The Ancient Greeks at War

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The war ended when the Persians, worried by the allies' successes, switched to supporting the Spartans, in return for the cities of Ionia and Spartan non-interference in Asia Minor. This brought the rebels to terms, and restored the Spartan hegemony on a more stable footing. The peace treaty which ended the war, effectively restored the status quo ante bellum, although Athens was permitted to retain some of the territory it had regained during the war. The Spartan hegemony would last another 16 years... Warfare occurred throughout the history of Ancient Greece, from the Greek Dark Ages onward. The Greek 'Dark Ages' drew to an end as a significant increase in population allowed urbanized culture to be restored, which Pritchett, W.K. (1974-1991). The Greek State at War, 5 vols.. Berkeley: University of California Press.

connections between military, political, economic, and social, cultural, and religious aspects of war; a b Hanson, Victor (1989). The Western Way of War. University of California Press. p.169. ISBN 978-0-520-26009-2. The Peloponnesian War (460–404 BC) saw Sparta and Athens squaring up for a clash that changed the course of history. The war can be divided into three stages: the first a 10-year series of inconclusive clashes; the second, a six-year truce. Yet there was nothing inconclusive about the third phase. In 405 BC the Spartan general Lysander defeated the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami, leading to Athens’ surrender. Sparta was now the undisputed top dog in the region.Brouwers, Josho, Henchmen of Ares: Warriors and Warfare in Early Greece, Rotterdam: Karwansaray Publishers, 2013. Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below. At least in the Archaic Period, the fragmentary nature of Ancient Greece, with many competing city-states, increased the frequency of conflict, but conversely limited the scale of warfare. Unable to maintain professional armies, the city-states relied on their citizens to fight. This inevitably reduced the potential duration of campaigns, as citizens would need to return to their jobs (especially in the case of farmers). Campaigns would therefore often be restricted to summer. Armies marched directly to their target, possibly agreed on by the protagonists. Sparta was an exception to this rule, as every Spartiate was a professional soldier. Spartans instead relied on slaves called helots for civilian jobs such as farming. Main article: Peloponnesian War The key actions of each phase Agrianian peltast holding three javelins, one in his throwing hand and two in his pelte hand as additional ammunition

Two recent works provide substantial overviews of Greek warfare through the classical period on approximately the same scale and at the same level as Rawlings's book (readers may consult Hans van Wees, Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities or the relevant sections of the first volume of The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare. (9) The Cambridge History has the advantage of incorporating diverse scholarly perspectives, but it is predictably expensive. Hans van Wees's own book is obviously the best place to look for his seminal theories about the fluidity of the archaic phalanx and his emphasis on the pivotal role of state control and organisation in the intensification of Greek warfare. As we have seen, Rawlings summarises and endorses many of van Wees's ideas. Perhaps the greatest strength of his book is the extremely wide range of topics considered, their vivid and concrete treatment with the copious quotation of primary sources in translation and, finally, its generally high level of scholarship - my sundry criticisms notwithstanding. Notes Sabin, Philip et al. eds. (2007). The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare, 2 vols.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This is when the mysterious Dorians invaded Greece. This is why it is named Dorian invasion. They still don't know what the Dorians' real name is. This is not classified as a war but it was still important in the Greeks' history.

Miller, Margaret C. (1997). Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The origins of the hoplite are obscure, and no small matter of contention amongst historians. Traditionally, this has been dated to the 8th century BC, and attributed to Sparta; but more recent views suggest a later date, towards the 7th century BC [ citation needed]. Certainly, by approximately 650 BC, as dated by the Chigi vase, the 'hoplite revolution' was complete. The major innovation in the development of the hoplite seems to have been the characteristic circular shield ( aspis), roughly 1m (3.3ft) in diameter, and made of wood faced with bronze. [2] Although comparatively heavy, the design of this shield was such that it could be supported on the shoulder. More importantly, it permitted the formation of a shield-wall by an army, an impenetrable mass of men and shields. Men were also equipped with metal greaves and also a breastplate made of bronze, leather, or stiff cloth. When this was combined with the primary weapon of the hoplite, 2–3m (6.6–9.8ft) long spear (the doru), it gave both offensive and defensive capabilities. The Greek forces had/have mostly peacekeeping, humanitarian, logistics, reconstruction and support role. There were fights between Greeks before 1946, but these were the prelude and not officially the start of the civil war

The scale and scope of warfare in Ancient Greece changed dramatically as a result of the Greco-Persian Wars. To fight the enormous armies of the Achaemenid Empire was effectively beyond the capabilities of a single city-state. The eventual triumph of the Greeks was achieved by alliances of many city-states (the exact composition changing over time), allowing the pooling of resources and division of labour. Although alliances between city states occurred before this time, nothing on this scale had been seen before. This is a list of known wars, conflicts, battles/sieges, missions and operations involving ancient Greek city states and kingdoms, Magna Graecia, other Greek colonies ( First Greek colonisation, Second Greek colonisation, Greeks in pre-Roman Crimea, Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul, Greeks in Egypt, Greeks in Syria, Greeks in Malta), Greek Kingdoms of Hellenistic period, Indo-Greek Kingdom, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Byzantine Empire/ Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire, Kingdom of Greece and Greece between 3000 BC and the present day. Raaflaub, Kurt and Rosenstein, Nathan. eds. (1999). War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: Anderson, J.K. 1969. Review of Greek Oared Ships 900-322 B.C. by J. S. Morrison. Classical Philology 64: 180-183.Nicholas Sekunda (25 December 2000). Greek Hoplite 480–323 BC. Bloomsbury USA. p.3. ISBN 978-1-85532-867-9. The second major challenge Sparta faced was fatal to its hegemony, and even to its position as a first-rate power in Greece. As the Thebans attempted to expand their influence over Boeotia, they inevitably incurred the ire of Sparta. After they refused to disband their army, an army of approximately 10,000 Spartans and Pelopennesians marched north to challenge the Thebans. At the decisive Battle of Leuctra (371 BC), the Thebans routed the allied army. The battle is famous for the tactical innovations of the Theban general Epaminondas. Greece didn't participate at the battles and didn't declare war on Turkey, only some Greek units participated (mostly ELDYK). Hanson, Victor Davis (2000). The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21911-2.

Bridges, Emma et al. eds. (2007). Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Campaigns were often timed with the agricultural season to impact the enemies or enemies' crops and harvest. The timing had to be very carefully arranged so that the invaders' enemy's harvest would be disrupted but the invaders' harvest would not be affected. Late invasions were also possible in the hopes that the sowing season would be affected but this at best would have minimal effects on the harvest. Hoplite warfare [ edit ] Stele of Aristion, heavy-infantryman or hoplite. 510 BC. Top of helmet and pointed beard missing.

Pritchard, David M. (2010). War, Democracy, and Culture in Classical Athens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more. Rawlings begins his sixth chapter, 'Naval warfare', by considering the evidence of Homer, who depicts individuals organising raids using ships for transport, but does not report actual fighting at sea (pp. 105-6). By the time of the Persian Wars, the state controlled the construction and maintenance of warships, which fought each other at sea (pp. 106-7). Rawlings rightly stresses the mobility of navies compared to land armies (pp. 111, 118-19) but also notes their high cost, both to construct - which also required a variety of hard-to-obtain raw materials - and to man (pp. 112-14). He also treats with sympathy the argument that naval power contributed to democracy, but notes how inconspicuous naval crews are in our surviving evidence - except as the 'naval mob' held in contempt by elitist intellectuals like Plato (pp. 109-11).