I just watched a fascinating lecture about the amateurism of most Greek city states' armies and it got me wondering how a citizen army equipped itself for battle when the state didn't have the means to do it.
Let's say I am not wealthy enough to afford a cuirass, just a shield and a spear. Is that equipment handed down from father to son? It seems like that would be an expensive investment and one that is best paid out across a generation or two. If so, where did my father get it new?
Would my shield and spear be about the same size as my neighbor's shield and spear? Was weaponsmithing and shield making a brisk enough trade that someone could make a living off of it, or would there be a blacksmith who also had a spear making gig on the side?
So I'm going to reference an answer by u/Iphikrates for two reasons:
As he puts it, something that drove Greece into a military powerhouse was that "more and more citizens were able to afford heavy infantry equipment..."
Which would certainly imply it was BYOPointyStick both before and after that transformation.
And 2) he is the very giver of the lecture you watched! If this is a subject that interests you then just searching through his post history has to be good for a few credit hours at any accredited university.