1.
Cleomenes I
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Cleomenes was an Agiad King of Sparta in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. It was during his reign that the Peloponnesian League came formally into existence, during his reign, he intervened twice successfully in Athenian affairs but kept Sparta out of the Ionian Revolt. He died in prison in mysterious circumstances, with the Spartan authorities claiming his death was due to insanity. He was the son of Anaxandrides II and his wife, and was the half-brother of Dorieus, Leonidas I. He allowed his half-brother Dorieus to mount expeditions outside the Peloponnese, perhaps as a way of expanding Spartan influence and territories, and perhaps to rid himself of a potential rival. Around 510 BC the Alcmaeonidae family, who had exiled from Athens, requested that Sparta help them overthrow Hippias. The Alcmaeonidae, led by Cleisthenes, bribed the oracle at Delphi to tell the Spartans to assist them, the first attack on Athens was a failure, but Cleomenes personally led the second attack and besieged Hippias and his supporters on the Acropolis. He was unable to force Hippias to surrender, but the Spartans captured some of Hippias relatives, Cleisthenes and the Athenian aristocrat Isagoras then fought each other for control of Athens. Cleomenes came with a force to support Isagoras, and they forced Cleisthenes. Cleomenes also abolished the Boule, a set up by Cleisthenes. The citizens of Athens objected to this and forced him out of the city, the following year Cleomenes gathered an army, with the aim of setting up Isagoras as tyrant of Athens. The Corinthians in his force refused to attack Athens once they learned of Cleomenes plan, Sparta then proposed to her allies to mount an expedition to restore Hippias as tyrant of Athens. According to W G Forrest, it was Cleomenes who argued for change of position with Spartas allies. However, the allies, led by Corinth, rejected the proposal in the first act of the Peloponnesian League, in 499 BC, Aristagoras, the tyrant of Miletus, came to Sparta to request help from King Cleomenes with the Ionian Revolt against Persia. Aristagoras nearly persuaded Cleomenes to help, promising an easy conquest of Persia and its riches, according to Herodotus, Cleomeness young daughter Gorgo warned Cleomenes not to trust a man who threatened to corrupt him. Around 494 BC, Cleomenes invaded and defeated Argos at Sepeia killing a number of Argives, Herodotus says 6000. Argos would remain a bitter enemy of Sparta for decades after this attack and it is not clear why the attack on Argos took place. When the Persians invaded Greece after putting down the Ionian revolt in 493 BC, among these states was Aegina, so in 491 BC, Cleomenes attempted to arrest the major collaborators there
2.
Pleistarchus
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Pleistarchus or Plistarch was the Agiad King of Sparta from 480 to 458 BC. Pleistarchus was born as a prince, likely the son of King Leonidas I. His grandparents were Kings Anaxandridas II and Cleomenes I and he was born from an avunculate marriage – his parents were uncle and niece. His uncle Cleombrotus was his tutor and it is unknown whether Pleistarchus was married. It is possible that Pleistarchus was exempt from the agōgē, the education and training regimen mandated for all male Spartan citizens. Pleistarchus father King Leonidas perished in 480 BC at the Battle of Thermopylae, for the early part of Pleistarchus reign, first his uncle Cleombrotus and then, after Cleombrotus death, his cousin Pausanias acted as regent because Pleistarchus was not of age. The successor of Pleistarchus was Pleistoanax, son of Pausanias, Pleistarchus as king of the Spartans is a major character in Sacred Games, by Gary Corby. A young Pleistarchus was portrayed by Giovani Cimmino in the 2007 feature film 300, a young Pleistarchus was portrayed by Hunter Clary in the 2008 parody feature film Meet the Spartans
3.
