Battles Fought between the Greeks and Their Neighbors - Essay Example

HIST 300 December 2007 Battles Fought Between the Greeks and Their Neighbors The s of Ancient Greece fought many battles with both themselvesand other neighboring powers. The Greeks formed many unique styles of warfare and their innovations spread to many nations. Greek tactics included the phalanx infantry formation, and later the use of combined arms. Greek influences on tactics and equipment lasted until several centuries after the invention of gunpowder, and strategies invented by the Greeks are still used today. The most common formation used by the Greeks was the phalanx. This was a formation of heavy infantryman, or hoplites, armed with long spears, armor, shields, and short swords. The total weight of a hoplite's equipment and armor was 50-60 pounds. Generally, only the wealthy and upper-middle class served as hoplites due to the high costs of the equipment. At first, the spears were about seven feet long, and the formation was about six to seven ranks deep. In combat the phalanx would move towards the enemy in unison, forming a thick wall of spears. When two phalanxes fought, one would attempt to either break the formation of the other or occasionally push the soldiers in the opposing phalanx over. Eventually some more advanced tactics were developed, such as sudden attacks on a certain point in a phalanx. The phalanx was a strong formation that had high shock power and could defend against charging heavy cavalry. However, the formation was also slow, and it needed to be set up before battle. Light infantry was also used often by Greek city-states. Types of light infantry included peltasts, or javelin throwers; archers; and slingers. Peltasts were the most common type of light infantry. They fought with swords and javelins, and they wore only light armor and shields. Archers carried a bow and arrow, and slingers carried a sling that could be used to hurl small stones or lead slugs at an enemy. The equipment carried by the light infantry was cheaper than that carried by the hoplites, and many poorer citizens fought as light infantry. While light infantry could not withstand a charge of heavy infantry if it was trapped, it was more mobile, and could wear down the enemy from afar. Cavalry was also occasionally used by the Ancient Greeks. Originally light cavalry that threw javelins was used, but the Macedonians developed a type of heavy cavalry known as The Companion Cavalry. These cavalrymen carried nine to twelve foot lances and wore heavy armor. Light cavalry was used for reconnaissance and harassment, and the companions were used to make a decisive charge that would overrun an enemy force and win the battle. Ancient Greek naval forces used a type of warship called the trireme. This ship was propelled by three rows of oars. The rowers were slaves in many states, and poor citizens in Athens. Triremes carried marines for boarding an enemy ship, archers, a battering ram and some small ballistae and catapults. One common tactic that was used was ramming, which is where a ship would speed up and try to collide with another ship with its battering ram so that a hole would be broken in the other ship. The other major tactics were boarding and a tactic where a ship would brush against another to try to break the oars in the other ship. The first major battles that the Greeks fought against opponents from outside Greece were in the Persian Wars. These wars lasted from 499 BC to 448 BC. The Persians used different tactics than the Greeks. Persian forces were mostly made up of light infantry that used bows, spears, and swords. Persian infantry had only light armor and wicker shields. Persian tactics involved the use of large amounts of archery. Usually, only the front ranks of the Persian infantry would engage in melee combat, while the other ranks showered the enemy with arrows. The Immortals were an elite unit that consisted of only the best warriors. Only Medians, Elamites, or Persians could serve in this unit. The Immortals always kept their strength at 10,000 men, and they served as the Emperor's personal bodyguard. They received special training and a special diet, but in combat, they used tactics that were similar to the regular Persian infantry. The Persians also used some light cavalry for reconnaissance, harassment, and surprise attacks. The Persian Empire also had a large navy that was formed of ships similar to the Greek ones. The navy was used for naval battles and it was often used to supply large forces of ground troops. The Greco-Persian Wars started when several Greek cities in the then Persian-controlled Ionia rebelled against Persian rule. The Greeks managed to take Sardis, but