The strategy element of Athens military was a large part of why they won the battles they did. The flankers served as a very viable asset, and their army was stronger because of it. With their tactic of ambush, they defeated the Persians, proving they had a better strategy by attacking before the Persians were ready. The Persian idea of battle also worked, and had some civilizations surrendering before the battle even began. The negative side to this was if there were civilizations like Athens, who did not care about how many soldiers each army had, the army would still have to fight another battle. Another con of this was the Persians constantly had to drag around 10,000 people, plus their food, shelter, and battle gear, which was a tough
His force further had innumerable archers. It was with this in mind that the Athenians made the “fateful” decision to train 40,000 men for 200 ships in 481BCE. This force was relatively inexperienced compared to the Persian contingent, which included skilled Phoenician sailors (D.S 11.18.1). The Persians had light, fast boarding ships compared to the Greeks who had stout, strongly built ramming ships (8.10,60). This would prove critical later at the crowded straits of Salamis in 480BCE. If it were not for this fleet, the “Persian conquest of Greece would have been assured.” (7.139). If Persia had control of the sea, defeat by land would quickly have followed due to the inability of the city-states to hold a united front. The halt in city-state squabbles and the creation of the Hellenic League was “no small achievement” and was to the great disadvantage of Xerxes. This clearly was a factor in the overall demise of the campaign. The construction of the Athenian fleet, advocated by Themistocles, was a precursor to this.
The Greeks, Trojans, and Spartans armies were very strategic and resourceful. They used battle forms, The Gods, their religion, and outside the box thinking to overcome battles and win wars. Tactics were highly impressive in the “Bronze Age” and are shown through the very impressive wars they have won. The Greeks used many tactics that included some strategies that are still used in today's
I don't believe that Athens is truly a democracy. The way it was governed by only men proves my point that it wasn't a democracy. A Council of 500 citizens would make and debate on all the laws and decisions in Athens. That sounds like a good idea, but the Council of 500 is all men! Yes it’s a step forward in democracy but there is a lean in the way of the view of men and no view of a woman's perspective.
It is this arrogance and poor insight from the Persian leaders that added to a Greek victory.
Many of the arguments against Sparta reason that government officials did not grant enough power to the people of the city-state, and therefore favor Athens. This is not the case. The kings, elders, and rulers of the Spartan government knew what was best for the citizens of Sparta, and, as a consequence, created strictly regimented rules that shaped Spartan lives for the better. Although Sparta did not have a significant amount of participation in law by common people, it was able to create and sustain an advanced city-state through discipline and a form of government that placed stress on health and military supremacy.
Athens had a geographic advantage because they were very superior. The Athens lived by the Sea which was an advantage because they had an excellent trading system. Even though the mountains protected Sparta it also caused trading problems, the Spartans had no way to get around the massive mountains to trade with people. Athens was located on the coast and included a harbor. The Athenians had an advantage and a disadvantage for them because they had easy water access but during the time of
Rome is a better system than athens because they are more organized they have a little bit more freedom and the education is better. There's better government they have better rights and there's more citizen ship you also don't need as much as athen..
Important Military and Strategic Factors of the Persian Wars During the course of the Persian Wars, the most important military and strategic factors that contributed to Greek victory at the Battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea were due the actions and leadership of the Greek generals and strategoi that lead the Greek forces into battle, and made sometimes difficult decisions and intricate plans in order to save their families, their poleis, and their country from Persian subjugation and destruction. The main contenders in these battles had to overcome adverse conditions and political rivalries in order to get into a position in which they could help to win the war, and many problems and complications arose in battle which meant that plans or decisions had to be changed quickly, or else the Persians would potentially gain an upper hand. The main Greek men attributed to the victories within the
These empires had a strong military, because of they claimed many new land and expanded their empires. The Romans conquered many lands by the way they lined up their men by putting the new soldiers in the front of the veterans. It was setup like this so the inexperienced soldiers could not run away from the battle. The Persians became had a strong
Themistocles was aware that the only way to defeat the Persians was to cut of their naval power, so he devised a plan. He sent a slave to the Persians with a message that they were escaping, and the Persians sent ships to meet there escapees. The Athenian ships were prepared to face them. Their specialty in sea battles, along with the narrowness and swirls of the sea gave the Athenians an advantage. This strategy is what ultimately brought victory to the Greeks, as it left the Persians without a supply line and weakened their forces. The two events, the battle at Marathon and the battle at Salamis, showed that Athens was a great contributor to the war, both land and sea.
The Athenian democracy as all about the people and how they have all the power to decide on rules, provide growth to the people and treat everyone with fairness regardless of status, class, rank or lordship. Athens is not ruled by one individual, it is ruled by the people and not by politicians. Politicians in Athens is only meant to guide the peoples’ actions on what to vote for. Politicians can write whatever they like to change something for their people. However, it’s the people that decide if they will move forward with it.
The Persian Wars were a series of destructive and malevolent battles which occurred in the time frame of 490B.C and 480 – 479B.C. The Greek victory over the Persians in the Persian Wars cannot be attributed to only one factor, more it was a commixture of factors. Such factors include unity, leadership, strategy, tactics and the pre-eminence of the Greek soldier. Each contributing factor was to play a distinctive and pivotal role in the various battles to come, which ultimately would lead to the subsequent demise of the Persians.
Not what Xerxes expected from a small force about to face his hundreds of thousands of troops. What Xerxes didn’t know was that to a Spartan, fighting was almost like a game to them and that death on the battle field was the most honorable way to die. The Spartans were not afraid of King Xerxes or his army so they sat and waited behind their small stone wall for the Persian horde.
The great Athenian general Miltiades came up with a shrewd battle plan. He decided to thin out the ranks in the center of the phalanx to strengthen the wings. During the battle, the Greek wings crushed the Persian wings and forced them to retreat. At the same time, the Persians in the middle managed to break through the weakened center of the phalanx. Instead of pursuing the retreating Persian wings, the Greek wings moved backward to attack the Persians that had broken through the Greek defenses. The Greek center then turned around so that they had the Persians surrounded. The Persians were slaughtered (5). According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Persians lost 6400 men while te Greeks lost only 192 (4).
This left their own center weak, which made the Persians think they could win. However, the Greeks rounded behind them and fought them off in such a way that sent them running back to their ships (Cartwright). The heavier and stronger armor of the Greeks and their cleverness in strategy allowed them to prevail at this decisive battle against all odds. The battle ended with around 6,000 dead Persians and only 192 dead Greeks (Herodotus). This win, however, was only the beginning of a war that would continue into the next decade.