Sparta
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Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece. In antiquity the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece, given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. Between 431 and 404 BC, Sparta was the enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, from which it emerged victorious. Spartas defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartas prominent role in Greece, however, it maintained its political independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. It then underwent a period of decline, especially in the Middle Ages. Modern Sparta is the capital of the Greek regional unit of Laconia, Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates, mothakes, perioikoi, Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanges were widely considered to be among the best in battle. Spartan women enjoyed more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world. Sparta was the subject of fascination in its own day, as well as in the West following the revival of classical learning and this love or admiration of Sparta is known as Laconism or Laconophilia. At its peak around 500 BC the size of the city would have been some 20,000 –35,000 free residents, plus numerous helots, olliers theory of the Spartan mirage has been widely accepted by scholars. The ancient Greeks used one of three words to refer to the location of the Spartans. The first refers primarily to the cluster of settlements in the valley of the Eurotas River. The second word was Lacedaemon, this was used sometimes as an adjective and is the name commonly used in the works of Homer. Herodotus seems to denote by it the Mycenaean Greek citadel at Therapne and it could be used synonymously with Sparta, but typically it was not. It denoted the terrain on which Sparta was situated, in Homer it is typically combined with epithets of the countryside, wide, lovely, shining and most often hollow and broken. The hollow suggests the Eurotas Valley, Sparta on the other hand is the country of lovely women, a people epithet. The name of the population was used for the state of Lacedaemon
4.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
5.
Thermopylae
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Thermopylae is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs, the Hot Gates is the place of hot springs and in Greek mythology it is the cavernous entrances to Hades. Thermopylae is the land route large enough to bear any significant traffic between Lokris and Thessaly. This passage from north to south along the east coast of the Balkan peninsula requires use of the pass and for this reason Thermopylae has been the site of several battles. In ancient times it was called Malis which was named after the Malians, the Malian Gulf is also named after them. In the western valley of the Spercheios their land was adjacent to the Aenianes and their main town was named Trachis. In the town of Anthela, the Malians had an important temple of Demeter, the land is dominated by the coastal floodplain of the Spercheios River and is surrounded by sloping forested limestone mountains. There is continuous deposition of sediment from the river and travertine deposits from the hot springs which has altered the landscape during the past few thousand years. The land surface on which the famous Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC is now buried under 20 metres of soil, the shoreline has also advanced over the centuries because of the sedimentary deposition. The level of the Malian Gulf was also higher during prehistoric times. Its shoreline advanced by up to 2 kilometers between 2500 BC and 480 BC but still has several extremely narrow passages between the sea and the mountains. The narrowest point on the plain, where the Battle of Thermopylae was probably fought, a main highway now splits the pass, with a modern-day monument to King Leonidas I of Sparta on the east side of the highway. It is directly across the road from the hill where Simonides of Ceoss epitaph to the fallen is engraved in stone at the top. Thermopylae is part of the horseshoe of Maliakos also known as the horseshoe of death, it is the narrowest part of the highway connecting the north. It has many turns and has been the site of vehicular accidents. The hot springs from which the pass derives its name still exist close to the foot of the hill, Thermopylae translated to English means hot gates and the name is related with its hot sulphur springs. This is also, in Greek mythology, the place of the entrance to Hades. The first mentioned Amphictyony was centered on the cult of Demeter which was located at the city of Anthela near Thermopylae, the river has become hot and stayed that way ever since
6.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
7.
Agiad
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This list of kings of Sparta details the important rulers of the Greek city-state of Sparta in the Peloponnesus. Sparta was unusual among Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age and it was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, called Archagetai, coming from two separate lines. The dynasties themselves, however, were named after the twins grandsons, the Agiad line was regarded as being senior to the Eurypontid line. Although there are lists of the earlier purported Kings of Sparta, Spartan kings received a recurring posthumous hero cult like that of the Dorian kings of Cyrene. The ancient Greeks named males after their fathers, producing a patronymic by infixing -id-, for example, in the case of royal houses the patronymic formed from the founder or an early significant figure became the age of the dynasty. A ruling family might in this way have a number of names, for example, Agis I named the Agiads, but he was a Heraclid. In cases where the descent was not known or was known the Greeks made a few standard assumptions based on their cultural ideology. A people was treated as a tribe, presumed to have descended from an ancestor bearing its name and he must have been a king, who founded a dynasty of his name. This mythologizing extended even to place names and they were presumed to have been named after kings and divinities. Kings often became divinities, in their religion, the Lacedaemonids contain Greeks from the age of legend, now treated as being the Bronze Age in Greece. In the language of mythologic descent, the kingship passed from the Leleges to the Greeks, years with no dates are unknown The Atreidai belong to the Late Bronze Age, or Mycenaean Period. In mythology these were the Perseides, as the name of Atreus is attested in Hittite documents, this dynasty may well be proto-historic. Years with no dates are unknown The Spartan kings as Heracleidae claimed descent from Hercules, disallowed the Peloponnesus, he embarked on a life of wandering. Years with no dates are unknown The dynasty was named after its second king, the dynasty is named after its third king Eurypon. Not shown is Lycurgus, the lawgiver, a son of the Eurypontids. Following Cleomenes IIIs defeat against Antigonus III Doson of Macedon and the Achaean League in the Battle of Sellasia, Sparta was a republic from 221 to 219 BC. The dual monarchy was restored in 219 BC, the Achaean League annexed Sparta in 192 BC. Notes References The Cyclopædia, Volume 20, sir William Smith, A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography, Partly Based Upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
8.
