This will be my last post guys. I really hoped that you enjoyed my entire blog. My whole blog was focusing on the soldiers and what they used to win battles. I have tried my best to describe the ways that the greeks won most of their battles. I have talked about the ships that they road in on the water and how they are very durable and swift. I have talked about their armor and weapons and shields. My research is important to me because I got to learn about a awesome culture and there great army. This research will also help other people learn about the greek culture and the weapons that they used, it also shows them the fighting technics that they used because alexander the great helped create the phalanx which I talked about in a earlier post. George Washington used many of Alexander the greats technics, so you can say without the greeks the United States might not be free like they are today.
The greek warships beat other warships because they were much smaller and easier to move around. Under the deck of the ship are slaves lock with chains around their ankles so that they wont try to escape the greeks. The problem for the slaves was that if the ship were to crash they would be trapped and would not be able to escape and would drown unless they were in waist deep water which they probably would not bed in. The ships were called triremes, they were usually built with softwood which was light and let them move around quicker. The disadvantage to softwood is that it absorbs water and can be filled up by it easily, so the greeks would bring them in at night time and let the water get out of them. The triremes had battering rams on the front of the boat so that they could ram through opposing ships. The greek also sometimes used their warships to trade with other places. The amount of people on a average ship was about 200. To see where i got this information click here to view a website on the ancient greek encyclopedia.
The most effective greek fighting style was the phalanx formation. This was formed by the greeks when they all lined up and stuck put there spears. They did this because if any enemies came close to them they would run into their very strong shields considering they were 3-5 feet long. Also if any enemies came close they would get stabbed with the long spears which were around 13-21 feet long.This formation was first founded by the ancient sumerians, The sumerians lined up with 6 rows 6 x 6 but the greeks wanted to have more power in thee formation so they went 8 x 2. Behind them was a line of archers that could fire over and put a rain of arrows down on the opposing army. King Alexander really utilized this formation when he took over a part of the world. Even though the hoplites were the greeks main force the calvary also had a small part. At the time horses were very expensive and not all greek soldiers could afford them, so if you did have a horse to ride on during battle you would be much stronger.The peltasts were a smaller group of soldiers but still strong. They were usually placed on the sides of the phalanx armed with spears a small shield and sometimes sling shots. The use of the peltasts were to take away attention from the phalanx and let them charge in on the middle of the army they were fighting. I got all of this information here.
In battle the ancient Greek warriors were powerful because of tactics, training, strength and impressive armour. Their battle formations would allow the Greek hoplites to fight in a protected and effective way, this is one reason the Greeks were really good.The Greek hoplite was not a weak soldier, he was a very strong and skilled warrior. The Greek hoplites were the most advanced soldiers in the Greek army because of their advanced training. Greek hoplites usually carried spears with and shield. They would make a certain formation called the phalanx were they would line up with their shields in front and spears over so that when they moved forward anything in front of them would be stabbed by the spear but they would be protected by the big shield because it was around 3 feet and would cover the most important parts of their body. Their armor contained a chestplate and a helmet that protected every part of their face. Since the helmet was very heavy and hot the soldiers would keep them propped up on their heads so avoid the discomfort.The Greek hoplite would wear advanced armour for the time which was made up from numerous items. Most important to the hoplite was their shield, without this the phalanx Formation would fail.Since the shield providing protection to the body, chest and upper legs, the Greaves were very important to a hoplite. The greaves are curved pieces of bronze that the hoplite would put on his lower legs, from the top of the knee to the ankle. This piece of armor was usually light, the greaves would give good protection from kicks going towards their lower legs while fighting.The chestplate, A..K.A thorax was usually a bronze piece of armour that would guard the chest in two separate pieces. The two pieces were usually joined with leather strings, and the thorax would stop just above the waist and hips, to give the hoplite that best movement possible from the waist, while still giving the best protection of their organs. Click here to read a article from the ancient greek history encyclopedia Hi my name is Ceyair and I am doing this blog about Greek soldiers. I chose to do this because I think they are very interesting with their cool armor and fighting styles. I am studying this because of the Cool Armor , Weapons, and Fighting strategies. I am really excited to find out how the greeks were so amazing. Also i am looking forward to getting very educated in the category Greeks armies! I will be touching on things such as the greek weapons battle formations and their fighting tactics.
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