The Spartan Army

The Best of All-Spartan Mirage?

• “One-against-one, they [sc. the Spartans] are as good as anyone in the world. But when they fight in a body, they are the best of all. For though they are free men, they are not entirely free. They accept Law as their master. And they respect this master more than your subjects respect you. Whatever he commands, they do. And his command never changes: It forbids them to flee in battle, whatever the number of their foes. He requires them to stand firm -- to conquer or die”.

- From Herodotus' dialogue between Demaratos and Xerxes Book 7

EVOKED, ACQUIRED AND TRANSMITTED- Anton Powell• The military values of the State although evolving over

time can be seen to be deliberately evoked through the survival of the poetry of Tyrtaeus.

• “ It is a beautiful thing when a good man dies fighting for his fatherland.

• The worst pain is abandoning ones city and fertile fields, to go about begging, wandering with dear mother, aged father, little children and wedded wife…

• Oh Young men! Fight! Stand fast by one another!• Never falter or retreat” • Tyrtaeus Fragment 7

Peloponnesian League

• Was a military coalition of Greek city-states led by Sparta, formed in the 6th century BC. League policy, usually decisions on questions of war, peace, or alliance, was determined by federal congresses, summoned by the Spartans when they thought fit; each member state had one vote. The league was a major force in Greek affairs, forming the nucleus of resistance to the Persian invasions

Dressing a Spartan Hoplite

Bronze shield bearing the letter

LGreaves madeFrom learher

Distinctive red Cape, not worn in

battle

Long thrusting Spear 3m

Helmet in Corinthian style, made hearing difficult

Short stabbing swordAttached at the

waist

Protective corselet of leatherWorn over a cloth tunic

• The shield was undoubtedly the most important protective device in the Greek warrior's panoply.  It measured approximately 3 feet in diameter, was constructed of wood and reeinforced with bronze.  In addition, its shape was convex so that it would not absorb the full weight of the enemy thrust, thereby deflecting much of the

impact. 

Which is the more realistic?

• Thucydides, a Greek historian and soldier, gives us a detailed overview of the structure of the Spartan army around 400 B.C.

• He says that the organisation was based in a row eight men deep. Four of these rows formed an enomotia or platoon; four enomotiai formed in their turn a pentekostis or company which was commanded by a pentekonter; four pentekosteis formed a lochos or battalion under the leadership of a lochagos. The average army had about seven of these lochois, giving a total of  3,548 men excluding commanders.

• Xenophon, who had also been an officer, tells us about a different structure. 

• Now the average row was twelve men deep, while only two of these rows were needed to form an enomotia. Two enomotiai formed a pentekostis, two pentekosteis formed a lochos, while four lochois formed a mora, or regiment, under the command of a ptolemarch (or polemarch). An army consisted of six morae. The reduction of the Spartan population did decrease the total strength of the Spartan army, but not the strength of a mora, which consisted of some 500, 600, or 900 men. The number varied as it depended on the age of the hoplites who were used

Chain of Command

PERIOKOI AND HELOTSLIGHT ARMED SKIRMISHERS

SPARTIATES

POLEMARCHS

KING

GODS

The Strength of the Phalanx

• A phalanx could be as many as eight rows deep, and moving in formation, they were nearly unstoppable so long as their rear and flanks were protected. The phalanx was perfect for combat on open gound or level terrain.

Plutarch

• Long hair was common on Spartan men. Plutarch attributes this fashion to a saying of Lycurgus:   "In times of battles the officers relaxed the harshest aspects of their discipline and did not stop the men from beautifying their hair and their armour and their clothing, glad to see them like horses prancing and neighing before races. For this reason they took care over their hair from the time when they were youths, especially seeing to it in times of trouble so that it appeared sleek and well-combed...... it makes the handsome better-looking and the ugly more frightening."

The Royal Guard

• "When Paedaretus the Spartan was not selected to be one of The Kings Three Hundred elite soldiers, an honor which was the highest in the State... he departed cheerful and smiling... with the remark that he was well satisfied... the State possessed three hundred citizens who were better than himself." Plutarch Agesilaus

The Art of War in the Western World• "As Greece's only professional army, the Spartans marched to music

and developed a battlefield drill based on the tendency of all phalanxes to drift to the right as they advanced. This proclivity stemmed from the large shield carried on the left arm, which, because it safeguarded his neighbor's unshielded right side, caused each soldier unconsciously to move towards his right.This meant that the right wing of each phalanx usually overlapped the opposing left and won the battle on that side. The Spartans exploited this by turning their right side to the left and completing the defeat of the enemy by attacking the opposing phalanx's unprotected flank.