Anaxandridas II
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Anaxandridas II was a king of Sparta between 560 and 525 BC, father of Leonidas I and grandfather of Pleistarchus. Under them, too, was carried on the suppression of the tyrannies. Anaxandridas was a son of Leon of Sparta and also his successor, the mother of Anaxandridas is not known. Having a barren wife whom he would not divorce, the ephors, we are told, by her he had Cleomenes I, and after this, by his first wife he had Dorieus, famous Leonidas I, and Cleombrotus. Several sayings are ascribed to him according to Plutarch and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Dorieus in Sicily from Herodotuss Histories 5. 42-5.48. The prince was killed in Sicily
9.
Ancient Greek religion
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Ancient Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology originating in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or cults in the plural, many ancient Greeks recognized the twelve major gods and goddesses, although philosophies such as Stoicism and some forms of Platonism used language that seems to assume a single transcendent deity. Different cities often worshiped the deities, sometimes with epithets that distinguished them. Greek religion was tempered by Etruscan cult and belief to form much of the later ancient Roman religion, while there were few concepts universal to all the Greek peoples, there were common beliefs shared by many. Ancient Greek theology was polytheistic, based on the assumption there were many gods. There was a hierarchy of deities, with Zeus, the king of the gods, having a level of control all the others. Some deities had dominion over aspects of nature. Other deities ruled over abstract concepts, for instance Aphrodite controlled love, while being immortal, the gods were certainly not all-good or even all-powerful. They had to obey fate, known to Greek mythology as the Moirai, which overrode any of their divine powers or wills. For instance, in mythology, it was Odysseus fate to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, and the gods could only lengthen his journey and make it harder for him, the gods acted like humans, and had human vices. They would interact with humans, sometimes even spawning children with them, at times certain gods would be opposed to others, and they would try to outdo each other. In the Iliad, Aphrodite, Ares and Apollo support the Trojan side in the Trojan War, while Hera, Athena, some gods were specifically associated with a certain city. Athena was associated with the city of Athens, Apollo with Delphi and Delos, Zeus with Olympia, other deities were associated with nations outside of Greece, Poseidon was associated with Ethiopia and Troy, and Ares with Thrace. The Greeks believed in an underworld where the spirits of the dead went after death, one of the most widespread areas of this underworld was ruled over by Hades, a brother of Zeus, and was known as Hades. Other well known realms are Tartarus, a place of torment for the damned, and Elysium, in the early Mycenean religion all the dead went to Hades, but the rise of mystery cults in the Archaic age led to the development of places such as Tartarus and Elysium. Such beliefs are found in the most ancient of Greek sources, such as Homer and this belief remained strong even into the Christian era. For most people at the moment of death there was, however, no hope of anything, some Greeks, such as the philosophers Pythagoras and Plato, also embraced the idea of reincarnation, though this was only accepted by a few. Epicurus taught that the soul was simply atoms which dissolved at death, Greek religion had an extensive mythology
10.
