The ancient Greeks at war
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(1) 2015-08-15 me and King Leonidas of Sparta, Greece, in front of the Acropolis Museum, in Athens, Greece.
(2) 2015-11-22 in front of the Acropolis, in Athens, Greece.
(3) 2015-11-26 in Athens GREECE, in Syntagma Square in front the Parliament Building. - in between the water fountain and the Christmas Tree.
(4) 2016-05-01 me and my Masters, the Great Ancient Greek Philosophers Plato, and Aristotle.
(5) 2016-05-30 Beautiful Greece & the Greek Islands from Space on a beautiful clear day. Thank you NASA.
for more information about me, please visit my main web page
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2016-10-23 : the website is under construction.
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In ancient times, Greece wasn't a single country like it is today. It was made up of lots of smaller states. These states were always squabbling and often went to war. Sparta and Athens fought a long war, called the Peloponnesian War, from 431 to 404BC.
Only the threat of invasion by a foreign enemy made the Greeks forget their quarrels and fight on the same side. Their biggest enemy were the Persians, who came from an area around modern day Iran.
The Persian kings tried to conquer Greece a few times between 490 to 449BC, but the Greeks managed to fight them off. In the end, it was the Greeks who conquered Persia, when Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire in the 330s.
2. Fighting formation
A piece of pottery showing Greek hoplites in action
The backbone of the Greek army was the 'hoplite'. He was a foot soldier, who fought with a long spear and used a large round shield for protection.
In battle, hoplites fought as a team. They lined up in ranks and locked their shields together with just their spears pointing over the top. This formation was known as a ‘phalanx’.
Enemy soldiers saw only a wall of spears and shields moving towards them. It was tough to break through once a phalanx started marching forward.
The Greeks had archers and cavalry too, but it was the phalanx that won many famous battles.
3. The hoplite's equipment
Click on the hoplite to find out about his weapons and armour
A hoplite had to pay for his armour himself, unless his father was killed in battle. Then he was given his father's equipment.
4. The Spartan soldier state
Spartan soldiers wore red cloaks, so bloodstains wouldn't show up. They also grew their hair long and would comb it before going into battle.
Fighting wars was what the Spartans did best. Greeks said that in battle one Spartan was worth several other men.
The Spartans believed that strict discipline and a tough upbringing was the secret to making the best soldiers. Boys left their families at seven to begin their 23-year-long training to become a soldier. Only those who went through this gruelling training system were considered true Spartan citizens.
It was a hard life. A boy was only allowed one tunic and had to walk everywhere barefoot, even in cold weather. They weren’t given much food either, so often had to steal.
Girls were expected to be physically fit too. They weren't allowed to be soldiers, but they did compete against the boys at sport. Spartan women also had more freedom than other Greek women. A wife ran the family farm and gave orders to the slaves (known as 'helots').
Spartan mothers told their sons before they left for battle, "Come back with your shield, or on it." Dead Spartans were carried home on their shields - only a coward would drop his shield and run away.
5. Legendary Greek battles
Click on each of the scenes to find out about some famous ancient Greek battles
The Battle of Marathon
At the Battle of Marathon about 10,000 Greeks fought an army of 20,000 Persians led by King Darius.
The Greeks surprised their enemies by charging downhill straight at the Persians.
Marathon is remembered for the heroism of a Greek soldier named Pheidippides. Before the battle he ran for two days and nights, over 150 miles (240 km), from Athens to Sparta to fetch help. Then, after that long run, he fought at the Battle of Marathon!
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Battle of Thermopylae
One of Sparta's proudest moments was the battle of Thermopylae in 480BC.
A huge Persian army was trying to invade Greece and 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas stood in their way.
The Spartans fought bravely and held back the larger Persian army for three whole days. One story says that after they broke their swords, the Spartans fought the Persians with their bare hands and teeth!
In the end, Leonidas and his Spartans were defeated. The Persians marched on to capture Athens. But soon afterwards the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet at the sea battle of Salamis.
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The Battle of Salamis
The greatest sea battle in Greek history was at Salamis (an island not far from Athens). It was fought in 480BC between the Greeks and the Persians.
A large Persian fleet of about 500 ships sailed into a narrow strait at Salamis. The Persian king Xerxes watched from a throne set up on the shore, expecting an easy victory.
The Greek ships attacked when the Persian fleet were stuck in the narrow channel and 200 Persian ships were sunk. It was a huge victory for the Greeks.
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The Battle of Marathon
Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Salamis
6. The war at sea
A replica of an Athenian trireme warship at sea
Greek warships had oars as well as sails. The largest warships had three banks of oars and were called ‘triremes’.
A trireme needed 170 men to row it - one man to each oar. It was steered by long oars at the stern or back of the ship. Fixed to the front of the trireme was a sharp metal ram. In battle, the triremes tried to get close to the enemy ships, and if possible crash into them.
When the trireme struck the side of an enemy ship, the ram smashed a hole in the wooden planks. Water flooded in and the damaged ship either sank or had to be beached on the nearest shore. The trireme's soldiers sometimes jumped onto a damaged ship to capture it.
7. Where next?
https://sites.google.com/site/ancientgreeksthegreekworld/what-do-we-know-about-ancient-greek-culture
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( English ) the StatCounter was installed on 2016-10-23, 17:30 p.m. GMT
( Greek ) ( Ελληνικά ) Ο μετρητής εγκαταστάθηκε την 23-10-2016 19:30 μ.μ. ώρα Ελλάδας
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