The Characteristics Of Ancient Greek Warriors (Essay Sample)

The people of Ancient Greek were very pretty advanced with their weapons and warfare tactics.  To ancient Greece, the ancient Greek war was viewed as something that was necessary and constant.  Often at war whether it was small little battles with neighboring cities, to full large scale wars.  Although the Greeks were often at war, there were other times when they were peaceful amongst one another. HoweveranotherThe Greek were not always at war though, there were many times where they lived peacefully.  However, the people of Greece wanted land and would do anything to get it, including engaging in war. were hungry, hungry for land, and territory and the only way to claim the land was to go out and fight and take it.  But Greeks were not always fighting for land, revenge was also a cause of war.  War wasn’t always about taking over land though, they often found themselves fighting for revenge, example; a neighboring city folk had a run in with a Greek, sometimes it resulted in losing a life, they sought revenge and attacked.  

The Greek learned quickly and were lead by leaders looked at like a warrior, a god in himself almost.  The leader of the Greek soldiers were powerful, they were very influential as well.  In the early days members of the city army would provide their own weapons, oftentimes tools used to farmland, the soldiers were also farmers.  Over time though the Greek organized themselves, they began to recruit soldiers instead of using the average man.  Eventually their were generals, commanders over their army of soldiers and they worked hard to tune their army into a powerful unit.   Soldiers were held accountable for their actions, as time past they became more and more organized and became elite fighters.  

They didn’t become elite fighters right away, they had to work for it, in the early stages weapons were makeshift, however as they organized and the leaders led, being a soldier became a way of life as they were paid to be soldiers.  As with most things there weren’t uniforms, soldiers would wear normal clothing same as the everyday Greek.  That did change though over time,  you may be familiar with the Spartan army, they became known for their consistent training, strong soldiers and their uniforms, they were among the first to dress in uniform.  They would wear red cloaks, they would carry large shields to defend themselves from the enemy, and they would use a weapon of choice called the Hoplite, it’s like a long spear with a razor sharp tip.  The Sparta army became what everyone tried to be, they were organized and professional, and that combination would prove to be deadly for many that challenged them.

As word of the Spartan empire took place other Greek cities began to create and train their soldiers to mirror what the Spartans did.  As the Greeks became more and more trained they used a tactic when at war known as the Phalanx.  This is a formation where the soldiers would get in tight formation with their shields in their left arm, they would cover themselves and the soldier next to the partially, the formation was tight and usually 8-12 rows deep so they couldn’t be out flanked.  It was very powerful and hard to penetrate. 

When the battles or wars ended the soldiers gathered anything that they felt was valuable to add to their arsenal of weapons, they took clothing, food.  This was known as war booty, it allowed the generals to pay their soldiers  and troops.  In some instances if the opposing army ween’t killed they were often captured and sold of as slaves, another sorce of earning money to pay their soldiers.  It was custom as well, that the losing army, would give women and children to allow the survivors to live on.  

In conclusion the Greek warfare transformed from being a bunch of small ordinary local members of their city to large controlled well trained soldiers paid to protect and serve their local city.  Each year past they became better tained, developed better weapons such as the Gastraphetes, what you would call today a crossbow.  They learned to make Xiphos which was their secondary weapon to the Hoplite, and Xiphos was a sword and they turned to that if their Hoplite was broken or somehow taken or dropped in battle.  The Greek were strong, organized and smart.  They had great leaders who motivated and earned the trust of their soldiers.