foot soldiers. The phalanx could only succeed insofar as all stood their ground together, insofar as no one stood out from the entire formation.
Hoplite: The ancient Greek foot soldier