Ancient+Greek+Warfare

Innovation of War

 By: Ivor
==== There has been war, there will always be war, and man will always have the need to have something another man has. The Greeks were not always at peace, even though they were a country they had many disputes between their city-states causing many civil wars and the take off of ancient warfare. Some things that I have always wondered were about their wars, there navel control, city states, the phalanx, and the hoplite soldier. ====

====In the ancient world there were many countries fighting for land including Persia, Macedonia, and Egypt, but for Greece they were fighting for their own land. In Greece it was either do or die, you had to be allies with the right people or it may be your demise. Since Greece was a war torn area and had no government funding for anything each city-state had to fund their own wars and their own people [|(crashnuke08)]. Since there was no government army each city had to pay for their own troops and war supplies. Because of this many cities could not afford to have long wars and usually just one battle settled a dispute [|(crashnuke08)]. The soldiers in Greece had to usually buy all of their own armor since most cities were to poor to fund for armor. But one innovation the phalanx kept as many soldiers alive for another battle. ====

==== After Greeks Dark Age, there were many new inventions, one that will rewrite how warfare will be done. The phalanx, a military formation that consisted of hoplites and some under-armored soldiers would create a barrier with their shields [|(crashnuke08)]. The second line of men would let down there spear which would range from 8-12m long ( [|Brian Todd Carey)]. The reason the phalanx was so effective is because unlike many other formations the phalanx could not only fight off infantry men but also fight off horseman [|(crashnuke08)]. Their shields were 15 pounds [|(] [|Brian Todd Carey)]! The Phalanx became popular because of its extremely low mortality rate in the phalanx; this became the most used formation in Greece. City states could not afford to lose much of their armies. All this has made the phalanx as the most affective formation in that era, but if it was not for the hoplites this formation would have failed. ====

==== The hoplites as one of the main fighting units in Greece were the most deadly on the battlefield. Armed with a 15 pound shield, 8m spear, double bladed sword, helmet, greaves, and other armor made these hoplites near perfect warriors (Anne Pearson p.55). When hoplites were alone they are weak because of how much their armor, shield, and weapons weighed [|(crashnuke08)]. The weight restricted their movements and made them slower but when put together in a phalanx they were almost unstoppable. While in the phalanx the only way to kill a hoplite was to stab the hoplite soldier in the throat [|(] [|Brian Todd Carey)]. However this was almost impossible to even get close enough to stab him. Due to his 8m long spear which would just skewer you on the spot [|(crashnuke08)]. What made them even more deadly was that they had a backup weapon! Now if you have disarmed them of their spear, they also have a double edge serrated blade, but infantry men were not just important in battle, you also needed a strong navy to win. ====

==== Not only was land war important to the Ancient Greeks, but also navel war. Since Greece was at war constantly they had to get their goods imported. Whoever controlled the sea controlled who ate and who did not. If a Greek city-state could not beat a city by land they would create a blockade which would block all of that cities trade for food, and eventfully the city would starve and surrender [|(crashnuke08)]. Also the sea was a very fast mean of transportation rather than just walking all the way around. The two main city states in Greece Athens and Sparta were constantly at war; for the most part Athens controlled the sea and dominated over Sparta (Powell p.28). Athens had extensive control of the sea (Powell p.28). Every were Sparta could march Athens could get there in triple the less time. This account of war shows why the navy was so important, without city states would starve and you would have to walk everywhere. ====

==== When there was a conflict with two city states they would declare war. These wars usual only lasted one battle because of the lack of money and soldiers that Greece had, but when they did fight they fought at each other’s town [|(crashnuke08)]. Usually the stronger city state would siege the other one. In some cases the other city would have a very good defense and all the other city could do was wait for them to starve [|(TheFinerTimes)]. When the cities fought it only took one battle to decide the winner, because of the similarity of warriors and strategy. Most cities were forced to join alliances because most of the cities that did not they got destroyed by others. To be a successful city in Ancient Greece you had to pick your allies right! ====

==== If your teacher ever wants some brilliant questions on Greek warfare these are some questions I suggest you use: How did the Athens navy work so well? Why were soldiers so effective? How was the phalanx created? Why did city states have wars? Why did not Greece have any BIG wars? Those are some questions that your teacher will love and that will make your project more fun to research. Greek warfare throughout their time had hoplites, phalanx, and navel. All of these were a part of their history. These decided battles; they changed history, and led to greater inventions. Without these Greece’s history as we know would have been a lot different. Greece would have never come out of there Dark Age if it was not for these and other inventions. ====

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Work Cited Carey, Brian T. "Weaponry: Greek Phalanx » HistoryNet." //HistoryNet – From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher//. 5 Sept. 2006. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. .

Crashnuke08. "The Warfare of Ancient Greece." //Ancient Greece - History, Mythology, Art, War, Culture, Society, and Architecture.// Google, 2008. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. .

 Pearson, Anne. // Ancient Greece //. New York: Knopf, 1992. Print.

Powell, Anton, and Sean Sheehan. //Ancient Greece//. New York: Facts On File, 2004. Print

Touring, Sydney. "Overview of Ancient Greek War | Ancient Wars - The Finer Times." //Swedish Antique Furniture - Fits in Beautifully with a Scandinavian Decorating Scheme - - The Finer Times -//. 2009. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. .