On the first day, Xerxes sent out his first wave but ,because of the narrow passage way, it was easily defended. It was all due to the phalanx and the sides of the mountain provided valuable defense to their weak point, the right wing of the phalanx. The second wave consisted of ten thousand Immortals, which where elite bodyguards of Xerxes, but also failed to scratch the phalanx. It was also due to the fact that the Spartans had longer spears and better armor than the Immortals. The second day of battle gained no ground for Xerxes; the Spartans crushed what they threw at them.
The Spartans,as brave as their sacrifice indubitably was,were professional soldiers trained from birth to be ready to give their lives in combat as Spartan law dictated.Oppositly ,the Thespians were soldiers who chose to add whatever they could to the fight,rather than allow the Spartans to be destroyed alone. The fighting was said to have been extremely brutal.As their numbers diminished the Greeks retreated to small hill in the narrowest part of the pass.The Thebans took this opportunity to the Persians.After their spears broke the Spartans and Thespians kept fighting with short words and after those broke,they were said to have fought with their bare hands,teeth and nails. The Greeks killed many Persians,including two of Xerxes brothers.In this final stand,Leonidas was killed and the Spartans fought very hard to defend his boday.Xerxes in range at the loss of so many of his soldiers,ordered that the head be cut off and the body
Boddins were long and pointy shaped. They were used to pierce armor and chainmale. Broadheads were wider and were used for animals. When it struck and animal the way it was designed would stick in the animal and not fall out. Finally there were arrowheads called general purpse heads.
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.
One of these things is commitment to your fellow man. Towards the end of the book this idea becomes very significant. When the Spartans are outnumbered by the Persians, the one thing that keeps them fighting is not for themselves, not for their own personal glory, but for the man to the left and right of him. Love for the Spartan on either side of themselves in their phalanx was the one thing that helped them endure any and all odds. In fact in this book Love is called the opposite of Fear, and that is exactly why the Spartans were able to overcome the Persians for two days, because of their Love for one another.
The fact that Native Americans had never seen such things made them even more vulnerable to victory. While the Spaniards had steel weapons the soldiers of Atahualpa had: wooden clubs, slingshots and quilted armor plus they had no use of domesticated animals (such as horses etc.). Having steel armor had big advantages do to the fact that Atahualpa’s weapons were mostly wood and could not harm steel. Although the Spaniards had guns they weren’t of much help because the guns from back then took a while to reload. Having horses in the battle was a huge help because they would easily catch up to Atahualpa’s foot soldiers from going back to Cajamarca and calling for back up.
The main weapon used by the Anglo Saxons was the spear, mostly used by peasants, professional soldiers and even the nobility. There were many types of spear or javelin that were used. The first spear Is a light throwing spear that were thrown at the enemy, which is why the warrior carried up to three spear at max while also holding the shield. The last spear would be saved for use in hand to hand combat. Germanic warriors used a special type of javelin called an “angon”.
You also see much of the effects of the war on Robert and Taffler. Taffler is a giant of a man who is very strong but becomes wounded and ironically looses his arms. When Taffler looses his arms he tries to commit suicide while contrasting to that when Robert Ross becomes wounded he strives to live on. This shows that war will effect everyone
Around 1876, Crazy Horse was the leader of this war and he himself was against George Crook and George Custer. Crazy Horse brought a whole group of approximately 1,400 Lakota and Cheyenne by surprising an attack against General George Cook and his 1,000 men. Crazy Horse defeated George Cook and his men. In this battle, Crazy Horse is one of the bravest warriors I’ve ever seen. He would always command loudly to his soldiers, he was always the closest to any other warrior when fighting, and most important of all, they were all shooting at him and he was never hit by any bullets.
Sparta’s military is made up of highly trained men, who’ve been training since the age of seven to thirty. Spartans are very safe because of their military. They don’t go into battle often, only on rare occasions. Other city-states are too scared to fight them and know they will lose because Sparta’s military is so strong. Sparta obviously has a more, fit military than Athens; thus, Sparta is a better civilization than Athens.