war and warfare - classics

helots

class of enslaved native Messenians and Laconians who worked for Spartan masters

how do we know about 5th century Spartan society?

Plutarch - ancient customs

perioeci

‘those who live around’ - live in less fertile parts of the region and had to go to war for Sparta if needed q

agoge

‘rearing’ - training school for Spartan boys from the age of 7

what happened in the agoge?

* had prefects who whipped boys for offences
* learnt basic literature
* learnt to sing and dance to learn teamwork and precise movements
* trained barefoot
* cut their hair
* allowed only one cloak for the whole year
* food rationed so boys were forced to steal, if caught they were beaten ‘fro stealing carelessly’

krypteia

a period of survival training for the strongest Spartans in their late-teens - sent into the countryside with minimal rations, Plutarch suggests that their purpose was to kill rebellious helots

syssitia (sing. syssition)

15 Spartans in a drinking club, shared a tent on campaigns, needed to be in one to gain full citizenship after leaving the agoge - encouraged comradeship

hoplite

heavily-armed Greek soldier who fought in a phalanx

armour of a Spartan hoplite (not weapons)

* bronze **cuirass**
* bronze **greaves**
* leather **boots**
* bronze **helmet** (early 5th century = corinthian, after open-faced, crestless)

spartan hoplite weapons

* **shield** - made of wood and bronze, inscribed with lambda for ‘**Lacedaemonains**’ (Spartans + perioeci)
* **spear** - wood with iron head
* **sword** - short and iron

phalanx

greek rectangular fighting formation where men fought in massed ranks

structure of the Spartan army

* two **kings** (believed to be descended from Heracles and religious leaders)
* **Taxiarch** (senior officer)
* **mora** (largest unit of army)
* **enomotia** (‘sworn-band’, smallest unit of army, 40 men, likely they swore a pact)
* **syssitia** (drinking party, 15 men)

perioeci and Spartans fighting stats.

* at the battle of Plataea (479bc) 5,000 Spartan citizens fought with 5,000 perioci and 35,000 helots
* at the end of the 5th century Spartan numbers had decreased and perioeci fought in the same ranks as the Spartans
* Spartans always kept spear on them at camps to keep helots from rebelling

Plutarch Mor.241 quote

‘come back with your shield or on it’ - what spartan mothers cried to their children before battle

Xenophon quotes

* Hellenika - ‘those women whose relatives had been killed going about in public looking bright and happy’ (371 after the news of the defeat of the Thebans)
* The Constitution of the Spartans - ‘disabilities are attached to cowardice. I am not surprised that Spartans prefer death to such a deprived and disgraceful existence’ (**tresantes** could be beaten in other city states this punishment was for slaves alone)

tresantes

‘tremblers’, Spartans who had deserted in battle so been deprived of citizenship

when was the Battle of Thermopylae?

480bc

main source for Battle of Thermopylae?

Herodotus (second half of 5th century)

Xerxes

son of **Darius** I, king of the Persian empire

stats. according to Herodotus

7,000 Greeks in total, 300 Spartans (all men with living sons) with Leonidas. 300,000 Persians

Leonidas

one of the two kings of Sparta

Demaratus

former spartan king who was now an adviser to Xerxes

Herodotus ‘Histories’ quotes for Thermopylae

* ‘they will fight you even if the rest of Greece submits’ (**Demaratus** to Xerxes)
* ‘if the Persians hide the sun, we shall have our battle in the shade’ (**Dienekes** when told that the Persians rain of arrows block out the sun)
* ‘go tell the Spartans, you who read,

we took their orders, and here lie dead’ (on monument set up)

Day 1 of Thermopylae

* Xerxes sent troops after 4 days waiting, Persians suffered heavy loses
* Persians sent the King’s Immortals who were beaten
* Spartans pretended to withdraw then attacked those in the pass

Day 2 of Thermopylae

* Persians did better
* **Ephialtes** told **Xerxes** about the mountain pass and he sent troops over
* greek troops on pass saw Persians and reported back

