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Since the early 3rd century BC, the pilos helmet had become almost standard within the Spartan army, being in use by the Spartans until the end of the Classical era. [citation needed] Also, after the "Iphicratean reforms," peltasts became a much more common sight on the Greek battlefield, and themselves became more heavily armed.
Cretan archers were a well known class of warrior whose specialist skills were extensively utilized in both ancient and medieval warfare. [1] They were especially valued in armies, such as those of the Greek city-states, (notably Athens, Sparta, Eretria, and Macedonia) and those of ancient Rome, which could not draw upon substantial numbers of skilled archers from their native populations.
Dienekes or Dieneces (Greek: Διηνέκης, from διηνεκής, Doric Greek: διανεκής "continuous, unbroken" [1]) was a Spartan soldier who fought and died at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. He was acclaimed the bravest of all the Greeks who fought in that battle. Herodotus (7.226) related the following anecdote about Dienekes:
For the Spartans that meant a death toll of over 25 percent. King Agis, now wounded and unable to stand, ordered his men to leave him behind to face the advancing Macedonian army so that he could buy his men time to retreat. Diodorus states that the Spartan king slew several enemy soldiers before being finally killed by a javelin. [8] [7]
The battle's earliest known appearance in culture is a series of epigrams commemorating the dead written by Simonides of Ceos in the battle's aftermath. [177] In Europe, interest in the battle was revitalized in the 1700s with the publication of the poems Leonidas, A Poem by Richard Glover in 1737 and Leonidas by Willem van Haren in 1742. [178]
"Come and take it" is a long-standing expression of defiance first recorded in the ancient Greek form molon labe "come and take [them]", a laconic reply supposedly given by the Spartan King Leonidas I in response to the Persian King Xerxes I's demand for the Spartans to surrender their weapons on the eve of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. [1]
Thracians were highly [38] sought as mercenaries due to their ferocity in battle, [14] but they were infamous for their love of plunder. [14] Thracian mercenaries played an important [20] role in the affairs between Athenians and Spartans. The Odomantii were described as expensive mercenaries. [23]
At the Battle of Mantinea, the largest battle ever fought between the Greek city-states occurred; most states were represented on one side or the other. Epaminondas deployed tactics similar to those at Leuctra, and again the Thebans, positioned on the left, routed the Spartans, and thereby won the battle.