In Greece, the Spartans were the most acclaimed army in all the land. With their advanced military tactics and weapons, the Spartans were no easy feat to overcome. However, one army may have given the Spartans a run for their money. This army is the Macedonian army. They were also known for their superior weaponry and strategy. By comparing the two armies, the Spartan regiment was the better of the two due to their rigorous training, “martyr-istic” mindset, and education in the art of war. The Macedonian army, under the rule of Alexander the Great, was the most successful army around at that time. Alexander’s father, King Philip the 2nd was the first ruler of Macedonia. At first, Macedonia played no role in Greek history. It was just a tiny …show more content…
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 and in return for their service, they would become citizens and have the right to vote and etc. To start off, the Spartan’s armor and weapons were exceptional. They had bronze helmets and armor. The armor was decently heavy but when you are made of pure muscle, bronze becomes very light on the body. Along with their armor, the famous Spartan shield was also bronze. Their weapons consisted of one long spear and a steel sword sheathed on their side for close combat. However, it was not their weapons and armor that won them limitless battles and war, in fact, it was their strategy that is known as the “phalanx” formation. Alexander and the Macedonians used a similar formation for their army, but the Spartans used this formation in a simple but very effective way for its troops. The “phalanx formation,” in general, is when soldiers form a square, standing shoulder to shoulder and protecting the soldier next to them instead of themselves. It requires soldiers to move and fight as one unit instead of breaking formation and fighting uncoordinatedly. As a result, staying in formation allowed Spartans to look after their fellow brothers more easily on the battlefield. This Spartan system had such a reputation that even King Philip did not want to go to battle with Sparta. Philip even sent Sparta a message while he was on his way to claim Athens. The message told Sparta to “submit immediately” because if he (Philip) were to win the war with Athens, Sparta would be the next Macedonian target and he would “destroy the people of Sparta and all they have.”
“reach them to endure pain and conquer in battle.” (Document 11). Sparta was especially known for their strong army force. From age seven, all boys were trained not to express their pain and become great soldiers on the battlefield. Unlike Sparta, Athens’ main focus was not on the military. “For we are lovers of beauty, yet with no extravagance and lovers of wisdom, yet without weakness.” (Document 9). Athens was essentially based upon the arts and intelligence. Instead of boys going through years and years of military training, Athenians learned subjects like literature, art, and arithmetic.
“No man ever proves himself a good man in war unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter, go against the enemy and fight with his hands.” The preceding was quoted from “The Spartan creed” by the poet Tyrtaeus. There are two authors in this primary resource reading which include Tyrtaeus as well as Xenophon, whom authored “The laws and customs of the Spartans”. These two works give great detail to the Spartan society. As history has presented it, Sparta was a smaller polis and yet was one of the most, if not most, influential societies in history. What we know of this culture comes to us from excavation of its heritage as well as literary works such as these. But are these “eyes” into history factual and creditable enough to base our own interpretations of such a masterful race? These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion. This lacking may have been due to both writer’s motives for their work.
Alexander inherited an impressive military from his father and a stable kingdom; he also followed his father’s plans to invade Asia. Does this detract from his own accomplishments with the Macedonian army? I would argue that it does not. It does not matter how large his or how well trained his standing army had been, there can be no success without some form of military leadership.
... disciplines of knowledge and obedience and are some of the best equipped and most feared warriors of their time, their primary focus is the defense of Sparta. Persian forces are ill equipped with primitive weapons and a lack of armor, relying on sheer numbers instead of skill and built for mobility in order to move more quickly around the vast Persian Empire.
The primary formation of Greek infantry is the hoplite phalanx. Each hoplite’s hoplon, or shield, protected the man to his left and long spears gave the ranks behind the first allowed them to bring to bear a wall of bronze spears in front of them. The phalanx is a strong formation but it is vulnerable to flanking maneuvers, ...
