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The Spartan shields' technical evolution and design evolved from bashing and shield wall tactics. They were of such great importance in the Spartan army that while losing a sword and a spear was an exception, to lose a shield was a sign of disgrace. Not only did a shield protect the user, but it also protected the whole phalanx formation.
During the 3rd century BC, a social crisis slowly emerged: wealth had become concentrated amongst about 100 families [117] and the number of equals (who had always formed the backbone of the Spartan army) had fallen to 700 (less than a tenth of its 9000 strong highpoint in the 7th century BC). [117] Agis IV was the first Spartan king to attempt ...
This was the first time that a full strength Spartan army lost a land battle. As Spartan citizenship was inherited by blood, Sparta increasingly faced a helot population that vastly outnumbered its citizens. The alarming decline of Spartan citizens was commented on by Aristotle.
In his reports on Plataea, he makes multiple accounts of Helots which accompanied the Spartans on the battlefield and made up the mass of the army. In Greek military practice, the standard depth of the army's phalanx was eight men, having known this, Herodotus deducted that there was a soldier ratio of seven Helots to one Spartan at Plataea.
In doing so, they trapped 420 Spartan hoplites on the island of Sphacteria, off Pylos. 120 of these were from the Spartiate class, and their peril threw the Spartan government into a panic. Members of the government were dispatched to the scene, and negotiated an armistice on the spot; the entire Spartan fleet was surrendered to the Athenians ...
The defeat of the pro-Athens forces and the triumph of Sparta in the preceding Corinthian War (394–386 BC) was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of 387 BC, called the Peace of Antalcidas or "King's Peace", stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from the political control of Thebes.
Traditionally, this has been dated to the 8th century BC, and attributed to Sparta; but more recent views suggest a later date, towards the 7th century BC [citation needed]. Certainly, by approximately 650 BC, as dated by the Chigi vase , the 'hoplite revolution' was complete.
The floruit given in the first entry of Suda is perhaps too early since Jerome offers a date of 633–632 BC. [2] Modern scholars are less specific and provide instead date ranges for the Second Messenian War (and thus for Tyrtaeus' life) such as "the latter part of the 7th century", [3] or "any time between the sixties and the thirties" of the 7th century.