Sparta

Types of Weapons Used by Ancient Greece

When we think “catapult,” we imagine the types of weapons used for hurling rocks, dead plague victims, or unlucky cows against a castle. Read more

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Defending the Pass at the Battle of Thermopylae

What nation of Asia, did not Xerxes lead against Hellas? —Herodotus

On the Doricus, the vast Thracian plain and beach on the Aegean coast, rose a stronghold. Read more

Sparta

King Gustavus Adolphus, Breitenfeld, and the Birthplace of Modern War

On a hot, dusty September morning in 1631, the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor rested easily on the plains outside the village of Breitenfield, six miles north of Leipzig, Saxony. Read more

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Famous Military Generals: Chabrias the Athenian

On a warm summer day in the year 378 BC, a large Spartan army stood baffled on the plain of Boeotia in central Greece. Read more

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Misplaced Aggression: The Athenian Defeat at Syracuse

By the spring of 415 bc, a peace treaty between the warring city-states of Athens and Sparta had held firm for six years. Read more

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The Athenian Soldier Versus the Spartan Hoplite

The wars fought by Sparta and Athens in the fifth century bc pitted one city-state with ancient Greece’s greatest army against one boasting her most powerful fleet. Read more

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General Iphracates: Innovative Commander of Ancient Greece

The 3rd century BC in Greece was an age of military innovation. The lessons learned in the Peloponnesian War (431-404) led to the increased use of lightly armed troops and cavalry. Read more

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Greek Triumph at Plataea

Persian King Xerxes I “The Great” was a man who liked to solicit different opinions before he made a decision on any important matter. Read more

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The Army of the Ottoman Empire in 1683

The kapu kulu, made up of the regularly paid troops, provided the backbone of the Ottoman Empire army. Read more