Tobias Koch
Professor Stone
HUM-2220
19 November 2014
The Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae has two valuable historical contexts that have impacted history in a primary way. To begin with the Battle of Thermopylae helped outline numerous tactical and moral mentalities that are still used to this day in military schemes. Most significantly, the Battle of Thermopylae gave mankind the picture perfect concept of what a good leader is and the characteristics they should entail. Thermopylae was the site of numerous confrontations in ancient times, which was by a mountain passage close to the Aegean Sea located in northern Greece. The passage is later revived by native Phokians and they constructed a protective
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These schemes wouldn’t be thought out, yet alone are available for Military Generals to introduce and prepare their soldiers if it wasn’t for Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae. It was at the base of the wide gap that stands aproxietmently 30 feet in width, with an enormous cliff protecting their left side and the sea on their right side. The Greeks selected to make a stand versus the attacking military. Making sure your troops cannot get flanked is also a common and fundamental perception that all soldiers permanently want to prevent. The Spartans were defeated because Ephialtes, a native, yet traitor of Greece helped lead the Persian Army which attacked the Spartans and the rest of the Greek army from behind and in turn defeating the Spartans and other Greek armies. “ Xerxes found Ephialtes offer most satisfactory. He was delighted with it, and promptly gave orders to Hydames to carry out the movement with the troops under his commander. They left camp about the time the lmaps are lit” (307). Spying is another tactic that has been adapted into warfare and introduced during the Battle of Thermopylae. Lastly, the Spartans critical strategy was three signposts that were noticeable to …show more content…
His leadership is extremely significant to the military through this battle. King Leonidas was the captain and leader of the Spartan and combined Greek armies throughout the Battle of Thermopylae. More importantly he was chosen to lead the military into battle. If a Persian triumph had happened in the Battle of Thermopylae, Athens would have been miserable. The Persians trooped easily though the gory passage and on the capital. Fortunately, the city had been banished to Salamis and a trivial resistance waited for Xerxes. Nevertheless this little protection was rapidly slaughtered and Athens was then scorched to ashes. The folklore of Thermopylae cannot be downgraded to a three-day clash where the Persians who are perceived as antiheroes of this conflict, triumph. The daring "hold to the last man" engagements of the Spartans even later when Leonidas died are recollected to this day. Nowadays at Thermopylae, there are two basic testimonials of the fight. The utmost inspirational is of a Spartan directing his small sword onward. In this battle, the model for a perfect leader is born. When an enormous opponent army approaching to dominate and overpower a society, a courageous and knowledgeable leader who will sacrifice his existence for his nation. Thermopylae was not a confrontation that transformed the way society looks at life. Also, I do not believe that this battle prevented
All these battles had significant impacts to either the war or the moral of the Greek Army. The most significant Battles were The Battle of Salamis and The Battle of Plataea. These battles also saw the contributions of many key individuals, which lead to the victory of the Greeks in the ends as well as the rise of the Greek navy. These Key individuals included Leonidas, Themistocles, Eurybiades and Pausanias. They all had major roles and all contributed differently through out the Persian invasions leading to the victory of the Greeks of the
The French Revolution, the American Civil War, the constant civil conflicts in certain parts of Africa in recent history and even today; these are all historical clashes of countrymen. They all also contain stories of immense atrocities. The violence, bloodshed, and ruthlessness that were seen throughout these events were appalling. They were made perhaps even more so by the fact that theses horrors were inflicted upon one another by countrymen, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. The civil war or stasis at Corcyra during the Peloponnesian War was no different. This paper will detail the events surrounding the conflict and attempt to give scope to it as a mirror into the rest of the conflict.
...iples of war. By taking the path around the main Greek force they succeeded in both maneuvering and surprising the Greeks. By taking the small path around the pass they moved their forces into a position that gave their vast numbers an advantage over the Greeks; an advantage they did not have fighting head on. The Persians also caught the Greeks by surprise by taking the small path around. Even thought the Greeks had stationed a small force there, they had not planned heavily on the Persians finding and using the path.
Greeks and Romans are famous for the strategy's that they used. The Greeks main strategy was called the Phanlax. They basically have a rectangle of troops and each on...
Leonidas was respected in Sparta, it was not by his often effective but not morally decisions, it was to resolve an issue when he felt that somebody or something was trying to hurt Sparta. Leonidas was expected to put an end with some abnormal answer. The training, the form i...
