You want to see something way better than whatever in the heck Christopher Nolan is making?

In 2025, a group of French researchers carried out what they called the "Hoplite Experiment," which was meant to "test and observe the dynamics of flight and pursuit during the rout of a hoplite formation in ancient Greece."

Y'all remember hoplites from 7th grade history, of course — those classic Greek warriors with spears and swords and helmets and whatnot.

A French group of researchers by the name of Sur le champ decided to conduct real-world experiments of what it would look like if a formation of hoplites were dominated on the battlefield:

Considering the historiographical debate dating back to the 2000s between those who believe the impact was physical and those who believe it was emotional, we organized this scripted experiment to fill the main gap in the sources: the lack of descriptions of routs and the ensuing pursuits. By scenarizing the approach and charge, based on the classic case of the Battle of Coronea in 394 BCE, and relying on nearly 400 volunteers trained over eight months beforehand and organized into lines of eight, supervised by two reenactment associations and academics, and following clearly defined protocols, we were able to recreate a hoplite rout 16 times at 25m, 15m, or 5m before impact.

You got to love the opportunity to see what a bird might have seen while flying over Coronea circa 394 BC:

Among the group's findings:

• The nature of the meeting of the two formations — what's known as a "shock" — generally determined the nature of the fleeing losers.

• In cases where a rout occurs without an actual shock, "the progressive dispersion of the formation prevents the first ranks from fleeing as quickly as they would like," meaning an early rout lets the rearmost soldiers flee more effectively (while leaving their comrades behind to fight and probably die, of course).

• In the case of a "deep shock," when the opposing team is close, a soldier can "find [himself] hypnotized by the upcoming clash, so that it becomes impossible to disengage until it has actually happened." Pandemonium naturally ensues.

Reflecting on the history of this brutal form of warfare, the researchers note that "above all, the rout of the opposing camp represents a relief that comes with an imperative:"

One must now massacre as many people as possible to ensure that one never again have to live through such a time of terror.

Here's the full video of the experiment, with English subtitles: