WAR FROM MYCENEANS TO ROME
The modern day soldier did not arrive at the current level of training methods overnight. Throughout history warfare techniques and strategies have evolved from the earliest primitive battles to the latest technologies. The only way to learn about war is to study the past engagements and lessons learned. There are nine principles of war as follows: Objective, Offensive, Mass, Economy of force, Maneuver, Unity of command, Security, Surprise, and Simplicity. These are the areas of study in order to gain a better understanding of what to do and what to avoid during any engagement.
The battles from yesterday differ from those in recent years and today, because the more primitive
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The Persian Imperial soldier used a different weapon, the bow, and preferred to engage the enemy from a distance. Although the average soldier also wielded a spear and a knife for close combat, the standard scheme was to launch a barrage of arrows from a safe distance from the Mycenean phalanx. A Persian foot soldier as well as a cavalry soldier usually wore little armor as opposed to the Mycenean infantry soldier.
The Persians launched an offensive effort against Greece to stop the eventual takeover of their soil. The most noteworthy fact of the Persian Wars is that the Greek armies never launched an offensive attack on the Persians, but instead kept to defensive positions that protected them from wide open areas and the Persian assaults. The Persian Wars did expose a weakness; the Greek states were unprepared to cooperate together as a coalition against an outsider’s attack.
The problem of the city-states not cooperating was resolved by forming a new alliance, the Delian League, which was converted into the Athenian Empire. At the heart of the union was a new form of tactic, a navy to control the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Seas. With a navy to control the waters, the trade market grew and guaranteed the Athenian control of all
It is said that darius did not lead the invasion but his best commander or general datis was in control of the majority of the army. His nephew was also controlling a couple thousand persians to lead into war. The persians total strength was about 90,000 men and the greeks total strength was between 10,000 and 20,000 but supposedly more around the lower half. When the 2 armies battle in 490 B.C. the persians took more of a long ranged tactic with arrows but the greeks armour was a lot stronger so it did little damage. The greeks on the other hand with the stronger swords, armour, and close battle skills won a great victory with unlikely odds to begin with. This victory was so huge that they made statues and called
The Roman Empire had a solid armed force which was viewed as the best battling power in mankind 's history. The Roman Army strategies and arrangements, versatile troop organization and adaptable vital sending permitted the Romans to make and keep up an extended and stable Empire which made out of various individuals from various ethnic gatherings (Luttwak, 2016).
The Spartans were known for their “well-disciplined law abiding society, disciplined army” which, combined with the Greeks, managed to offer the greatest resistance to Xerxes. (edsmitement.org) The Greek cities all came in agreement the resistance against Xerxes will be led by the Spartans as their reputation in warfare was unmatched. (AncientGreece.co.uk) The Persian Empire had a population of approximately 70 million while covering 1 million square miles of territory. Greece only had “fewer than 2 million inhabitants and only covered 50,000 miles of territory”. The Persian Empire was a unified nation, despite its diversity compared to Greece which was made up of “individual
The second factor that led to the persian wars was Greece involvement in helping the ionian to revolt against the persians. With Aristagoras, fearing the reaction of the persian king Darius to his defeat, he took the leader of the revolutionary movement after his failed expedition against the Naxos, Aristagoras deposed the other pro-Persian Ionian tyrants and set up democracies in their place, basically like the Athenian democracy. However, Athens and another city-state, Eretria, did send ships and troops who joined the Ionians, marched into the provincial capital, In Herodotus Histories book states that “the forces of the Ionian League march against Sardis and “liberate” it but in the ensuing celebration, the Ionians burn the city down”, though they did not capture the citadel. The Persians criticized the Greeks as invading terrorists. However when persians failed on their first attack by using the strategy of land, this time they decided to attack by sea this was because the Persians were especially mad at the Athenians because the Athenians had invaded them during the ionian revolt, if they got Athens, then maybe they would attack the rest of
