Western Civ Blog 24

Today in class we learned about the wars in Ancient Greece. First we leaned about the fighting Spartans. Greeks were warlike people, especially the Spartans. Spartans were known for their tough, ruthless infantry soldiers who fought on land. Spartan boys started training for war from the time they were seven. Then we learned about the Athens naval power. Athens had a great infantry too, but nothing could compare with their navy. Their most effective weapon was the trireme. Trireme was a technological marvel. It was the fastest ship in the world at the time. It was rowed by up to 170 men on three levels. It could be used as a battering ram. The boat was extremely fast. The phalanx was a close-rank, dense grouping of warriors. They were armed with long spears and interlocking shields. The soldiers would advance slowly toward the enemy, until they broke through their ranks. Greece appears little and insignificant. The Persian Empire is very big. Persians have a huge army, and nearly unlimited resources. The greek army had iron weapons meant ordinary citizens could afford to arm themselves, foot soldiers (hoplites) trained from an early age, armed with spears, swords, shields, often fought in phalanx formation, “home field” advantaged they were motivated to preserve democracy. Persian army first archers, do damage from a distance. Then the cavalry disrupt communication between generals and soldiers. Then lightly armored infantry, carried spear, sword, and bow. Huge numbers, long way from home, professional army, soldiers for hire, or mercenaries. In 490 BC, Persian fleet attacks Marathon, but they lost.