Sun Tzu strongly advocates for trickery on the battlefield, saying “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable.”7 The Athenians use their smaller army to their advantage and planned a tactical military formation outside of Marathon. They placed the majority of the men in the left and right wings of the army, which meant the “ranks of the centre were diminished, and it became the weakest part of the line” in the hopes that the Persian army would break through.8 When the battle commenced, the front line of Athenians charged at the enemy, and to the Persians “it seemed to them that the Athenians were bereft of their senses, an bent upon their own destruction; for they saw a mere handful of men coming on at a run.”9 The Persians were lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that their enemies had much less men than they actually
...the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending native soil. The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.The fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived, not from its effect on the outcome of the war, but for the inspirational example it set. Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass. Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources; e.g. "...the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men.
The causes of the Peloponnesian War proved to be too great between the tension-filled stubborn Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. As Thucydides says in Karl Walling’s article, “Never had so many human beings been exiled, or so much human blood been shed” (4). The three phases of the war, which again, are the Archidamian war, the Sicilian Expedition and the Decelean war, show the events that followed the causes of the war, while also showing the forthcoming detrimental effects that eventually consumed both Athens and eventually Sparta effectively reshaping Greece.
Simkin, John. “ Military Tactics of the Roman Army.” spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Spartacus Educational, Sept. 1997- June 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
The Peloponnesian War is the conflict between the pelopoponesians league led by Sparta and the Delian league, led by Athens. Much of our knowledge on the causes and events of the Peloponnesian War, depends on the Athenian Thucydides 460-400 BC, writer of the History of the Peloponessian War. He servd as an Athenian commander in Northern Greece during the early years of the war until the assembly exiled him as he lost an outpost to the enemy. During this exile, he was able to interview witnesses on both sides of the conflicted. Unlike Heredotus he concentrated on contemporary history and presented his account of the war in an annalistic framework that only occasionally diverts from chronological order. In his account, he discuses the precursors to the war, including the 30 years truce and revolutions, such as the stasis in Corcyra. When looking at wars, the primary focus is normally the fighting itself, such as what we see for World War II. However, it is important to look at the anatomy of war, meaning what effect the war has on the people who are experiencing it first hand, and the consquences that the conflict has on the rest of the world. Therefore in this essay I shall discuss, drawing directly from Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, how the civilians reacted to the war, their involvement and socio economic factors. Furthermore, the first section of my essay shall focus on the direct effect of war on the people, regarding the plague, and violence and hopelessness that was experienced. Then I shall go on to discuss more general effects of the war and how it affected the Greek world, discussing the social and economic losses that occurred such as the cost of the war in attica, the coup d’etat that occurred in gove...
Beginning with Greek hoplite warfare, we will see how the Romans adopted Greek principles of warfare and evolved their strategy in order to confront new and emerging challenges. From improving their tactics, making advancements in weaponry, to creating a standing army staffed by professional soldiers, we will see how Rome’s military evolved in ways the Greeks could not compete with, and would eventually succumb to. We will see the rise of the most lethal institution of Roman society, the Roman Army.
In this essay, I am going to anaylise the Peloponnesian War. I will look at what appears to have caused the war, how it developed, and what the outcome of it was. As Thucydides is virtually the only surviving primary source of this event, I will also discuss the man and his method.
The Greeks were able to repel the overwhelming and seemly unstoppable Persian Empire. They were able to do so because of the victories won thanks to the Athenian navy in the Aegean Sea, the hard fought and strategically important battles that the Spartans just would not give up during and they were able to put aside their differences in order to face the greater threat for the good or their culture. Each major city/state contributed what it was good at. It was a nice display of teamwork.
...rated the superiority of the Greek long spear and armor over the weapons of the Persians, as well as the superior tactics of Miltiades and the military training of the Greek hoplites. The choice of weapons, training of warriors, selection of battle site, and timing had all worked together to help the Athenians prove that size doesn’t always matter.
There was lots of debate between all of the Greek military leaders about whether they should go with Themistocles plan or not. Luckily, they went with it because who knows what would have happened if they did not. This was the last chance for Greek survival, and everyone knew that. Attica was already under attack by the Persian land force, which was commanded by Xerxes, Darius’s son. The bay of Salamis was also a convenient battle location because, if needed, the Greeks could draw the Persian fleet to the Peloponnese where the Greek reinforcements would meet them....