Hellenic Armies: An Analysis of the Organization and Tactics from Classical Sparta to Alexander the Great

Open Access
- Author:
- De Bonis, Dante
- Area of Honors:
- Interdisciplinary in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and History
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Mark Munn, Thesis Supervisor
Cathleen Denise Cahill, Thesis Honors Advisor
Erin Mc Kenna Hanses, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Hoplite
Phalangite
Sacrifice
Epaminondas
Philip II of Macedon
Alexander the Great
Religion
Logistics
Supply
Strategy
Tactics
War
Warfare
Phalanx
Equipment
Greece
Macedonia
Sparta
Athens
Thebes - Abstract:
- The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how and why Greek warfare changes from the heyday of Classical Sparta to the dominance of Alexander the Great. The principles of war have and will always remain constant; however, the way in which wars are fought change. The belligerents change, the weapons, armor, technology, goals, and scale all change; but there will always be friction and the unknown. There will always be chaos and death. Greek warfare was a conservative affair until the invasion of the Persian Empire in the Fifth Century BCE. Foreign contact exposed the weaknesses in the Greek mode of war at that time and began the process of rapid change that took place over the course of a little more than a century. How the Greeks went from heavily armored hoplites to a diverse force of much more lightly armored hoplites, light infantry, skirmishers and cavalry, and finally to the combined arms Macedonian Army created by Phillip II of Macedon and applied by Alexander the Great, is a series of events that centered around adaptation and survival to achieve victory. First the need to survive the Persian threat, then other Greeks, and then to conquer Persia. This thesis will focus on the religious, logistical, and strategic changes made, which encompasses much more than formations and supplies and sacrifices.