Light Infantry of Ancient Greece For a long time peace was understood in negative fashion, simply as the absence of war. -Yvon Garlan Kendrick Pritchett in the introduction to the book "The Greek State at War" points out that in order to write history of Greek Warfare one "…would require a knowledge of many aspects of Greek life. The would-be investigator would have to be familiar with terrain in the case of any given battle, have an acquaintance with the archaeological artifacts of
line, hold their shields out in front of them, and thrust their spears forward. The enemy would not be able to reach them with their close range weapons because of the spears keeping them at bay. if they tried to attack from range with arrows their hoplite shields would simply block it. This wall of soldiers could very easily overpower a overpower a weak army with little effort. Despite the phalanx being an absurdly strong tactic, there were its weaknesses. For example only the soldiers on the edges
How Bronze Affected Greek History According to Don Talpalriu with Softpedia, copper and bronze weapons were found 500 miles from Athens in 2008. In the Odyssey, Telemachus provides evidence on page 55 that there were five main sources of elements to be found in Greece: My dear friend, can you believe your eyes? The murmuring hall, how luminous it is with bronze, gold, amber, silver , and ivory! This is the way the court of Zeus must be, inside, upon Olympos. What wonder! (Homer Book 4, lines 77-81)
Making up a small ten percent of the Greek army’s population, archers were not such a main force within battles. Mostly, it was those of the Hoplites that took a top spot in battle, a number of them being on the front lines along with cavalry and some of the reserve soldiers. Hoplites were the main reliance, backed up by the archers and lightly armored troops (Department of Greek and Roman Art, 2000, Warfare in Ancient Greece). Archers would obviously fire from a longer distance, so they weren’t
their city state. Leonidas and the 300 chose to confront the Persian army at Thermopylae because they thought their Hoplite Phalanx was superior, Sparta was focused on being the most powerful military, And the persians were trying to take their land. Leonidas and the 300 chose to fight the Persian army at Thermopylae because they thought their hoplite phalanx was superior. “The hoplite, went into battle in a tight-knit block, eight or more ranks deep, with men close on his left and right. Together
were eventually dominated by the Romans. Although drawing from aspects of Greek culture, the Romans would inevitably shape their society in ways that are distinctly Roman, and none more distinct than in their method of warfare. 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
The success of the phalanx was due to discipline. The shield provided protection for the hoplite holding it as well as the hoplite next to him. If done correctly the formation was impenetrable by archers, chariots and even cavalry. The fighting had to be strictly controlled and no one was allowed to break formation and put the entire phalanx in danger. The beginnings
citizen a hoplite, warriors of Ancient Greece, and go through a mandatory training program, agoge, or put through public humiliation (Park and Love). It is impossible to say that both Rome and Sparta neglected the idea of implementing warfare into their daily lives. Ancient Sparta was the head of the Greek military, at one point the only Greek military. Genius tactics at the time led Sparta to become famous throughout the Mediterranean region as the strongest military force. The hoplites were known
The amphora that has the artwork of two separate artist’s shows how wine is an important trade good in Greek culture as well as the use of hoplite armies to obtain more land. The drinking cup also uses its imagery and color patterns to show how during the Archaic Age two Greek city-states battling over land was common, along with their use of well-equipped hoplite soldiers. From these Ancient Greek pieces, it is evident that the values of a culture are entwined with the type of art, which the artist
However, Roman troops and tactics were far superior to the Greeks. Greek warfare centered on the hoplite, a fairly heavy infantryman, whose main tactic was the phalanx. The hoplite was very effective in flat, open terrain, and they were generally reinforced by fewer types of support troops. The hoplite was armed with a spear and heavy armor. The phalanx was a tightly packed group of hoplites forming a shield wall. Their best (and pretty much only) tactic was to bash the enemy shield wall with
of Hellas for millennia, although not today, but the gods used to be the centre of life in Hellas. The Hellenes would pray to, worship, sacrifice animals to, give up wine and food to and revere the gods due to their power and authority over them. Hoplite: Torch of Prometheus, by Michael Pritsos, takes place in the eighteenth year of the Peloponnesian War (413 BC) in Hellas. The main character, Maxites, is the adopted son of king Diocrates of a fictional polis named Devanum. Through hardships, near
Dear my lovely family by writing this letter I'm letting you know that I'm doing well. I miss each and every one of you. I missed the smell of the fresh baked loaf of bread. It has been a very long lasting journey for me and my fellow mercenaries. We walked for almost four months. My feet is sore and I have blisters on them, but do not worry my love I am a man I can take the pain. I know you want to hear from me how the Battle of Cunaxa ended. I will try my best to explain to you in this letter
characterized by great ferocity and the Roman pursuit of victory was relentless. The Romans had a pragmatic view towards atrocity and massacre that viewed almost any act as justifiable if it eased the path of victory (Goldsworthy 2000) p. 24. The hoplite phalanx which originated by the Greeks and later adopted by the Roman army, demanded great discipline and adherence to orders in order for this group of soldiers... ... middle of paper ... ...territories the Romans tried to mimic and improve to
strategy that surrounds it. Moreover, the Greeks deemed warfare as “a necessary evil of the human condition,” the survival of the city-states relied heavily on a standing militia. Greek citizens began to train next to each other and thus forming the hoplite class.
Every Spartan male was trained to become a soldier from birth. While this was true for Sparta, the Macedonian hoplites had little to no training before war. Even with no training, they became experienced through the many battles they fought and through Alexander’s directive. Many Macedonian soldiers instead were normal citizens who were recruited to join the army
Titus Berndt The military history of the ancient world is dominated by Greece and Rome, and for understandable reasons. These nations’ development and rise to power was primarily the result of their use and perception of the military. Both had longstanding traditions of heroic warfare, and both had overcome seemingly impossible odds in their infancy, but had grown to control empires spanning most of the world they knew. Military successes made the nations wealthy and powerful, and strife from within
During the Archaic Age of Ancient Greece, circa 776-500 B.C.E., the population growth in Ancient Greece called a need for more food supplies, and this demand was met by trade, establishing colonies, and by warfare to seize more land (Making Europe 71). According to Kidner, the Archaic Age “brought a revival of culture, the economy, and political significance to Greece” (71). As Greece began to overpopulate, methods for dealing with the overpopulation had to be found, once of these methods was to
He created better hoplite soldiers by paying for the armor and weapons with the government’s money instead of having the individual soldiers pay for their own armor and weapons. Philip II created a weapon called the sarissa, which was an 18 foot long spear. In the back rows
muscled chest plate, and a helmet with cheek plates. One notable difference was that the Spartans wore red capes although they weren’t ever ... ... middle of paper ... ...ld go over the back of the first and cut the tip off the spear, making the hoplites weapon useless. (ancientmilitary) Although all Greek city-states employed the Phalanx the Spartan’s never let anyone else use their other tactics, which resulted in their tactics never evolving while those in the other city-states did. This was
The Hellenic and Hellenistic eras of ancient Greece brought forth new ideas in scientific innovation, art, philosophy, agriculture, warfare, and government. Hellenic Greece heralded leaders such as Pericles and Cleisthenes as well as the philosophers Socrates and Plato and playwrights Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides. The Hellenistic era boasted the influence of Alexander the Great’s great empire from the Mediterranean to India, and the spread of Greek culture and knowledge to the conquered lands