Factors That Played Into The Allied Greek Victory
There were a number of factors that played into the allied greek victory over the Persian forces led by king Xerxes.
The first was the Spartans' superior fighting ability and military training from childhood into early adulthood.
Spartans, beginning late in the sixth century used a new system governing all of it's citizens from birth.
Infants were inspected for any abnormalities and or percieved weakness to forge a strong society. Any infant found to be inferior to Spartan standards was left to die of exposure. Beginning at age seven until early adulthood all male Spartan citizens with the exception of the heirs apparent to one of the two thrones of Sparta participated in a rigorous training and education program known as the Agoge.
This training was broken up into …show more content…
While strongest at the front, the phalanx's main weakness was on the right flank and to the rear. Once engaged in battle the heavy armor and close quarters did not allow the phalanx to easily address attacks from either of those directions.
Although the battle of Thermopylae was a decisive Persian victory, the employment of the phalanx formation proved to be a useful and superior strategy there as roughly fourteen hundred Hoplite led by King Leonidas and three hundred
Spartans held their ground for a week (three spent fighting) halting Persian advancement and causing numerous casualties.
Were it not for a traitor exposing a path to the rear of the Greek positionallowing the Persian forces to surround the
Greek position, there's no way of knowing how long this small force could have fought or whether or not they could have been victorious.
Hoplite armor was made of bronze and iron, they wore helments and grieves made of bronze where, by contrast, the Persian forces carried shields made of wicker and covered their heads with cloth
The first was the Spartans' superior fighting ability and military training from childhood into early adulthood.
Spartans, beginning late in the sixth century used a new system governing all of it's citizens from birth.
Infants were inspected for any abnormalities and or percieved weakness to forge a strong society. Any infant found to be inferior to Spartan standards was left to die of exposure. Beginning at age seven until early adulthood all male Spartan citizens with the exception of the heirs apparent to one of the two thrones of Sparta participated in a rigorous training and education program known as the Agoge.
This training was broken up into …show more content…
While strongest at the front, the phalanx's main weakness was on the right flank and to the rear. Once engaged in battle the heavy armor and close quarters did not allow the phalanx to easily address attacks from either of those directions.
Although the battle of Thermopylae was a decisive Persian victory, the employment of the phalanx formation proved to be a useful and superior strategy there as roughly fourteen hundred Hoplite led by King Leonidas and three hundred
Spartans held their ground for a week (three spent fighting) halting Persian advancement and causing numerous casualties.
Were it not for a traitor exposing a path to the rear of the Greek positionallowing the Persian forces to surround the
Greek position, there's no way of knowing how long this small force could have fought or whether or not they could have been victorious.
Hoplite armor was made of bronze and iron, they wore helments and grieves made of bronze where, by contrast, the Persian forces carried shields made of wicker and covered their heads with cloth