Doric Greek
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Doric or Dorian was an Ancient Greek dialect. Together with Northwest Greek, it forms the Western group of classical Greek dialects and it is widely accepted that Doric originated in the mountains of Epirus and Macedonia, northwestern Greece, the original seat of the Dorians. It was expanded to all regions during the Dorian invasion. The presence of a Doric state in central Greece, north of the Gulf of Corinth, local epigraphical evidence is restricted to the decrees of the Epirote League and the Pella curse tablet, as well to the Doric eponym Machatas first attested in Macedonia. Where the Doric dialect group fits in the classification of ancient Greek dialects depends to some extent on the classification. Several views are stated under Greek dialects, the prevalent theme of most views listed there is that Doric is a subgroup of West Greek. Some use the terms Northern Greek or Northwest Greek instead, the geographic distinction is only verbal and ostensibly is misnamed, all of Doric was spoken south of Southern Greek or Southeastern Greek. Be that as it may, Northern Greek is based on a presumption that Dorians came from the north, when the distinction began is not known. Thus West Greek is the most accurate name for the classical dialects, tsakonian, a descendant of Laconian Doric, is still spoken on the southern Argolid coast of the Peloponnese, in the modern prefectures of Arcadia and Laconia. Today it is a source of considerable interest to linguists, the dialects of the Doric Group are as follows, Laconian was spoken by the population of Laconia in the southern Peloponnese and also by its colonies, Tarentum and Herakleia in Magna Graecia. Sparta was the seat of ancient Laconia, Laconian is attested in inscriptions on pottery and stone from the seventh century BC. A dedication to Helen dates from the quarter of the seventh century. Tarentum was founded in 706 and its founders must already have spoken Laconic, many documents from the state of Sparta survive, whose citizens called themselves Lacedaemonians after the name of the valley in which they lived. Homer calls it hollow Lacedaemon, though he refers to a pre-Dorian period, the seventh century Spartan poet, Alcman, used a dialect that some consider to be predominantly Laconian. Philoxenus of Alexandria wrote a treatise On the Laconian dialect, argolic was spoken in the thickly settled northeast Peloponnese at, for example, Argos, Mycenae, Hermione, Troezen, Epidaurus, and as close to Athens as the island of Aegina. As Mycenaean Greek had been spoken in this region in the Bronze Age. The Dorians went on from Argos to Crete and Rhodes, ample inscriptional material of a legal, political and religious content exists from at least the sixth century BC. Corinthian was spoken first in the region between the Peloponnesus and mainland Greece, that is, the Isthmus of Corinth
11.
Ionic Greek
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Ionic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic or Eastern dialect group of Ancient Greek. The Ionic dialect appears to have spread from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions. By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th-century BC, the Ionic dialect was also spoken on islands across the central Aegean and on the large island of Euboea north of Athens. The dialect was spread by Ionian colonization to areas in the northern Aegean, the Black Sea. The Ionic dialect is divided into two major time periods, Old Ionic and New Ionic. The transition between the two is not clearly defined, but 600 BC is a good approximation, the poet Archilochus wrote in late Old Ionic. The most famous New Ionic authors are Anacreon, Theognis, Herodotus, Hippocrates, and, in Roman times, Aretaeus, Arrian, and Lucian. This was further enhanced by the writing reform implemented in Athens in 403 BC, whereby the old Attic alphabet was replaced by the Ionic alphabet and this alphabet eventually became the standard Greek alphabet, its use becoming uniform during the Koine era. It was also the used in the Christian Gospels and the book of Acts. Proto-Greek ā > Ionic ē, in Doric, Aeolic, ā remains, in Attic, ā after e, i, r, in Attic, e, o is not lengthened. Proto-Greek *kórwā > Attic κόρη, Ionic κούρη girl *órwos > ὄρος, οὔρος mountain *ksénwos > ξένος, ξεῖνος guest, Proto-Greek *hāwélios > Attic hēlios, Homeric ēélios sun Ionic contracts less often than Attic. Ionic γένεα, Attic γένη family Proto-Greek *kʷ before a, o > Ionic k, Attic p. Proto-Greek *okʷō > Ionic ὄκως, Attic ὅπως in whatever way, in which way Proto-Greek *ťť > Ionic ss and this Ionic feature made it into Koine Greek. Proto-Greek *táťťō > Ionic τάσσω, Attic τάττω I arrange Ionic had a very analytical word-order, perhaps the most analytical one within ancient Greek dialects
12.