after this, they were defeated by a Persian counterattack. The Persians quickly advanced on Miletus. The Battle of Lade, which occurred in 494 BC, was the first major battle between the Greeks and the Persians. The various allied Greek states had a combined force 353 triremes, and the Persians had 600 ships. In this naval battle, the Persians were victorious due to the fact that disagreements between the commanders of the various Greek fleets cause many of the fleets to flee before the battle began. The few Greek ships that stayed were severely outnumbered, and they were destroyed by the Persian fleet. The revolt ended after this battle. After this revolt was subdued, the Persian Emperor Darius sent his son, Mardonius, on a raid into Greece to punish the Greeks that assisted the revolts in 492 BC. The expedition marched through Thrace and Macedonia, and Marodonius met little resistance. The only significant problems were when a Thracian tribe, the Vrygians, wounded Marodonus, in a night raid. However, this tribe was soon destroyed. The Persian Navy subdued the island of Thassos, but it suffered severe losses in a storm near Mt. Athos. Marodonus ordered his forces back to the Asian side of the Aegean Sea after this disaster. A later expedition led by Datis and Artaphernes was more successful. In this expedition, the city of Eritrea, which assisted the Ionian rebels, was destroyed. Darius sent his main army by sea to Attica in 490 BC. They landed at the plain of Marathon. There are many estimates for the size of the Persian fleet and army. Herodotus claims that the fleet included 600 warships and 3,000 transports, and Samodetes claims that the army numbered 200,000. Both numbers are considered to be too high by most modern historians. Most ancient and modern sources place the size of the Athenian army at around 10,000 men. The Battle of Marathon was fought in 490 BC. The Athenian and Persian Armies confronted each other for five days. On the sixth day, Miltades ordered a sudden attack. The Persian cavalry was not at the scene of the battle at that day. Miltades arranged his forces so that the phalanx would be four ranks deep in the center and eight ranks deep at the front. The entire Greek army suddenly charged at the Persians. The center charged at first, but then drew back. The wings continued attacking. The Persian army was surrounded, and as their backs were to the sea, they could not use the strategy of retreating while firing arrows. The Athenians were victorious, and the Persians suffered severe losses that are estimated to be around 6,400 men. The Persians quickly retreated to their boats, and The Persian fleet sailed back to Asia. After the defeat at Marathon, the Persians raised another army to attack Greece in 480 BC. Herodotus puts the size of this army at 2,641,610 combat troops and an equal number of support troops. The navy was claimed to have 1,237 ships. However, most modern historians claim that the Persian army was no larger than 250,000 men, and that the navy had no more than 600 warships. The Persians crossed the Hellespont by lashing ships together. The massive Persian army moved slowly, and it took them three and a half months to march the distance of 360 miles from the Hellespont to Therme. Thirteen days later, the Persians reached Thermopylae and ran into a Greek force of 10,000 men led by King Leonidas of Sparta. The pass of Thermopylae guarded the only route that the Persians could take through the mountains to reach Athens. Xerxes waited four days for the outnumbered Greek forces to flee, but the stayed at the pass. On the fifth day, he sent his large army on a frontal assault against the Greek positions. The Greeks repelled the Persians for two days, and the Persians suffered heavy losses. Late on the second day, a Greek traitor gave the Persians information about a path around the pass. The Persians began to encircle the Greek forces. Most of the Greeks decided to escape, but a contingent of 300 Spartan bodyguards and 700 Thespians decided to make a last stand against the Persians. The Greeks attacked the Persians, causing many losses among both the Persians and the Greeks. The Greeks then withdrew to a hill, and stood until all were killed by Persian arrows and a Persian attack. At around the same time of the Battle of Thermopylae, the Athenian and Persian fleets engaged in the Battle of Artemisium. The Persian fleet attempted to encircle the Athenians, but the small size of the narrow strait prevented this, and both fleets suffered heavy losses. The battle was considered a stalemate, and both fleets withdrew. After both battles the Persians advanced, but their losses were great and the Greeks had time to regroup. The Persians sacked