They “believ[ed] that their security depended on winning a competition for power” (Hunt 79). Allied with city-states from northern Greece, the islands of the Aegean Sea, and along the Ionian coast, this alliance was built on naval power. By controlling the seas and most coastal regions Athens created a global super power that could rival Sparta’s alliance in size and strength, intimidating the other nation. “It began as a democratic alliance…” (Hunt 79), but Athens soon took complete control of the allies, because the city-state was allowed to command and set up all of the league’s financial arrangements for the naval fleet. Around three hundred city-states paid dues according to its size to the Athenians, who in turn were in charge of how the dues were spent. Most of the dues that were not already paid in the form of triremes were spent on building the boat and paying the oarsmen. It was through this line of work and amount of income, gaining both income and political influence, that the poor citizens were “eager to expand Athens’s power over other Greeks” (Hunt 80). This very fleet of triremes were used by the Athenians to force disobedient allies to pay financial dues. With Athens becoming as powerful as they did in a short amount of time the militant Sparta feared for their superiority in controlling their own providences and
War has been a terrible part of the human existence since the beginning of time. According to historians there has been only 268 years of peace out of the nearly 3,500 years that civilized humans have existed (Hedges). That is a staggering statistic showing how deep-rooted war is in the minds and hearts of people. So while war itself might be inevitable the outcome of any given conflict is anything but predictable. There are many different elements that come into play during combat but perhaps the most influential factor is geography. In fact, geography has been such an important part of war that a new field of study has emerged in recent years entitled military geography. On particular war where the affect of geography can be seen is World War I. During this war the newly formed Germany attempts to invade France and gain control over Western Europe. This was invasion was designed to be quick and decisive with Germany overwhelming Franc in as little as six weeks. However, this plan failed terribly and led to one of the bloodiest, most gruesome war of attrition the world as ever seen. A reason for this failure was the geography of Western Europe. The land in this region is fairly level and flat providing little to no cover for attacking forces. This geography played a pivotal role in determining the outcome of two of the most well known battles of World War I, the Battle of the Marne and the Battle of Verdun.
One decade went by, Persia attacked the Greece once again. This time was in Thermopylae. The event that directly led up to it was that the Athenians had helped in the Asia Minor Ionians revolting. Persian regarded it as a signal and took the opportunity to revenge. Of course, objectively speaking, the real cause of the war was the aggression and expansion of Persian Empire.
After the Persian wars there was a development of Athenian control over the commercial and economic life of Greece. This growth was caused by the Persian wars themselves. Athens faced a mighty foe in Persia and therefore formed the Delian League. This league was an alliance of cities based around Athens. Each city contributed funds to the construction and maintenance of a vast navy for use against the Persian threat. After the wars Athens dominated the Delian league and declared the contributions from each city mandatory even though the Persian menace was gone. Over time these “allied” cities came under direct Athenian control and the Athenian Empire began to grow. The large navy was still maintained after the war and Athens, already a naval power in the region tightened its grip on the neighboring waters including those that surrounded the peloponnese. This had the effect of enclosing Sparta’s peninsula in a blanket of Athenian naval power. To the Spartans this development was one of considerable worry. The historian Thucydides wrote; “The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired (in Sparta), made war inevitable.” This comment validates the seriousness of Spartan worry and its contribution to the sparking of the peloponnesian war. Sparta’s geography left it vulnerable in some ways. The
The Grecian city states were a fractious lot with self serving alliances shifting daily. This prevented any war from engulfing all nations. Only when faced with an external threat would they combine their forces. In 446/5 that ended with a treaty splitting Greece into 2 hegemonies (Gill, 2017a). With the contentious nature of the city states (particularly Athens), war was inevitable, and when it happened, Greece was devastated, and left it ripe for external invasion. Ironically, such external threats were the original justification for the formation of the Delian League. In this regard it was an utter
Frank Miller? Gerard Butler? Am I ringing any bells? No? Okay, well, allow me to explain. In 2006 actor Gerard Butler starred in the movie 300 directed by Frank Miller. The movie basically gives you some insight into the war with the Persians, Athens, and Sparta. However, they did not fight armorless like so in the film. I mean really, how dumb would that be? Anyways, the Spartans battle technique was actually quite advanced for their time. Soldiers were covered head to toe, they wore breast plates, shin guards, helmets, and carried a large shield made out of wood and bronze. Spartans would stand shoulder to shoulder during battle, and when Persians sent their arrows flying at them; they simply took a knee and lifted their shields, having no damage done. At least in the movie they got that right. Okay, it’s not that I don’t like the movie, because I do so don’t get all touchy.
