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Herodotus
 The First Historian
 Wrote Histories in the 5th century
 Described the Persian Wars and many other events
“These are the Researches of Herodotus of
Halicarnassus set down to preserve the memory of the
past, and to prevent the great and wonderful
achievements of the Greeks and the Barbarians from
losing their glory, and in particular, to show how the two
peoples came into conflict.”
Hoplites and Phalanx require:
 Soldiers equipped with
correct armour, shield and
helmet, spear and sword
 Had to be brave
 Intense training = perfect
formation
Armour includes:
Bronze breastplate
Bronze greaves
Linothorax - tunic
of stiffened linen
Hoplites fighting – possibly in the gymnasium. Detail from an
Attic black-figure hydria, ca. 560 BC–550 BC.
Chigi vase 650 BCE, showing hoplites in phalanx formatio
Greek
Hoplites
(c.650BCE)
HOPLITE FORMATION:
 Soldiers trained to fight in lines, shoulder to
shoulder, shields overlapping
 Protected by shield of man next to him
 All march forward together, no enemy
spears or arrows could get through their
wall of shields
– hoplite formation like a “scrum” in rugby
The Trireme
In use since about 550 BCE. Associated with many maritime civilizations
including: Athenian, Phoenician, Corinthian, Egyptian and Roman
Recent Archaeological Find
Discovered and excavated in 1993 in by underwater
archaeologists off the coast of Marseilles (P. Pomey
(dir.), M. Rival, R. Roman)
Persian Wars
Battle of Marathon (490 BCE)
 Greece (led by
Athens) vs Persia
 Athens appealed
to Sparta for help
 Origin of the
‘marathon’
 One of first
recorded
instances in
which phalanx
used
 Winner: Greece
Thermopylae (480 BCE)
 Persian King Xerxes
 300 Spartans led by
king Leonidas defended
narrow pass to protect
Greek navy
 Oracle
 Betrayal
 “Go, tell at Sparta, thou
who pass by, that here
obedient to her word,
we lie”
Salamis and Plataea (479
BCE)
 Greeks (Athens,
Sparta, Corinth) vs.
Persia (Xerxes…
again)
 Salamis: Naval
battle (Greek fleet of
triremes (fast ships)
= winner Greece
 Plataea: land battle
where Persia