Day 3 of Thermopylae

* **Leonidas** dismissed most Greek troops but 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans remained
* they fought until the end, inflicting great loses on the Persians

what did the Oracle of Delphi say to Leonidas?

that the Spartans would be conquered or they would mourn the death of a king - he set out knowing he will die

quotes for Sparta at war

* ‘education directed toward prompt obedience to authority, stout endurance of hardship, and victory or death in battle’ (Plutarch ‘The Ancient Customs of the Spartans’)
* ‘the closer the shields are locked together the better will he be protected’ (Thucydides ‘The Battle of Mantinea’ 418bc)
* ‘to die is noble when a good man falls among fighters at the front while he defends his fatherland’ (Tyrtaeus ‘fallen warrior’)

difference in funding between Athens and Sparta

* in Sparta they had **helots** farming the land and bringing in money for individual Spartans to use to go to battle, however this was not useful for large endeavours that required a reserve of collective money
* in Athens they had a **public** **treasury** to fun campaigns but a hoplite still bought his own armour, if he didn’t have enough money he would have to make do

% of Athenian population troops

30-50% were hoplites and 50-70% were light-armed troops

Athenian cavalry

* divisions led by **three** **commanders**
* divided into **ten** **units** based on tribe

structure of Athenian army

* **ten** **regiments** provided by the ten tribes
* each tribe (phyle, pl. phylai) elected a **strategos** for a year who made key decisions
* second most senior officer was the **taxiarch** (once for each phyle)
* tribal regiments divided into **lochoi** (sing. lochos)

how many ships did the Athenians have in the late 480s?

200 ships

trireme

Greek warship with three banks of rowers on each side

who was on an Athenian trireme

170 **rowers** (2 lower rows had 27 each side and upper row had 31 each side), 10 **hoplites**, 4 **archers**, a **piper**, a **steersman**, a **quartermaster** and a **trierarch**

liturgy

‘service to the public’, super-tax on the rich to fund important civic projects

trierarch

a payment to the **liturgy** in the form of captaining and up keeping a trireme for a year - gained them popularity

diekplous

naval manoeuvre where the enemy line is broken and an enemy ship is rammed very fast so other ships can get through the enemy lines

facts about the Athenian navy

* Athenians factored in days before campaigns to practise rowing
* they continually improved their trireme designs

hypozomata

two stretched cables from either end of the trireme to keep it in shape, considered a secret invention, illegal to export

impact of the military on Athenian politics

* Athenians elected generals after 508bc when **Kleisthenes** introduced democracy
* after the defeat of recent Athenian tyrant, Hippias, and the Persians at the Battle of Marathon, 490bc,(with the help of Plataea) aristocrats realised they had to rely on the hoplite force to defend them
* same thing happened a the Battle of Salamis, 480bc, where a bulk of the Athenian rowers were fro lower classes
* for the next few years war was on people mind due to the Peloponnesian war (431bc Athenians took everyone inside Athenian walls, in 430bc a plague started that killed 75,000-100,000 people)

when and why did the Persians burn down Athens?

480-479bc, due to them standing up to the Persian Empire since 499bc and the Persian’s humiliating defeat at Marathon in 490bc

how do we know that Athens was burnt down?

there is a ‘**burn** **level**’ that corresponds to the time

what did the Oracle of Delphi say regarding Salamis?

that why would be safe behind wooden walls - **Themistocles** persuaded the city that it was referring to their triremes

where did women, children and elderly take refuge during Salamis?

**Aegina** and **Troezen**

how many ships were at Salamis?

380 Greek ships in total (200 of which were Athenian) and 1207 Persian ship

what did other city states want to do at Salamis?

sail to **isthmus** and support land forces

what did Themistocles do to make them fight at Salamis?

convinced **Eurybiades**, Spartan admiral of the fleet, to have another meeting where he suggested fighting at Salamis

how did the Persians prepare?

