Leonidas’ valour and courage is legendary. Herodotus records him retorting to a frightened soldier about the Persian arrows covering the sky: ‘then we shall fight in the shade’. Leonidas and his men were completely outnumbered yet they managed to delay the troops for roughly 4 days. This decision made by Leonidas meant that the Athenian troops could return to Athens, evacuate the city and decide on a battle place that suited the Greeks- Salamis. It was this delay that allowed Themistocles to persuade to the other military leaders to fight at Salamis which, according to Barry Strauss, was the turning point in the Persian wars.
Tough Love – Life in the Spartan Army The Spartan Army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leading city-states of ancient Greece. Sparta created one of the toughest and most disciplined armies in the world. Their soldiers were trained from being infants to be tough and obedient to their laws. Sparta enjoyed a period of supremacy after the Peloponnesian War until they met their first defeats against Iphicrates of Athens and Epaminondas of Thebes. The troops were citizens known as the Spartiates, the superior social class of Sparta; the others were the Helots, who were slaves and the Perioeci who were the upper-slave-class.
Spartan’s military was mandatory and strict. The ancient Spartan warriors are known for their bravery, professionalism and skill, a reputation well deserved. Whenever great force was needed from them they were ready. The Spartans also thought that the arts of reading and writing were not necessary. Boys learned the Iliad and songs of war and religion, running, wrestling, and wielding a weapon.
The Spartan heroism at the Battle of Thermopylae, during the Persian Wars, inspired all of Greece to fight back with all their might against the invading Persians. Athenian and Spartan fought side by side in the Battle of Plataea, which ended Persian invasions of Greece. One way that Athens and Sparta really differed was in their idea of getting along with the rest of the Greeks. Sparta seemed content to keep to
His country would have been just as strong and capable militarily after Helen left as before. Whether for pride, or to prove that offending the Greeks will have consequences, the cause may seem noble at first, but probably does not justify a ten year long war. In a display of selfish anger and pride, Agamemnon at first refuses to return Chryses to the Trojans when the priest of Apollo offered many gifts in exchange for her. “The Achaians cried out in favor/ that the priest be respected and the shining ransom be taken;/ yet this pleased not the heart of Atreus’ son Agamemnon, / but he harshly drove him away.” (1.22-25) Thinking only of his own pleasure and gratification at keeping Chyses as a slave and lying in bed with her (although he is married), Agamemnon foolishly turns away the priest favored by Apollo. The Greeks suffered the wrath of Apollo for nine days, until Agamemnon finally agreed to give her up.
The Greeks being citizen soldiers fought for their homes; families; religious shrines; city states; to preserve their new democratic way of life; and their desire to be free and rule themselves without an oriental overlord. The Persian army were conscripted and therefore they were not fighting to defend their homeland. As a result of this they were often poorly trained and some only took part in the army and battles as a way of impressing the king. As well as conflicting reasons behind the victory, the Persians and Greek army adapted many different fighting strategies. The Greeks had their advantage in close range.
This was a culture that achieved supremacy due to unyielding determination and greeted death on the battlefield with honour. Welcome to tonight’s episode of ‘Ancient Civilizations’, and yes indeed, I will be discussing the Spartan Military system. The sole priority of the Spartan military was their training and weapons. For the Spartan male their training began before they were born. They married the strongest boys with the strongest girls and the fastest boys with the fastest girls in order to bread the best warriors.
Obedience because they would have to tolerate the training and pain and not drop out. Organisation because without it the Roman army would not know where to go and would not win without it if they were facing a bigger army. The second stage of the weapon training was to learn how to throw a pilum. This was like a javelin that had a wooden shaft 1.5 metres long
Hector and Achilles are both excellent warriors; however they both fight for very different reasons. Achilles has menis, which means that he has a great deal of killing force. This superiority over all of his peers in battle translates into social statues and honor through respect. Through his accomplishments in battle, Achilles receives the Trojan girl Briseis which is a token of honor. (Homer).
2. First mistake is that he did not prepare enough for this short meeting with Norio, and he just rushed into the signing the contract part. Second one is that he did not sense what his client wanted and obviously had a difficulty to understand cultural differences. 3. I think Norio thought the company he cooperated with was not respectful for their meeting, because he sent out some messages to Michael about missing predecessor Roger was disturbing and the duration of the meeting was only five minutes.