Attic Greek
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Attic Greek is the Greek dialect of ancient Attica, including of the city of Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek and is the form of the language that is studied in ancient Greek language courses. Attic Greek is sometimes included in the Ionic dialect, together, Attic and Ionic are the primary influences on Modern Greek. Greek is the member of the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European language family. In ancient times, Greek had already come to exist in several dialects, mycenaean Greek represents an early form of Eastern Greek, the group to which Attic also belongs. Later Greek literature wrote about three main dialects, Aeolic, Doric, and Ionic, Attic was part of the Ionic dialect group, ruling from Alexandria, Ptolemy launched the Alexandrian period, during which the city of Alexandria and its expatriate Greek-medium scholars flourished. The earliest Greek literature, which is attributed to Homer and is dated to the 8th or 7th centuries BC, is written in Old Ionic rather than Attic. The first extensive works of literature in Attic are the plays of the dramatists Aeschylus, the military exploits of the Athenians led to some universally read and admired history, as found in the works of Thucydides and Xenophon. Slightly less known because they are technical and legal are the orations by Antiphon, Demosthenes, Lysias, Isocrates. The Attic Greek of the philosophers Plato and his student Aristotle dates to the period of transition between Classical Attic and Koine, Attic Greek, like other dialects, was originally written in a local variant of the Greek alphabet. In other respects, Old Attic shares many features with the neighbouring Euboean alphabet, like the latter, it used an L-shaped variant of lambda and an S-shaped variant of sigma. It lacked the consonant symbols xi for /ks/ and psi for /ps/, expressing these sound combinations with ΧΣ, moreover, like most other mainland Greek dialects, Attic did not yet use omega and eta for the long vowels /ɔ, / and /ɛ, /. Instead, it expressed the vowel phonemes /o, oː, ɔː/ with the letter Ο and /e, eː, moreover, the letter Η was used as heta, with the consonantal value of /h/ rather than the vocalic value of /ɛː/. In the 5th century, Athenian writing gradually switched from this system to the more widely used Ionic alphabet, native to the eastern Aegean islands. This new system, also called the Eucleidian alphabet, after the name of the archon Eucleides, the classical works of Attic literature were subsequently handed down to posterity in the new Ionic spelling, and it is the classical orthography in which they are read today. Proto-Greek long ā → Attic long ē, but ā after e, i, r, ⁓ Ionic ē in all positions. ⁓ Doric and Aeolic ā in all positions, Proto-Greek and Doric mātēr → Attic mētēr mother Attic chōrā ⁓ Ionic chōrē place, country However, Proto-Greek ā → Attic ē after w, deleted by the Classical Period. Proto-Greek korwā → early Attic-Ionic *korwē → Attic korē Proto-Greek ă → Attic ě, Doric Artamis ⁓ Attic Artemis Compensatory lengthening of vowel before cluster of sonorant and s, after deletion of s
13.
Heracles
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Heracles, born Alcaeus or Alcides, was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson and half-brother of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of clans who claimed to be Heracleidae. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, details of his cult were adapted to Rome as well. Extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess with both males and females were among the characteristics commonly attributed to him, together with Hermes he was the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae. His iconographic attributes are the skin and the club. These qualities did not prevent him from being regarded as a figure who used games to relax from his labors. By conquering dangerous archaic forces he is said to have made the safe for mankind. Many popular stories were told of his life, the most famous being The Twelve Labours of Heracles and his figure, which initially drew on Near Eastern motifs such as the lion-fight, was widely known. Heracles was the greatest of Hellenic chthonic heroes, but unlike other Greek heroes, the core of the story of Heracles has been identified by Walter Burkert as originating in Neolithic hunter culture and traditions of shamanistic crossings into the netherworld. Heracles role as a hero, whose death could be a subject of mythic telling, was accepted into the Olympian Pantheon during Classical times. Around him cries of the dead rang out like cries of birds scattering left, in Christian circles a Euhemerist reading of the widespread Heracles cult was attributed to a historical figure who had been offered cult status after his death. The ancient Greeks celebrated the festival of the Heracleia, which commemorated the death of Heracles, what is believed to be an Egyptian Temple of Heracles in the Bahariya Oasis dates to 21 BCE. A reassessment of Ptolemys descriptions of the island of Malta attempted to link the site at Ras ir-Raħeb with a temple to Heracles, several ancient cities were named Heraclea in his honor. A major factor in the tragedies surrounding Heracles is the hatred that the goddess Hera. A full account of Heracles must render it clear why Heracles was so tormented by Hera, Heracles was the son of the affair Zeus had with the mortal woman Alcmene. Zeus made love to her after disguising himself as her husband, Amphitryon, thus, Heracles very existence proved at least one of Zeus many illicit affairs, and Hera often conspired against Zeus mortal offspring as revenge for her husbands infidelities. His twin mortal brother, son of Amphitryon, was Iphicles, Hera did this knowing that while Heracles was to be born a descendant of Perseus, so too was Eurystheus
14.