Xerxes went to Phaleron himself and talked to the naval captains, Artemisia queen of Halicarnassus tells him that he should not fight them as they are skilled at sea

how was Themistocles cunning?

he ordered one of his slaves, **Sicinnus**, to go to the Persians and tell them that he was secretly on their side and that the Greek commanders were at each others throats. This caused Xerxes to want to battle here where their numbers were not an advantage

what was the Athenians battle tactic?

they pretended to retreat and then burst forward and rammed the Persians

facts from the battle

* Persians couldn’t swim so drowned whereas the Greek casualties could swim safely to shore
* Artemisia was about to be rammed so rammed a Persians ship - smart

aftermath of Salamis

Persians retreated and would be defeated at the Battle of Plataea in 479bc, it also showed how the lower class rowers were important to the Athenian society and this battle solidified democracy

Herodotus ‘Histories’ quotes for Salamis

* ‘the Greeks are as far superior to your men in naval matters as men are to women’ (**Artemisia** to **Xerxes** before the battle)
* ‘my men have turned into women, my women into men’ (**Xerxes** when **Artemisia** rams a ship and he is losing)
* ‘one is surely right in saying that Greece was saved by the Athenians’

Aeschylus ‘Persians’ quote for Salamis

* ‘their own bronze-fanged beaks made destruction’

organisation of the Roman army

* in the time of the emperors there were about 30 legions
* each legion was given an number but because of the civil was the numbers were not 1-30

structure of a Roman legion

* **legion** - ten cohorts, over 5,000 ordinary soldiers
* **cohort** - each cohort consisted of 6 centuries except for the first cohort which had 5 double sized centuries
* **century** - 80 men (double sized = 160 men)
* **contubernium** - 8 men who shared a tent
* + 120 **horsemen** for each legion and scouts and dispatch riders

centurion

commander of a **century**, responsible for **discipline** in the army

primi ordines

‘those of the first rank’, collective name for the five **centurions** of the first **cohort** (most senior centurions)

primus pilus

‘the first spearman’, most senior **centurion** (only for men over 50, lasted for a year)

signifer

‘**standard** bearer’, looked after the **standard** of the century and in charge of the century’s pay and savings

standard

emblem of a **century**

optio

**centurion’s** deputy, responsible for training

tesserarius

organised guards and communicated passwords

cornicen

horn-player

legatus

commander of the legion, of senatorial rank and appointed by the emperor (serve and then resume career in politics)

tribunes

6, senior officers in legion after **legatus**

tribunus laticlavius

‘broad-striped tribune’, senior **tribune**, of senatorial rank (allowed to wear broad purple senatorial stripe)

tribuni angusticlavi

‘narrow-stripped tribunes’, other 5 **tribunes**, of equestrian rank (allowed to wear narrow purple stripe)

camp prefect

Right-hand man to **legatus**, responsible for legion’s equipment and transportation

aquilifer

responsible for the **aquila**

aquila

emblem of the legion, gold eagle on pole

via praetoria

road from the main gate to the **principia**

principia

headquarters, notices posted in large courtyard at the front

via principalis

road crossing the fortress in front of the **principia**

via quintana

road crossing the fortress behind the **principia**

basilica

large hall for assemblies, where members heard the morning report

sacellum

part of the **principia**, temple where the **aquila** and **standards** are kept

praetorium

private quarters for the **legatus**

auxiliary troops

* formed into smaller cohorts of 480 strong but some were 800 string
* cohort of 480 divided into 6 centuries
* lived in separate forts
* auxiliary units had the **ala** - a cohort of Roman cavalry, 512 strong divided into 32 horsemen each (turma)
* each ala had a flag, each Burma had a standard
* members of the cavalry could also serve as as a body guard to the **legatus**
* they offered skills the legionary army did have in abundance - horsemen, archers, slingers etc.

