Able commanders arranged their fleets in a long front so that it was difficult for the enemy to pass behind ( periplous) and ensure his ships were sufficiently close to prevent the enemy going through a gap ( diekplous). Also on board were small contingents of hoplites and archers, but the principal tactic in naval warfare was ramming not boarding. 35 metres long and with a 5-metre beam, some 170 rowers ( thetes - drawn from the poorer classes) sitting on three levels could propel the ship up to a speed of 9 knots. The trireme was a light wooden ship, highly manoeuvrable and fitted with a bronze battering ram at the bow which could disable enemy vessels. The biggest fleet was at Athens, which could amass up to 200 triremes at its peak, and which allowed the city to build and maintain a Mediterranean-wide empire. They could even block enemy harbours and launch amphibious landings. Some states such as Athens, Aegina, Corinth, and Rhodes amassed fleets of warships, most commonly the trireme, which could allow these states to forge lucrative trading partnerships and deposit troops on foreign territory and so establish and protect colonies. Units might also be divided by age or speciality in weaponry and, as warfare became more strategic, these units would operate more independently, responding to trumpet calls or other such signals mid-battle. A Spartan army usually consisted of five lochoi with separate units of non-citizen militia - perioikoi. Four of these made up a lochos (regiment) of 512 men. Four of these made up a pentekostys (company) of 128 men. In 5th-century BCE Sparta, the basic element was the enomotiai (platoon) of 32 men. A similar organisation applied to the armies of Corinth, Argos, and Megara. In Athens, the lochos was led by a captain ( lochagos) and these combined to form one of ten regiments ( taxeis) each led by a taxiarchos. The lochoi was the basic unit of the phalanx - a line of well-armed and well-armoured hoplite soldiers usually eight to twelve men deep which attacked as a tight group. The phalanx was a line of well-armed & well-armoured hoplite soldiers usually 8-12 men deep which attacked as a tight group.Īrmies also became more structured, split into separate units with hierarchies of command. Assemblies or groups of elite citizens sanctioned war, and generals ( strategoi) came to be accountable for their actions and were often elected for fixed terms or specific military operations. City-State RivalriesĮvolving from armed bands led by a warrior leader, city militia of part-time soldiers, providing their own equipment and perhaps including all the citizens of the city-state or polis, began to move warfare away from the control of private individuals and into the realm of the state. Whilst there were long periods of peace and many examples of friendly alliances, the powerful motives of territorial expansion, war booty, revenge, honour, and the defence of liberty ensured that throughout the Archaic and Classical periods the Greeks were regularly engaged in warfare both at home and abroad. Whether it be small frontier skirmishes between neighbouring city-states, lengthy city-sieges, civil wars, or large-scale battles between multi-alliance blocks on land and sea, the vast rewards of war could outweigh the costs in material and lives. In the ancient Greek world, warfare was seen as a necessary evil of the human condition.
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