Second Persian invasion of Greece
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The second Persian invasion of Greece occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece at the Battle of Marathon, after Dariuss death, his son Xerxes spent several years planning for the second invasion, mustering an enormous army and navy. The Athenians and Spartans led the Greek resistance, about a tenth of the Greek city-states joined the Allied effort, most remained neutral or submitted to Xerxes. The invasion began in spring 480 BC, when the Persian army crossed the Hellespont and marched through Thrace and Macedon to Thessaly. At the famous Battle of Thermopylae, the Allied army held back the Persian army for seven days, before they were outflanked by a mountain path and the Allied rearguard was trapped and annihilated. The Allied fleet had also withstood two days of Persian attacks at the Battle of Artemisium, but when news reached them of the disaster at Thermopylae, after Thermopylae, all of Boeotia and Attica fell to the Persian army, which captured and burnt Athens. However, a larger Allied army fortified the narrow Isthmus of Corinth, both sides thus sought a naval victory that might decisively alter the course of the war. The following spring, the Allies assembled the largest ever hoplite army, at the ensuing Battle of Plataea, the Greek infantry again proved its superiority, inflicting a severe defeat on the Persians and killing Mardonius in the process. On the same day, across the Aegean Sea an Allied navy destroyed the remnants of the Persian navy at the Battle of Mycale, with this double defeat, the invasion was ended, and Persian power in the Aegean severely dented. The Greeks would now move to the offensive, eventually expelling the Persians from Europe, the main source for the Great Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus. Herodotus, who has called the Father of History, was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus. He wrote his Enquiries around 440–430 BC, trying to trace the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars, Herodotuss approach was entirely novel, and at least in Western society, he does seem to have invented history as we know it. Some subsequent ancient historians, despite following in his footsteps, criticised Herodotus, nevertheless, Thucydides chose to begin his history where Herodotus left off, and therefore evidently felt that Herodotuss history was accurate enough not to need re-writing or correcting. A negative view of Herodotus was passed on to Renaissance Europe, however, since the 19th century his reputation has been dramatically rehabilitated by archaeological finds that have repeatedly confirmed his version of events. The prevailing modern view is that Herodotus generally did a job in his Historia. Nevertheless, there are some historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story. This account is consistent with Herodotuss. The Greco-Persian wars are also described in detail by a number of other ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias
15.
Last stand
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A last stand is a general military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. In some cases, troops will make a last stand to protect their ruler or leader, Last stands loom large in history, as the heroism and sacrifice of the defenders exerts a large pull on the publics imagination. Some last stands have become a part of a fighting forces or a countrys history. A last stand is a last resort tactic, and is chosen because the defending force realizes or believes the benefits of fighting outweigh the benefits of retreat or surrender, the situation can arise in several ways. In some cases, troops will make a last stand to protect their ruler or leader, when Rome was attacked in 1527 by the army of the Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Charles V, over 20,000 troops stormed the city. In the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Saxon King Harold II battled the Norman William the Conqueror, after most of the Saxons were killed in the battle, Harold and his housecarl bodyguard. fought on until an arrow struck the king in the eye. After Harold died, the housecarl bodyguard made a last stand, some last stands have become a celebrated part of a fighting force or countrys history. The French Foreign Legion became known for its last stand in the 1863 Battle of Camarón, during the battle,65 Foreign Legion soldiers protecting a supply convoy carrying gold bullion were attacked by a Mexican force of 3,000. The Foreign Legion soldiers fought their way to a building, which used as a defensive position for their last stand. They refused to surrender, and fought until almost all of them were killed, when only a handful were still alive, with no ammunition left, they conducted a bayonet charge at the much larger Mexican force. April 30 is called Camerone Day in France to remember this day, in the Battle of the Alamo 1,500 Mexican soldiers attacked the Alamo in Texas, which was defended by 180 to 260 Texans. Between 182 and 257 Texians died in a last stand defense of the Alamo, the Texians last stand in this battle has become a celebrated part of US history, which has been depicted in numerous films. A siege may lead to a last stand by the defenders, Last stands at the end of sieges became less common after the Hague Conventions came in force. Under the laws of war as they are now. it is especially forbidden -, to kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion, To declare that no quarter will be given. It is unlawful for a force to kill a garrison if they attempt to surrender even if it is during the final assault on a fortified position. Last stands loom large in history due to the pull on popular imagination, even though the odds are overwhelming, the hero and his followers fight on nobly to the end and are slaughtered to a man. In defeat the hero of the Last Stand achieves the greatest of victories, during WW I, the expression to fight with ones back to the wall became a widely-known way to refer to making a last stand
16.
