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Ancient Greece-War

On land

War was a normal part of Greek life. The city-states often fought each other. Many Greek men, therefore, had to join an army, and from the earliest times had to pay for their own armour! In Athens, boys trained to be soldiers between the ages of 18 and 20, after which they could be called up for military service when there was a war. Men of 50-60 went into the reserves and only served in light duties. Where as in Sparta all man had to serve in the army, at the age of 7 boys were taken from their families and had to live in barracks to prepare them for a lifetime as a soldier.

Heavily armoured soldiers were known as hoplites which came from the Greek word for shield. Only the rich could be hoplites, as only they could afford to buy a shield and other armour. All hoplites carried their own shield. The hoplites wore similar armour, although there was no official uniform. Spartan hoplites were distinctive because they wore scarlet robes; Athenians carried shields with a large letter A on them.

Hoplites also wore breast plates and back plates called a cuirass; normally, but not always made of bronze. They also wore bronze leg guards known as greaves to protect the lower part of his legs. The finishing touch was a helmet also made of bronze often with a horse hair crest on top.

At Sea

Athens, which was close to the sea, controlled its empire by means of oar powered war ships called Triremes (see below). At the height of its power Athens had over 300 triremes. It was a fast ship relying on the pulling power of 170 oarsmen. They sat in three levels, one above the other, on each side of the boat. At the prow was a pointed ram strengthened with metal, which could sink enemy ships.

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Questions

1. Describe a hoplite soldier.

2. Why were they called hoplites?

3. Who could be a hoplite?

4. What was the difference between Athenian and Spartan hoplites?

5. What was a cuirass and greaves?

6. Why did Athens have a large fleet of ships?

7. What were the ships called?

8. Describe how they were powered?

9. How could the Trireme sink the enemy ships

10. Research Greek warfare write down what you find out.

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Draw your own Trireme and label at least 5 things on it. Using books and the Internet etc. find out how Triremes were used in battle and write your own paragraph

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