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
Helmet in Corinthian style, made hearing difficult
Long thrusting Distinctive red
Spear 3m Cape, not worn in
battle
Short stabbing sword
Attached at the
waist
Bronze shield
bearing the letter
Greaves made Protective corselet of leather L
From learher Worn 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
GODS
KING
POLEMARCHS
SPARTIATES
PERIOKOI AND HELOTS
LIGHT ARMED SKIRMISHERS
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
Great and Not So Great Battles
of the Spartan Army- The Persian
Wars.
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
“ I shall fight as long as I live, and I shall not
consider it more important to be alive than to be free
“Oath at Plataea
PLATAEA
United we stand
LAST DEFENCE
AN OPEN PLAIN
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.
POST PERSIAN WARS
Weakness of the Phalanx
The Battle of Leuctra
Famous Generals and their
Battles
• Cleomenes 522 BC
• Leonidas480BC;
Thermopylae
• Pausanius 466BC
• Plataea
• Agesilaus 444-360
• Brasidas 422BC
Summing Up! 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
• Economic
Consumers of goods produced by periokoi and helots
• Ideological
Transmitters of military values ie heroism, unity, loyalty, obedience,
sacrifice