Army Revision

Athens & SpartaYour topics for this module are: EducationWomenEveryday life in Athens Spartan Army Work

The Spartan Army:The Greatest War Machine in Greece& The Worlds 1st Professional Army!

We will be looking atHow did Spartan education prepare men for war?Why did Sparta need such a good army?What did Spartan warriors wear?What weapons did they have and how were they used?How did Spartan warriors fight?

Topic 4: Spartan Army On your post-it note, write 1 thing you want to find out about the Spartan Army Stick it on the inside back cover of your exercise book.

What does the landscape around Sparta tell you about the city? This is Spartaa recap!

This is Spartaa recap!Suppose, for example, that the city of Sparta were to become deserted and that only the foundation of the buildings remained. I think that future generations would find it difficult to believe that the place really had been as powerful as people say. This is because the city is no more than a collection of villages, in the ancient Greek way.Thucydides, 1.10 What did the polis of Sparta lack?

Whose idea was the Spartan army?Lycurgus decreed that all Spartan men should be full-time professional soldiers.Spartans were banned from doing any other type of work.The only profession allowed in Sparta was WAR!

This is Spartaa recap!The Spartan attitude towards war & deathA man is not good in war unless he has the courage to look on blood and slaughter and stand face to face with his foe and strike he who falls in the front rank and loses his dear like brings glory to his country, his people and his father; wounded many times in front through shield and breastplate, he is mourned by old and young alike and the whole city grieves with bitter longing. Tyrtaeus

The Spartan attitude towards war & deathLycurgus decreed that Spartan dead should be buried within the city.A Spartan warrior was just buried in his red cloak. Names were only inscribed on a gravestone if it was a Spartan warrior who had dies in battle or a Spartan woman who had died in childbirth.

After a great battle, you could see the female relatives of those who had been killed going about looking bright and cheerful Xenophon, Hellenika

Come back with your shield or on it!

How did Spartan education prepare men for war?

THE AGOGE!!!

Why did Sparta need such a good army?The Enemy Within:Spartas biggest worry = constant potential of HELOT uprising. The concentration of Spartan citizens on war was to deter the helots from fighting back. All the laws and systems throughout Spartan territory were designed to keep the helots in slavery.So a wall wouldnt have been much use anyway as the enemy was within Spartan society

Spartan expansionIn the 8th and 7th centuries BC, the regions of Laconia and Messenia were conquered and controlled by the Spartans.The populations were reduced to the status of slaves, leading to the creation of the helots.Helots were state-owned slaves, who were forced to work the land for the Spartan citizens. The helot population in Sparta outnumbered the citizen population by at least 10 to 1. In 670BC, the enslaved helots revolted (the 2nd Messenian war), which the Spartans managed to suppress. The war was marked by a new method of living, the militaristic an inward-looking Spartan system, and a new military tactic, the phalanx.

MesseniaConquered by Sparta by 700 BC, population reduced to helots.

The Spartan Hoplite

What did the Spartan hoplites wear? A red tunicBronze corselet (chest armour)Red cloak Greaves (leg armour)Leather bootsPlumed helmet: good for protection, bad for vision and hearingLong hair

What did hoplites fight with?Round shield (hoplon) with Greek L (Lacedaemonia) or a Gorgon/monsterLong spear (3metres)Short sword, hung on the right from a waist belt

We find the swords long enough to reach the hearts of our enemies. The Spartans thought arrows = cowardly

How did the hoplites fight? The Phalanx formation!

This formation required the hoplites to stand side by side. Each man layered his shield over the one to his left so that there were no gaps.It relied on all Spartans fighting together in massed ranks. It relied on the ideal of sacrificing ones life for the common good. It was usually 8 rows deep.The Phalanx

The Phalanx

Each hoplite used his long spear over-arm to strike at the enemy face to face.The idea was for each battle line to shove the enemy line back until they broke and ran.If a soldier in the front row was killed, the men in the rows behind would step up one place to maintain the wall.

Each hoplite held his shield in his left hand and depended on his neighbours shield to protect his exposed right side. Other Greek armies adopted the phalanx formation, but the Spartans were the BEST at maintaining tight discipline in the ranks, changing tactics and reacting quickly.The Phalanx

How was the army organised? One of the 2 kings or a general led the army. He was always accompanied by an ephor (magistrate) to check he was doing his job properly! Each unit of the army had its own commander, chosen from those Spartans who had shown skill and courage in battle. Their helmet crests ran sideways, rather than front to back. However, each Spartan had been educated so well in the art of war that if a commander were killed, virtually any man could take his place.

32 men= 1 enomotia16 enomotiai= 1 pentekostis4 pentecostyles= 1 lochas5 lochoi in the Spartan ArmySupported by hoplites/missile forces from area around Sparta (perioikoi) + Helot servants

Glossary PHALANX: The formation used by the Spartan army and all other Greek armies.

HOPLON: The Spartan shield.

HOPLITE: The proper name for a soldier using the hoplon.

Homework1. Do a topic page for the Spartan Army.

2. Complete the Spartans at War sheet.