Armies and Tactics: Greek Armies during the Persian Invasions

Welcome to our second video covering the evolution of the ancient Greek armies in this episode. we will talk about the changes brought by the Persian invasions the First significant encounter between the Persians and the Greeks occurred between 499 BC and 493 BC. during the Ionian revolt when Greek city-states in Asia Minor Rebelled against Darius and were supported by Athens and Eretria. After a number of bloody battles both at land and at sea the Persian army defeated the cities of the western coast and Cyprus. We can safely assume that the Greeks learned more about the Persian troops and tactics during the Ionian revolt than vice-versa. Partly due to an underestimation of the Greeks by the Achaemenid Empire. The Greeks were concerned about the effectiveness of the Persian light cavalry and skirmishes. For this reason during the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC the Athenians Used the morphology of the landscape to prevent the Persians from using their cavalry. Meanwhile for Mi litiades who was one of the 10 Athenian generals strategy employed a new strategy to minimize the impact of the attacks by enemy ranged troops and Take advantage of the high effectiveness of the hoplite a formations against Persian units, which were in general lightly armored. The spar abara were the most common kind of soldiers among Persian infantry and were equipped with wicker shields And mostly linen armor a loadout which left them frequently incapable of challenging a hoplite a balance The equipment and characteristics of the Greek armies at the time. At the time of the greco-persian wars the holidays were developed into high quality heavy infantry Encompassing all the experience from the previous centuries of small-scale conflict. The selection and combination of materials improves and weapons were further developed to adjust to the new conditions. Bronze was still the dominant metal used for armor. however Many hoplite a started to gradually replace parts of their panel ease with iron which was much harder to process and mold but provided better protection. linen was also still used in armor and shields up until the Hellenistic period. New types of thorax were lighter and allowed for better mobility Partly due to the experience of the Ionian revolt and the realization that battles with Persians required the holidays to be quicker. On the same note scaled armor with many different parts combined also allowed for increased movement while decreasing the weight. The shield hoplon was also upgraded throughout the period with more sturdy builds and further use of bronze while a reactionary measure to the vast number of Persian arrows was the Occasional use of a small square piece of cloth hanging from the bottom of the shield. Furthermore since 520 BC the last city states that still provided their holidays with throwing spears put an end to the practice. Mostly for practical purposes as the concept was not compatible with the tight Formation of a phalanx as well as because of the gradual appearance of the peltasts unit and other light infantry variants. meanwhile, the spear dori remained similar to that of the archaic period with slight improvements in the manufacturing of the Spear heads and the butt spikes sterics. Iron was used more frequently during this time by the Dori whose the spear makers. Finally the two most prominent sword types of the period were the Zephyrs and the coppice. The Xiphos was a straight leaf-shaped short sword while the coppice was a falcon type weapon. Both were mostly used by hot lattes in case their spears broke. However, one of the first military historians Xenophon recommends the use of copies for mounted warfare. Corpus was also the favorite sword of the Spartans who developed a smaller sized variation to penetrate the enemy formations with more ease. In an ancient dialogue between an Athenian and a Spartan hot latte, The first criticized the latter's small sword who laconically replied it is long enough to reach your heart. Research has also shown the Periodical use of horses as transport to move a small number of troops quickly. Usually no woman and high caste soldiers. However, the monetary cost of supporting significant numbers of horses was quite high and historians argue that this was the case only for elite units. One example of this would be the 300 Spartans who fought at Thermopylae. They were the personal guard of the king called hippeis Which can be translated as horsemen. The sacred band of thieves was most probably a similar force. The exceptions to the rule here are the Greek city-states of South Italy as well as Thessaly Which gradually developed their cavalry traditions with the latter influencing the Macedonian cavalry. Nevertheless the Greeks did not use any cavalry units in the battles during the greco-persian Wars due to the large number of Persian cavalry Which would make such practice pointless and because of the Greek inexperience in that particular type of combat. However, they sometimes used small skirmishing forces are very lightly armoured troops called Shiloh Which can be translated as naked or stripped who were also responsible for caring for the aforementioned horses and the dey's equipment. This category probably involved a range of different like unit types. the Spartan slaves helots were used as silo in the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC and as Herodotus mentioned they numbered at 35,000. the Second Persian invasion. the second Persian invasion of 480 to 479 BC Was led by Xerxes and was a direct response to the defeat suffered previously by his father. The hoplite a unit was once again at the epicenter of the Greek victory with the Battle of Plataea being the most notable example. However, this time the Greek trireme also proved it's worth as a formidable fast and easily maneuverable vessel capable of inflicting much damage to the enemy if correctly used as They mistakelly did in the Battle of Salamis. in fact the Athenian general was the one who urged the Democratic city-state to dedicate its efforts to the development of the Navy and naval traditions. In 483 BC he persuaded the Athenians to manufacture a 200-strong fleet Which was of essential use for the upcoming wars with the ur commanded empire. Most importantly the cooperation between Sparta and Athens was a crucial factor for the Greek victory Allowing the combined tactics of the Greek Navy and army to work to their fullest capacity. as Circe subdued the Greek city-states of the north and Descended with his army to central Greece the spartan king leonidas along with his guard and a coalition of other city-states Chose as a defensive position the narrow path of Thermopylae Which was perfect for hoplite a warfare while the Navy was at Artemisium. After the allied defeat at the hot gates the naval blockade of Artemisium became irrelevant and the greek navy proceeded to the Straits of Salamis where They mistakelly used the triremes manoeuvrability as well as the fact that the Persians had larger and much more immobilize the fullest extent. and Despite the highly unlikely odds, the Greeks won. Salamis was a turning point for naval warfare with almost every naval battle henceforth and until the sixteenth century Being fought within sight of land due to the impressive results of the use of combined tactics by the allied city-states. The victory in Salamis was the first decisive victory for the Greeks and the beginning of the decline of Persian power in the Aegean. Finally in the last and decisive battle at Plataea the greeks formed the largest ever. Hoplite a army Making the final blow against Mardonius army after Xerxes took the remainder of his fleet and returned to Asia. the lessons that the Greeks learned from the greco-persian Wars were then used against other Greeks during the last turbulent decades of the fifth century BC. Thank you for watching our documentary covering the evolution of ancient Greek warfare during the 2 version invasions in our next video. We will cover the naval aspect of combat. We would like to thank our patreon supporters who make the creation of these videos possible. This is the kings and Generals Channel and we will catch you on the next one.

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 557,782

Keywords: full documentary, documentary film, animated documentary, war - topic, history, historical, bazbattles, epic history tv, Historia Civilis, rome, ancient battle, top 10, strategy, tactic, total war rome, kings and generals, lesson, hoplite, marathon, salamis, platea, athens, sparta, evolution, army and tactics, weapons, formations, psiloi, trireme, leonidas, 300, themistocles, xerxes, thermopylae, artemisium, strategos, alexander, darius, diodochi, chaeronea, ancient rome, world history, history lesson

Id: WwiDT8Nvj9E

Length: 10min 2sec (602 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 19 2018