all Greek cities that they marched through, including Athens. A decisive naval battle at Salamis stopped the Persian advance. It is generally accepted that the Persians had about 600 ships in their navy and the Greeks around 300 ships in this battle. In the Battle of Salamis, the Persian Navy sailed into the narrow Strait of Salamis to attack the smaller Greek Navy. The Greek Navy drew them into a trap and encircled the Persian fleet. The Persian fleet was jammed in the narrow straits, and they could not escape due to unfavorable winds. The Greeks sank at least 200 Persian ships, while suffering only minor losses themselves. The Admiral of the Persian Navy was also killed. After this battle, the Persians could no longer supply their army, and a retreat from Greece began. During the Persian retreat, two more battles were fought. The Battle of Plataea caused the Persian Army to suffer major casualties. An allied Greek army of 38,700 hoplites and 71,300 light troops faced off against 300,000 Persians and Greek allies of Persia. The two armies stood off for ten days. The Persians captured the Greek water supply, and the Greeks decided to begin combat. The Athenians and Spartans switched positions. The Persian commander, Mardonius, thought that the Spartans were retreating and he attempted to pursue them. The Spartans withdrew up a hill that the Persian cavalry could not climb up. While this was going on, The Athenians and Persian Greek allies were locked in a stalemate. The Persians fired arrows at the Spartans and Tegeans, but the Spartan phalanx suddenly charged and destroyed the Persians. Mardonius was killed in this charge. The Persian commander who took command afterwards ordered a retreat. The Greeks took the Persian camp, and suffered only minor losses while supposedly killing all but 43,000 Persians. Around the same time as this battle, the Greek and Persian fleets fought in the Battle of Mycale. The Persian fleet debarked, and the troops decided to battle the Greeks on the land. The Greeks also left their ships. The Greeks attacked, and defeated the Persians. The Persian fleet was destroyed. After these two battles, the Persians left Greece. The Greeks and Persians still fought in some minor wars over colonies, but the Persians never attempted to invade Greece again. The next major series of Greek battles against outside opponents were the battles fought in the conquests of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was the king of Macedonia from 336 BC to 323 BC. His goal was to conquer the known world. In 334 BC Alexander crossed the Bosphorus and entered the Persian Empire with a balanced force of 42,000 men. His army contained a new type of phalanx that had twenty-one foot spears, light infantry and cavalry, and the heavy Companions. The first battle that he fought was The Battle of the Granicus. It resulted in an easy victory for the Greeks as their cavalry easily routed the Persian cavalry and the outnumbered Persian infantry. The Greek force was twice the size of the Persian force. The Greeks continued to advance. The Persian king, Darius III, formed a large army and confronted Alexander at Issus. At the Battle of Issus, a Persian army that is now considered to be around 100,000 men faced the Greeks across a shallow river. The Persians used some Greek mercenaries to form phalanxes, but the mercenaries were inferior in equipment and possibly training to the troops in Alexander's army.The Persians attacked the Greeks on their left flank. The Greeks held the left and center just long enough to mount a charge that shattered the Persian left flank with the Companion cavalry and the elite Macedonian infantry. Darius III fled from the field, and the Persians were slaughtered as they attempted to retreat in a disorganized fashion. Alexander accepted ransom for members of the Persian royal family, but rejected a peace treaty that would give him power over western parts of the Persian Empire. Alexander continued to advance. In 331 BC, Darius III raised another army, and another battle occurred between Alexander and the Persians at the village of Gaugamela in modern Iraq. The Persian army is currently estimated to be around 92,000, and it included war elephants and chariots with scythes in addition to the usual mix of Persian troops. The Greeks numbered around 40,000. At the beginning of combat, both armies placed their cavalry on the flanks. As the battle started, Alexander attempted to lure most Darius's forces to the flanks so that he could attack the center. He was successful in doing this. The chariots were stopped by the long lances of the phalanxes. Alexander then carefully advanced at the Persian center with his Companion cavalry and a force