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.
On the issue of admiration Machiavelli states that a prince ideally should be loved and feared, but it is more important that he be feared. It is more likely that his citizens would be loyal to him if they feared him. I believe that the true nature of man has not changed since Machiavelli’s time. I think that most modern governments still employ many of his general principals for ruling. Laws and punishment are necessary to prevent people from committing crimes.
Spartan military king who bravely led a small force of Greeks (the famous 300) against the much larger Persian army of Xerxes, at the pass of Thermopylae. During this battle, 480 B.C., the 300 small Greek army lead by Leonidas himself fought hard and delayed the Persians from pushing forward for a while. The small Greek army would decrease the size of the Persian army and hold them off until Persians found a route to outflank the Greek army. King Leonidas realizing this, commanded his army to retreat and him and a handful of loyal soldiers that wanted to stay with him willingly fought the Persian army. The number of Greeks left was around 300 all of which fell including Leonidas.
How were the Spartans putting conservative politics into action in their life within Sparta in the 370s before Leuctra? To what degree is Xenophon’s view a fair one? The Spartans were putting conservatism politics into action in their daily lives by continuing to follow the laws Lycurgus had laid out for them centuries before. Some such laws are the role of women, the role of sex, and the role of equality described in Xenophon’s ‘Constitution of Lacedaimonians’, written around the 370’s. However Xenophon’s view is not a totally fair one, considering his past military experiences with Spartans, as well as the fact that he was not a Spartan citizen and therefore only knew the official laws laid out to him.
They claimed the ‘precedent of Richard II’s minority to support their actions.’ Though the council did rule fairly on the whole, it created a big problem. Henry VI became king at the age of 11 months after Henry V died in August 31, 1422. However before Henry V died, he had made many plans for his sons minority on his death bed. John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed senior regent of the realm and was in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedford’s absence, the government of England was headed by Henry V’s other brother, Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, who was appointed Protector and Defender of the Realm.
They say that the Spartans had the best army in Greece; their bravery was legendary but actually just how good was the Spartan army? For the young Spartan boy it was a requirement to join the army and fight to defend their city. As a young boy the Spartans were trained up to become part of the great army. Those who did not have the wealth to afford a horse were expected to serve as foot soldiers. If they were wealthy enough they would have to pay for their own arms and armour and then they formed the heavily-armed infantry which drilled and prepared for battle as a unit.
We have a statement from one of the Major Generals “It is much more civilised in this district no more inadequate behaviour.” My final point proving Cromwell to be a villain is when Cromwell used his army when he wanted to take power that he couldn’t get lawfully. One thing Cromwell could do is take advantage of what he had got, this was the army. For an example he disagreed with parliament twice so on both occasions he marched in to Parliament with his army behind ordering parliament to be shut down. This shows he would use his advantages to get what he wants without caring about the civilians who look up to him and think he is a
Spartans were completely focused on their military. It was their entire way of life. Their training started at birth. With strict rules of conduct on how to live your life ranging from marriage to death, the Spartans were born and raised training for war. The newly born Spartans were inspected by the committee of elders called the Ephors; they were then bathed in red wine.
Government and Religion Spartan government and religion was an important aspect to Sparta. Population is unknown and scientists only speculate. They do know that around 479-371 B.C. ; Sparta could barely organize 1,000 soldiers, so its believe that population was somewhat low depending on the era. Also, the Spartans were rich because owning property and passing money down their families made for future generations to have money [6] the government of the Spartans was of an oligarchical rule.
Both play a similar role in leadership but are able to use their power over the military, law, control of wealth, and religion in different ways. First the use of power over military strength is very different. A king has total and complete control over the military and can use it in any way he sees fit. When the king needs to defend his land then he sends the military to fight against invaders or if the citizens are getting out of hand and trying to over throw the king, the military is used to put the citizens back into place. For example Pharaoh Narmer, who ruled Upper Egypt, used his power over the Egyptian military to unite Upper and Lower Egypt.