Battle of Thermopylae
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It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae. The Persian invasion was a response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece. Xerxes had amassed an army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. A Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the middle of 480 BC. The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered one million. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of historys most famous last stands, during two full days of battle, the small force led by Leonidas blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. After the second day, a resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing that a small path led behind the Greek lines. Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 Spartans,700 Thespians,400 Thebans, fighting to the death. At Artemisium, the Greek navy, under the command of the Athenian politician Themistocles, since the Greek strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, and given their losses, it was decided to withdraw to Salamis. The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated Athens, the Greek fleet—seeking a decisive victory over the Persian armada—attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Fearful of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia, however, the following year saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion. Both ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of an army defending its native soil. The primary source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus and this account is fairly consistent with Herodotus. Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column, also some of Herodotus specific claims. For example, the military strategist Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart defers to Grundy, Grundy also explored Plataea and wrote a treatise on that battle. On the Battle of Thermopylae itself, two sources, Herodotus and Simonides accounts, survive. In fact, Herodotus account of the battle, in Book VII of his Histories, is such an important source that Paul Cartledge wrote, we write a history of Thermopylae with. The Greek city-states of Athens and Eretria had encouraged the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499–494 BC, the Persian Empire was still relatively young and prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples
17.
Herodotus
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Herodotus was a Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire and lived in the fifth century BC, a contemporary of Socrates. The Histories is the work which he is known to have produced. Despite Herodotus historical significance, little is known of his personal life and his place in history and his significance may be understood according to the traditions within which he worked. His work is the earliest Greek prose to have survived intact, of these only fragments of Hecataeuss work survive yet they allow us glimpses into the kind of tradition within which Herodotus wrote his own Histories. In his introduction to Hecataeus’s work, Genealogies, This points forward to the ‘folksy’ yet ‘international’ outlook typical of Herodotus. Yet, one scholar has described the work of Hecataeus as “a curious false start to history” since despite his critical spirit. It is possible that Herodotus borrowed much material from Hecataeus, as stated by Porphyry in a recorded by Eusebius. But Hecataeus did not record events that had occurred in living memory, unlike Herodotus, Herodotus claims to be better informed than his predecessors by relying on empirical observation to correct their excessive schematism. For example, He argues for continental asymmetry as opposed to the theory of a perfectly circular earth with Europe. Yet, he retains idealizing tendencies, as in his notions of the Danube. His debt to previous authors of prose ‘histories’ might be questionable, however, this point is one of the most contentious issues in modern scholarship. It is on account of the strange stories and the folk-tales he reported that his critics in early modern times branded him “The Father of Lies”. Even his own contemporaries found reason to scoff at his achievement, similarly, the Athenian historian Thucydides dismissed Herodotus as a “logos-writer”. Moreover, Thucydides developed a historical topic more in keeping with the Greek world-view, the interplay of civilizations was more relevant to Greeks living in Anatolia, such as Herodotus himself, for whom life within a foreign civilization was a recent memory. Modern scholars generally turn to Herodotus’s own writing for reliable information about his life, supplemented with ancient yet much later sources, modern accounts of his life typically go something like this, Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus around 484 BC. His name is not mentioned later in the tribute list of the Athenian Delian League, the epic poet Panyassis – a relative of Herodotus – is reported to have taken part in a failed uprising. Herodotus expresses affection for the island of Samos, and this is an indication that he might have lived there in his youth. So it is possible that his family was involved in an uprising against Lygdamis, leading to a period of exile on Samos, Herodotus wrote his Histories in the Ionian dialect, yet he was born in Halicarnassus, which was a Dorian settlement
18.
