by Kyla

Created on: August 09, 2007

The Greek Fighting Style

After the Greek dark ages, the Greek fighting style changed dramatically. With the invention of the hoplite and the creation of the phalanx fighting ranks, it was easier to mount large offensives.

Phalanxes were large armies, consisting of Hoplites. The ranks were only broken in the center, and by two individual flanking sections. Each hoplite was armed with a double-bladed sword and a pike that he could thrust or throw. Each man also had a thick round shield, a breast plate of metal and/or leather, and shin guards, called greaves. Each man would hold his shield in his left hand, and his sword in his right. He would hold his shield over the man to his left, and he would be protected by the man's shield to his right. This shield-overlapping created a solid wall of brass, iron, and gold that effectively prevented most projectiles and enemies from getting to them.

The downside to this effective, yet bulky, fighting maneuver was that men tended to drift to the right when fighting, to take full advantage of the man's shield on their right. The Greeks solved this problem by placing the best fighters on the far right flank to keep the ranks from drifting that way.

Their navy also became more advanced and maneuverable, with the introduction of a new fighting ship called the trireme. It was faster, smaller, and much more maneuverable than it's earlier counterparts. Ships were initially only used for transportation purposes to and from a battlefield, but they would later be used to fight. Greece would also become one of the leading powers on the seas.

The Powers That Be

Ancient Greece was split into many small sections, called states or city-states. Sparta was one of these, as was Thebes and Athens. Each of these city-states were relatively self-sufficient, their only comparison being that they considered Athens to be their semi-capitol. At that time, the modern concept of 'Greece' as a nation did not exist, Greece being separated, and the power often fluctuating between city-states. These city-states often warred, causing land to also change hands often.

One example is the Peloponnesian War. It was mainly between Sparta, the best, most efficient land fighting force, and Athens, with it's large naval force. It lasted from 431-404 BC, and the both the phalanx and the trireme were used extensively in the conflict. Sparta eventually won the war, and also supremacy over Greece.

The God of War

The Greeks believed in all-powerful beings that watched over their warfare. One was Ares, who was regarded as the god of savage war, or slaughter. He was believed to be the son of Zeus and Hera. Another major war deity was Ares' sister, Athena. Athena however, was believed to be the goddess of strategic war.

The Greek Legacy

Greek warfare shone on the battlefield for centuries, until the year of 404 BC, when Sparta took over the leadership of the Greek empire, and it began to unravel. The Grecian Empire was taken over by Macedonia, and later, Rome.

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