Outside of Sparta, there was really not a lot of training for Hoplite soldiers. The political unit of the classical polis necessitated a citizen/civilian army as opposed to a standing professional one. Soldiers had to supply their own arms and armor and thus only the wealthy landed classes were able to fight as hoplite;s. Athens large amount of land from the enrollment of men across Attica into the citizen ranks, and relatively egalitarian spread of land meant that Athens was able to field some of the largest hoplite barrels of Classical Greece.

When you think about a hoplite battle, there really isn't a lot of tactics or skill involved. The key of any hoplite army was keeping the integrity of the hoplite formation, and the biggest risk to this integrity was simply soldiers turning and fleeing. Traditional hoplite battles settled many political disputes between polis's. While honor or what the Greeks referred to as Arete (Greek: ἀρετή) from the Homeric tradition was the mortar which kept the formation for together, don't forget it was the landed classes doing the fighting; they had the most to lose from a lost hoplite battle.

Another key aspect when thinking about Hoplite battles is just how heavy a hotplite's equipment was. From shield or hoplon (hence the word hoplite) to spear, helmet, breastplate, greaves, and shin guards a hoplites amor could weigh almost as much as 50 pounds! As such basic physical conditioning was a vital trait for any hoplite solider. This is where you could point to some 'training' for Hoplites. The classical Greek world help a number of different athletic competitions including the famous Olympic games (the fist of which games we use to define the start of a new era in Greece). These games included wrestling, boxing, chariot racing, and running including a race where the participants ran in full hoplite gear.

I will circle back tomorrow with some sources and more on force numbers.