Sparta was a strict military city-state. The people were Dorians who conquered Laconia. This region lies in the Peloponnesus, which lied in southern Greece. The invaders turned the conquered people into state owned slaves, called helots. Since the helots greatly outnumbered their rulers, Spartans established a strict and brutal system of control. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who advised the monarchs. An assembly made up of all citizens approved all major decisions. From child-hood, a Spartan prepared to be part of the military. All newborn were examined and the healthy lived and the sickly were left to die. Spartans wanted future soldiers or mothers of soldiers to be healthy. At the age of seven, boys trained for a lifetime in the Spartan military. They moved to the barracks and endured brutal and extensive training.
...the use of Spartan war tactics. An example of this is when the Spartans are faced with the challenge of dealing with Xerxes cavalry. When the cavalry approaches the front line, all of the Spartans dropped to the ground, letting the cavalry hop over them, then they arose from the ground, trapping the cavalry in between lines of Spartan soldiers attacking from both sides.
Military success through history can be attributed to a variety of facets;, great men, moral, tactical awareness, and numerous other traits. , However, all of these contributions at their root though are a product of a system’s military culture. Historically many systems saw success in military expeditions because of cultural ties; the Spartans with their Agoge training, the Romans and their evolution of civic militarism, the Jihad of the decentralized Muslim caliphs. One of the finest systems to analyze cultural success in war though is a study of the Varangian Guard, an elite mercenary group that served the Byzantine Empire for about 600 years. The guard’s cultural influence was variable through its history of service and the success in
The Battle of Thermoplyae is a good example of Sparta’s unique military capability, still recognized today nearly 2500 years ago. Although Sparta’s iconic military strength is usually associated with the bravery, skill, and professionalism of its soldiers one must acknowledge the equipment, training and tactics of the Spartan soldier which made him Superior to all other infantry in the Ancient times (with the exception of the Roman Legions).
Macedonia.org, History of. Alexander the Great Alexander of Macedon biography: King of Macedonia and Conqueror of Persian Empire. 2001-2013. Document. 11 October 2013.
The main difference between Greek and Roman warfare was the formations that they fought in. The Grecian armies all used the phalanx as a fighting formation while the Romans used the maniple. The phalanx was one mass formation that consisted of infantry eight deep. The maniple formation was actually a group of formations in a checkerboard pattern. Each maniple consisted of about 120 men and when employed in Italy, the Romans used thirty maniples. The maniple proved to be a better formation, because the phalanx left no room for maneuvering after engagement.
In our modern age of technology, we have vests that allow us to be protected from bullets and that aren't relatively heavy. In ancient Greece they weren't as fortunate as just even their shields would weight around 16 pounds. This is the reason that training and conditioning was fundamental to both the military, athletes and ordinary citizens. With Greece's army being populated by majority of its citizen's, athletic competition was the perfect means to train their bodies to be able bear the burden of the hoplite armour and give them the stamina required to endure a battle. Athletic competition is the type of education that "is said to help youths prepare for their role as defenders of the city and to train men for warfare. It gives them a stamina which is set in powerful contrast to the weak, pale bodies of those who have not trained in this way and therefore wilt in battle under the heat
In the Spartan army, the Spartans invented the phalanx, a formation where solders are in ‘close, deep, formations’; in the phalanx no man is stronger or weaker than each other (History Channel). Every Spartan warrior wore roughly thirty to fifty pounds into every battle. On average, a Spartan army was the maximum unit of ten thousand solders. Within every battle a Spartan warrior carried a spear, sword, helmet, armor, shield, and greaves (shin guards).
Invariably, the Spartans have been represented as speaking of ‘freedom’ and ‘reason,’ versus the forces of tyranny and barbarism. While most wars the Spartans fought were against other Greeks, as the fractious Greek city-states were wont to do, invariably the popular culture accounts of the 20th and 21st century depict them as being pitted against the largest contemporary empire, the Persians, who, in an incredibly short period, were able to create the largest land empire the world had yet seen. The Persians surpassed the Greeks in many ways, and yet there are no Hollywood blockbusters about Cyrus conquering Babylon, or video games of Persian military feats. Modern popular culture has raised the Spartan to the highest pedestal of adoration, producing pulp of every kind to feed his flame. The Persians, meanwhile, have been brought low and demonized, even neglected. The questi...
Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave and kept under a close eye to prevent insurgence (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece). Additionally, Sparta had strict and trained soldiers that underwent intense physical exercising and instruction.