Orchestrating the widespread adoption of its culture and establishing a renowned veneration in its military, the Persian Wars were a momentous event in Greek history. The long fought war between Persians and Greeks was instrumental in uniting a region in disarray, fostering a culture of unity and collaboration evident throughout western civilisation even today. It foresaw the abandonment of slavery and prudent hierarchical structures in exchange for decadence, comfort and expression. The Persian Wars additionally demonstrated Greece’s prowess in both naval and land-bound combat. Commanded by the domineering Spartans on the battlefield and reinforced by the sea-fairing Athenians, the Greek forces were overwhelming in unity. The Persian wars
Persia felt they were vulnerable with their new democracy, so they invaded Athens in anger and with the understanding they could use it as a base to attack the rest of Greece. After the Persians failed their first invasion of Greece, they took ships to Athens and fought a glorious battle at the
Although, the Greek city-states in Persia disagreed with Persia and revolted against the empire, and the rivalry began. The Persians heavily outnumbered the Greeks, but since there were less greeks to train and less materials to buy, the Greeks had better armour, weapons and training. However they also had something that could not be taught to the Persian fighters. The Greeks were fighting for survival, for their families and their freedom, whereas the Persians were fighting for more land for their ruler. In the first battle, the persians sent what was considered a small force to conquer greece, but to the outnumbered greeks, it was a huge amount of people. It lasted till 479 BC until the greeks won when they managed to sink persian ships. The next battle, the battle of marathon, is where the phalanx comes in. The Persian army arrived on ships, and found the greeks already at an advantage, intimidated, the Persian army packed up their best Soldiers to go and fight in another part of Greece. Seeing their chance for an almost ensured domination, the greek Soldiers attacked using the phalanx. They won, and marched back just in time to fight and win against the persian Soldiers and although the greeks had a number disadvantage, the creation of the phalanx allowed the empire to be successful.
The Roman Republic and the Roman Empire calm lasted for over one-thousand years, and at its peak, its territories affiliated from the Atlantic Ocean in the West, to the rivers of Mesopotamia to the East, and from the Sahara wilderness in the South, to the River Rhine in Northern Europe. The one allocation that exhausted to this arresting adeptness applicative afflicted into the exploits of the Roman army. The advancing had succeeded in their exhausted campaigns and had bigger committed their the borders from aloft invaders for hundreds of years. The absoluteness of the accumulated become that the Roman animate afflicted into the able agency in any successes or disasters the Roman commonwealth incurred, and at its best axiological detail, it became in the end the a success strategies and doctrines of the Roman army that bogus their victories so pervasive. This calendar will trace the development of the animate from the age-old Roman abidingness via the Marius' reforms, with an accent placed on the accumulated one war formations and methods breath with the aid of the Roman Legions. The age-old Roman advancing afflicted into shaped beneath the Etruscan ruler, Tarquin the Proud
What is the ‘Principles of War'? An answer for this can be said that the ‘Principles of War' apart from wars itself can aid to understanding strategic rules that can be used in conducting military operations, law, business and life on the hold. This has stood the test of practice, experimentation and analysis by a Chinese philosopher called Sun Tzu, circa 500 BC who captured the essence of his philosophies in a book called ‘Sun Tzu on the Art of War'. To any country or state the ‘Art of War'