of peltasts. The peltasts distracted the Persian cavalry that was in the area, while the Companions attacked the infantry in the Persian center. Once again, the Persians were routed. However, Alexander had to wait to pursue them due to the fact that the forces on his left flank were in trouble. The left flank was rescued, but Darius escaped, and he fled into Persia.As Darius was fleeing, he was murdered by Bessus,one of his commanders. Alexander was now considered the legitimate King of Persia. The Persians, led now by Ariobarzanes, made a final stand against the Greeks at The Battle of the Persian Gate, in what is now northwestern Iran. A part of the Macedonian Army, led by Alexander, had to pass through a narrow mountain pass. The Persians ambushed the Macedonians there. As the Greeks traveled through the pass, the Persians dropped boulders on the Greeks, launched catapults at them, and fired arrows. Alexander's forces suffered heavy losses as they made a disorderly retreat from the pass. The pass was help by the Persians for a month, until the Greeks managed to encircle the Persians by using other routes through the mountains. When the Persians were encircled, they made a desperate stand, and all were killed in a suicide charge against the Macedonians. This battle played the role of a "Persian Thermopylae". When this battle was over, there was no more official Persian resistance. It took a few more years to eliminate any remaining guerilla forces. After conquering Persia, Alexander continued his march and entered India in 326 BC. There were many battles and sieges against the Khamboja clans in northwestern India. Some of them were difficult, but Alexander was victorious in all of them. In one battle he feigned a retreat, and then destroyed the enemy with a sudden attack. In 326, Alexander fought against King Porus in the Punjab in The Battle of the Hydapses River. Alexander found a suitable crossing point, and led his forces across it. They were now on the right flank of King Porus's army. Porus ordered his army to advance. The war elephants caused problems for the Macedonian cavalry, as they scared the horses. Alexander had his cavalry engage the Indian cavalry, and avoid the elephants. The Indian cavalry was encircled and eliminated, and the phalanxes were able to halt the charge of the elephants. They suffered great losses in doing so. Porus's army was surrounded, and it surrendered. Alexander attempted to advance further into India, but weather problems and information that other Indian Kingdoms had thousands of war elephants in their armies caused his army to mutiny when they were ordered to cross the Ganges River. Alexander thus returned to Persia, and his conquests ended. He died in 326 BC, and his empire was divided among his successors. This marked the beginning of the Hellenistic era. Greek culture spread across the Mediterranean. Macedonia and Greece were later conquered by Rome. Rome fought several wars against Macedonia. The Romans fought differently than the Greeks. The major unit of a Roman army was the legion, which was made up of multiple small square formations, or maniples, that contained troops with short swords, large shields, and javelins. There were also many auxiliary troops in a legion, such as javelin throwers, archers, slingers, and cavalry. The Second Macedonia resulted in a decisive defeat for Macedonia, and illuminated weaknesses in the phalanx formation. In the Battle of Cynoscepha, the agile Roman legions were able to defeat the ungainly phalanx by using their small swords and shields against the long and heavy spears. The Macedonians discarded their spears to fight with swords, but the Romans proved to be better swords men, and the Macedonians were defeated. In 169 BC, the battle of Pydna in the Third Macedonian War, the Romans were able to use their flexible maniple legion to decisively defeat the Macedonian phalanx by outflanking it and attacking gaps that appeared in the formation. The Romans defeated other Greek states in many battles through similar means. The Second battle of Pydna in the Fourth Macedonian War was the final battle that was fought by a Greek phalanx. The phalanx and the Greek army was defeated, and Rome became the master of Greece. Roman tactics had proved to be superior to the Greek tactics, and Greece was not to become independent again until the nineteenth century. Works Cited Green, Peter. The Greco-Persian Wars. California: The University of California Press, 1998. Popovic, John J. Alexander the Great of Macedon from history to eternity. 2001. John J. Popovic. 02 Dec. 2007. . "The Roman Republic". Illustrated History of The Roman Empire. 13 Sept. 2007. Northcentral University. 02 Dec. 2007. . Read More