GREEK WAR AND MILTARY

image 4. Spartan army

image 3. Athenian army

ATHENS AND SPARTA
Greece geography plays an important role in wars because Greek life centered on the sea which made it difficult to unite the country under one rule. It led to city states instead of one governing body. Out of 300 city states, the two most important city states were Athens and Sparta. Even though both of the city states were Greek, they had different customs and values, social structures, military strength, culture and education systems.
Spartans were considered the most powerful army on Earth while the Athens had a very strong navy force. Sparta followed Oligarchy while Athenians were democratic. Spartans followed a tough military program. At birth, if an infant was weak or sick, he/she was left out to die. However, the stronger infants were put in a military program. They went through tough trainings, lived in harsh conditions and were trained to be strong and wild. To Spartans, it was their honor and respects that mattered the most. In contrast, Athenians were not harshly trained in military. In fact, most of the army consisted of blacksmiths, and people belonging to other professions.

PERSIANS AND GREEKS
Persians were a rising military force around the sixth century BCE. They had already threatened the Greeks. In such situation, all the Greek city states had to find a way to fight back and save their homeland. Nevertheless, Greek city states were tiny compared to the emerging power in the east and also Greeks were weakened by the fighting among themselves. However, on the positive side, Greek soldiers were brave, had brilliant battle tactics and advanced weapons. They also found good leaders who would lead them in the times of war. The three most famous wars, Battle of Marathon, Thermopylae and Battle of Salamis were fought between the Greeks and the Persians. Persians always wanted to expand their empire and therefore they had their eyes on the Greek city states. They first met the Greeks in the battle of Marathon where the Persians were defeated by the Greeks. The outraged Persians took revenge on Greeks by defeating them in the battle that was fought at Thermopylae. Nevertheless, the final battle was fought and in it, the Greeks finally drove the Persians out of Greece. The last battle that was fought was known as the Battle of Salamis and was fought on the sea. This battle represents the cunning battle tactics and smart leadership of Greeks.

(image 5. Battle of Salamis)

Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BCE)
Peloponnesian wars were fought between Athens and Sparta. It all started with Athens interfering in Corinth’s colonies. Soon enough, Athens was accused of breaking the peace treaty and it eventually lead to the Peloponnesian wars. This war turned out to be a very long and costly war. Pericles was the ruler of Athens at that time and tried his best to save Athens from Sparta. Almost every city state aligned itself to either Sparta or Athens. When Athens was attacked by Sparta, Pericles was successful enough in holding them outside of Athens. His strategy was to hold the Spartans as long as they could until Sparta ran out of food supplies. In contrast, Athenian navy proved to be a great source of food supplies and Athens had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, Athens was struck by a plague and it resulted in killing one third of the population and Pericles himself died of the plague. It sent Athens in a shock and soon both of the armies in an equal state. Spartans asked for peace when Athenians captured 300 Spartans but Cleon, the Athenian leader, was not smart enough to make that decision. Similarly, when Sparta attacked and captured Athens’ allies, Athens demanded peace. Unfortunately peace was not something that was in their fate. Series of costly wars were fought and it eventually led to complete downfall of Athens. Spartans were aided by the Persians and they completely captured Athens. Spartans spared Athens but as their punishment, they ordered them to tear down the wall that protected Athens and surrender their navy fleet except 12 ships and several others. This was to be marked as the beginning of the dark ages for the Athenians. However, Athens recovered itself but it was never able to become a powerful state ever again.

Alexander the Great
Greek expanded to its maximum size under the emperor Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was born to a Macedonian, King Philips, who united entire Greek under one rule. Alexander inherited military skills and the realistic approach to problems from his father. Alexander was also the student of Aristotle who influenced Alexander a lot and taught him very important aspects of life. Alexander himself was very ambitious and brave. At the age of 22, he started a military campaign which would last for 11-12 years. It was his father’s dream to conquer every state in the East. Therefore, Alexander went on to expand Greece. Alexander conquered Persia, the Greeks main threat. He went on to conquer Egypt and he even conquered India up till the Indus River, modern day Pakistan. Elephants were used by Indians as their weapons but they were no match against Alexander’s ambitious army. Greeks were famous for using their cunning battle tactics in the battle field. Alexander was very clever and an intelligent leader. In order to prevent chaos and rebel in his empire, he made Persians the governor of Persian provinces, yet hesitated to give them too much power. In order to bring the Persian and Greek culture together, he also married a Persian princess. Alexander wanted to expand further and conquer Arabia, but unfortunately he fell sick and died. He didn’t leave any heir to this throne and therefore his army generals took control of the provinces. Alexander was a great leader and expanded the Greece to its maximum size.