Chariots
Chariots were used in Mycenaean Greece, but because of the unsuitability of the terrain (rocky, marshy) for any wheeled vehicle it is unclear how they were employed militarily, if at all. Homer depicts the chariot as a ‘taxi’; warriors were driven to the battlefield, but dismounted to fight on foot. The chariot disappeared (for military use at least) together with its civilisation by c.1100 BC. Following the Dark Age, the chariot (an expensive item) remained the preserve of the wealthy and was used only in processions and races.
Hoplites
From c.750 BC there were changes in armour that led to the hoplite (heavy infantryman), a term derived from a word that possibly describes his full equipment (hopla): helmet, spear, sword, double-grip shield (aspis), greaves (leg guards) and a cuirass or corselet (body armour). Only the spear and shield were essential; other equipment was at the individual’s discretion. Most important was the circular shield, held by inserting the left arm through a central band and gripping a cord or grip at the rim. Over time the armour got lighter so that by the fifth century BC the hoplites, although not as fully protected, were more mobile than those of two hundred years earlier.
Hoplites fought in a phalanx, i.e. shoulder to shoulder, and usually eight ranks deep. Full protection was achieved across the front because the shield grip meant that the left half of the shield protected the right side of the hoplite to the left. Most battles were fought on level terrain to maintain the cohesion of the phalanx. When two sides met, the front ranks stabbed at their opponents with their spears. But with the rear ranks pushing against the backs of those in front, the opposing lines eventually crashed together and the ‘pushing and shoving’ began. When one side gave way, pursuit was not carried far, since once their ranks broke the hoplites became vulnerable.
Complicated manoeuvres were rarely attempted, because these made it difficult for the phalanx to retain its formation. Though it was unwieldy the hoplite phalanx was a formidable weapon when driving forward. Cavalry was useless unless it could strike from the side. The only effective counterforce was another group of hoplites, and this explains why hoplite armies spread throughout the Greek world from the seventh century BC onwards.
Warships
The dominant ship of ancient naval warfare was the galley. It had one or more sails, but also had oars that were used either when the wind was absent or contrary, or when faster propulsion or a tight manoeuvre was required – as in battle.
The first evidence of craft considered to be the prototypes for later galleys comes from Egypt’s Old Kingdom (c.2686-c.2160 BC). In Mycenaean times, Greek ships were used primarily as transports; each ship contained twenty warriors who rowed themselves to their destination. After the Trojan War, however, naval tactics evolved that stressed the use of a ram fixed on the bow of the ship on or below the waterline. To achieve greater speed and manoeuvrability, ships became lighter and narrower. Crews became specialised rowers and the number of troops was limited.
The penteconter emerged in an era when there was no distinction between merchant and war ships. They were versatile, long-range ships used for sea trade, piracy and warfare, capable of transporting freight or troops. It was rowed by fifty oarsmen, arranged in two rows of twenty five on each side of the ship. About a hundred feet long and with a midship mast it could reach a speed of nine knots (≈17 km/hour).
At the end of the eighth century BC the bireme (‘two oared’ galley) was invented. It used one hundred and twenty rowers with two banks of oars on each side, one above the other, staggered to prevent the oars from clashing. Using two banks of oars meant that the vessel could be shorter and more manoeuvrable, but still have the same power as the penteconter.
In the sixth century BC a third bank of oars was added and produced the trireme. It was a fast stripped-down ship packed with oarsmen (170) for maximum rowing power. There was no room to eat or sleep or to carry substantial supplies. The crew went ashore every day to obtain food and water, and ate and slept beside their beached ships. In battle the trireme was designed to crush the hull of an enemy ship with its ram after manoeuvring for superior position. Fleets with less skilled crews often carried more marines and hoped for a chance to board to compensate for their weakness in manoeuvre.
Wall Fortification
The first Aegean peoples to construct fortifications were those of the Cyclades. At Chalandriani on the island of Syros, a double fortification wall was built about seventy metres long and strengthened with five horseshoe bastions (towers). Similar structures were found on the island of Naxos.
With very few exceptions there were no fortified settlements in Minoan Crete. This suggests that there was general stability between the centres of Crete and that it was judged that the sea would deter any other potential aggressors.
By the thirteenth century BC increasing instability can be seen in the fortification of many Mycenaean palaces. A defensive wall was built across the Isthmus of Corinth – whether a protection from the north or from the south is unclear.
In the Archaic period, new fortifications were constructed, but mostly in different places and for different purposes than their Bronze Age predecessors. The emerging polis communities wanted protection for their entire urban area, rather than just a central place. At Miletus the fortifications enclosed an area of land for houses, rather than just the acropolis.
By the second half of the ninth century BC Old Smyrna was enclosed by a massive mud-brick wall sixteen feet (≈five metres) wide at the base. The remains of a great siege ramp built against the west wall of Smyrna reveals how the town was captured by Alyattes II of Lydia c.600 BC. The Persians used similar tactics in Asia Minor half a century later.
By the end of the archaic period, the fortifications of the principal settlement on Thasos had been extended from the small acropolis to enclose most of the city, right down to the coast. At Eretria a similar extension of the acropolis defences occurred. In numerous overseas settlements, especially in the western Mediterranean, larger areas were enclosed to protect the settlers from hostile neighbours or pirates. Walling off a peninsula was the preferred option, and was adopted at Smyrna in Ionia, Taras in southern Italy, and Naxos in Sicily.Extensive town walls began to develop in the sixth and, especially, the fifth century BC. These are usually mud-brick on a stone footing. Miltiades the Elder built a wall across the neck of the Chersonese to keep out the marauding Apsinthians c.555 BC. Polycrates’ citadel was surrounded by a moat and strengthened with towers. The Athenian walls at Pylos were built with stone facing, with rubble and clay packing, an increasingly common form of construction. In mainland Greece there were fewer incentives to improve defensive fortifications, but it is clear that by the late sixth century BC Athens had a circuit of city walls.
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