The Spartans thus used their limited, but superior, articulation to carry out the most basic tactical movement in war, capitalizing on the weakness of the flank

Strength, Unity and Tactics

• The most important tactic which is the one that saw a great use in the Battle of Thermopylae was the "anastrofi=u turn" a faked retreat used to lure the Persian immortals in the narrow Thermopyles..the "retreat" was followed by a fast u turn and reformation of the wall of shields and a fast march against the opponent which had already lost its cohesion trying to chase the retreating phalanx..thats the reason of the great number of Persian

casualties...the result could be described as a knife cutting through

butter

Herodotus on Thermopylae• ...the spartan lines though eventually broke as any would against

such vast an army. For although they had fought most courageously against immense odds... the sheer force and thrust of the mighty force was against them now. Only the Gods could stop such numbers? But these men were the elite of an elite and the gleeful rush forward of the Persians was soon to be checked. Upon, the fleeing spartans reaching their defences the impossible seemed to happen... the Spartans who were in full flight turned on an instant; and not only held their ground but drove once again forward breaking the surprised and now dismayed advance like automatons!. This type of tactic was virtually unheard of ... but not by the Spartans! Retreat was unthinkable and was only used as a means to lure the enemy into a false sense of victory... then to turn and crush the very spirit out of them!

Hollywood at Thermopylae.What is wrong with the scene?

Monument to Leonidas

Summing up

Best army in Greece      Seldom defeated for nearly two centuries,

560-371      Dominated Greek battlefields

AND THEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How to defeat the phalanx

• Key to defeating a Hoplite army • don’t attack them in the front• concentration of force in one central point to break

shield wall• use missiles to destroy army before major clash• The largest weakness inherent in the phalanx

formation was in the weak flanks. Basically left unprotected, the phalanx flanks were open to cavalry charges, artillery barrages and rushing hordes of enemy infantrymen.

Weakness of the PhalanxThe Battle of Leuctra

Famous Generals and their Battles

• Cleomenes 522 BC• Leonidas480BC;

Thermopylae• Pausanius 466BC• Plataea• Agesilaus 444-360• Brasidas 422BC

Just how good was the Spartan Army?• Most accounts support the idealised view of the Spartan Army. Sparta’s role as

Hegamon of the Peloponnese supprts the accepted superiority of Sparta amongst its neighbours. As fighting hoplites in open field battle they

• There are episodes where not all Spartans live up to the ideal• The Trembler who ran away from Thermiopylae• King Archidamos’ failure to attack the walls of Athens( Spartans lacked siege

ability)• Battle of Mantinea. 418 BC The lack of flexibility of the phalanx when the

flanks were attacked by cavalry ALMOST cost the Spartans had it not been for Agis’ elite guard turning the troops

• Thucydides account of the Battle of Sphakteria where Athenians burn the wooded protection and launch missiles, archers and peltasts. The Spartans surrendered and this was commemorated in the placements of their arms in the Athenian Agora.

• Not every Spartan came home with their shield or on it.• Many of the near losses and failures date from 450 onwards and could

be a result of declining Spartiate numbers. This meant that numbers had to be filled by less experienced periokoi

With Your Shield or On It!!!

Modern Historians Views: Beyond the Mirage• “ That the Spartans were courageous beyond all other peoples, and by such

feats as that of Leonidas and his 300 at Thermopylae gave to the world examples of devotion to duty and intrepidity in the face of certain death, has generally been accepted.” H Michell

• SPARTA• “ There was, if not an outright revolution, at least a very significant tactical

reform….a developed form of hoplite phalanx fighting on the battlefield and significant political change from it…..a specifically hoplite value system and code of honour were necessarily devised to accompany therefore hoplite militarism….cohesion, self sacrifice, collective uniformity were deliberately fostered.” Paul Cartledge

• SPARTAN REFLECTIONS • “Sparta lost its military superiority not because of any decline in its own

standards but because it did not maintain the lead which its professionalism at war had previously given….In each case it was the triumph of military genius. Epimonondas was too good for Sparta just as Phillip was to prove too good for Greece.’ G Cawkwell

• THE DECLINE OF SPARTA

The Role of the Spartan Army• Military• Operating through the Peloponnesian League the Spartan Army was

responsible for the defence of Sparta and her allies from any external threat whether it be Greek or Persian

• Civic • All warriors were citizens who made decisions about war and peace as

members of the Assembly• Domestic-suppression of helots• EconomicConsumers of goods produced by periokoi and helots• IdeologicalTransmitters of military values ie heroism, unity, loyalty, obedience,

sacrifice