roman navy

* fleets normally drawn from the ranks of non-citizens so given the same status as auxiliary troops
* fleet commanded by a **praefectus** (man of senatorial class)
* individual ships captained by **trierarchs**
* squadrons of ships led by **navarchs**
* main roles: transport land troops, support land campaigns, protect coastal settlements, suppress piracy, repel barbarian incursions

Roman armour

* **helmet** - iron on inside, bronze plating on outside, with neck and chin guards, crest of horse hair or feathers that indicate rank
* **plate** **armour** - most common = lorica segmentata, made of iron and covers chest and shoulders with overlapping metal attached by leather strips
* **sporran** - apron of leather thongs hanging off belt (kilt thingy)
* **leather** **sandals** - several layers of sole held together with hobnails, leather thongs could wrap halfway up shin (stuffed with wool or fur for warmth)

Roman weapons

* **Shield** - rectangular and curved, three sheets of wood encased in leather, rim enforced with bronze, hand grip reinforced with iron/bronze boss, painted design
* **sword** - known as gladius, used for short range, carried in **scabbard**
* **dagger**
* **spear** - wooden shaft and iron head, iron bent on impact so hard to remove, legionary often had a second, shorter spear

battle tactics

* **ballista** - functioned like a crossbow and fired iron darts with great accuracy
* **onager** - catapult that fired rocks and large stones
* **testudo** - ‘tortoise’, soldiers place shields over their head to make a tortoise shell

naval warfare

* copied ships from those they fought - Carthaginians and Greeks
* used **quadriremes** and **quinqueremes** (+ hexaremes)
* **liburnae** were swift and used for scouting

recruitment of the army

* legionary soldier had to be a Roman citizen
* bring letter of recommendation
* appear before examining board of experienced officers
* underwent careful medical examination

Vegetius ‘About Military Matter’ quote on recruitment

‘a young recruit should keep his eyes watchful and his head upright’ - goes on to describe that they should be fit and preferably from a strong job

training in the army

* given money to travel to fortress
* takes military oath - renew at the beginning of each year
* learn to march - 20 miles in 5 hours
* practised: swimming, riding, running, jumping (with heavy packs)
* practice with wicker shield and wooden sword of double weight and wooden javelin
* learnt to jump on and off a horse in full armour
* learning how to construct a camp

recruitment in auxiliaries

* upon retirement given citizenship


* mainly from provinces
* like legionaries - expected to serve for 25 years
* some recruited for specific capabilities - e.g. archers from Syria

training of auxiliaries

* seems to have undergone similar training as legionaries as they had similar fighting capabilities

recruitment of the navy

* tended to be non-citizens from parts of the empire with strong maritime traditions
* sailors required to serve for 26 years
* given roman citizenship and cash paymentupon honourable discharge
* no evidence of salve labour

training of the navy

* learn to route time
* learn how to follow instructions
* learn how to engage in naval manoeuvres

payment in the Roman army

* Augustus created the first fully professional, standing army for the 1st time
* state paid for salaries (army numbered 300,000)
* in the time of Augustus a legionary soldier was paid 225 denarii per annum
* promotion = pay rise
* legionary expected to pay for their own food, clothing, equipment
* upon completing service he would be given 3,000 denarii or an allocation of land which was later phased out
* auxiliaries and soldiers could have been paid 1/3 of this

when did Julius Caesar die?

44bc

how old was Octavian when Caesar died?

18

who replaced Caesar?

Mark Antony, Octavian and Lepidus - the second Triumvirate

who ruled what after Lepidus was marginalised?

Octavian ruled Roman and was in charge of the West, Mark Antony was based in Egypt and in charge of the East

what was Egypt in comparison to Rome?

a client-state

what was going on between Caesar and Cleopatra?

when Caesar had started campaigning in the East in 48bc he started an affair with Cleopatra and they had a son, Caesarion

what was going on between Antony and Cleopatra?

met in 41bc after Caesar’s death, had an affair and had twins