Chilon of Sparta
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Chilon of Sparta was a Lacedaemonian and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Chilon was the son of Damagetus, and lived towards the beginning of the 6th century BC, alcidamas stated that he was a member of the Spartan assembly. Diogenes Laertius even goes so far as to claim that Chilon was also the first person who introduced the custom of joining the ephors to the kings as their counselors, Chilon is said to have helped to overthrow the tyranny at Sicyon, which became a Spartan ally. He is also credited with the change in Spartan policy leading to the development of the Peloponnesian League in the sixth century BC. Another legend claims that he died of joy when his son gained the prize for boxing at the Olympic games, one of his descendants married king Anaxandridas II of Sparta and bore his son, king Cleomenes I. Diogenes Laertius describes him as a writer of poems, and attributes many sayings to him. Prefer punishment to gain, for the one is painful but once. Do not laugh at a person in misfortune, if one is strong be also merciful, so that ones neighbors may respect one rather than fear one. Learn how to regulate ones own house well, do not let ones tongue outrun ones sense. Do not desire what is impossible, do not make too much haste on ones road. According to an inscription at the Bath of the Seven Sages in Ostia cunning Chilon taught to fart silently, early Sparta,1962 The Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laertius Pliny,7, c
19.
Seven Sages of Greece
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Traditionally, each of the seven sages represents an aspect of worldly wisdom which is summarized by an aphorism. Although the list of sages sometimes varies, the ones usually included are the following, Cleobulus of Lindos and he governed as tyrant of Lindos, in the Greek island of Rhodes, c.600 BC. Solon of Athens, Nothing in excess, solon was a famous legislator and reformer from Athens, framing the laws that shaped the Athenian democracy. Chilon of Sparta, Do not desire the impossible, chilon was a Spartan politician from the 6th century BC, to whom the militarization of Spartan society was attributed. Bias of Priene, Most men are bad, bias was a politician and legislator of the 6th century BC. Thales is the first well-known philosopher and mathematician and his advice, Know thyself, was engraved on the front facade of the Oracle of Apollo in Delphi. Pittacus of Mytilene, Know thy opportunity, pittacus governed Mytilene along with Myrsilus. He tried to reduce the power of the nobility and was able to govern with the support of the popular classes, Periander of Corinth, Be farsighted with everything. Periander was the tyrant of Corinth in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, during his rule, Corinth knew a golden age of unprecedented stability. The oldest explicit mention on record of a standard list of seven sages is in Platos Protagoras, because this was the manner of philosophy among the ancients, a kind of laconic brevity. According to Demetrius Phalereus, it was during the archonship of Damasias that the seven first become known as the wise men, Diogenes points out, however, that there was among his sources great disagreement over which figures should be counted among the seven. Perhaps the two most common substitutions were to exchange Periander or Anacharsis for Myson, both Ephorus and Plutarch substituted Anacharsis for Myson. Later tradition ascribed to each sage a pithy saying of his own, Most likely they were popular proverbs, which tended later to be attributed to particular sages. According to a number of stories, there was a golden tripod which was to be given to the wisest. Allegedly, it passed in turn one of the seven sages to another, beginning with Thales. According to Diogenes, Dicaearchus claimed that the seven were neither wise men nor philosophers, but merely shrewd men, who had studied legislation. And according to at least one scholar, the claim is correct, With the exception of Thales. Plutarchs The Dinner of the Seven Wise Men, in the Loeb Classical Library, Seven Sages of Greece with illustrations and further links
20.
Agoge
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The agōgē was the rigorous education and training program mandated for all male Spartan citizens, except for the firstborn son in the ruling houses, Eurypontid and Agiad. The training involved learning stealth, cultivating loyalty to the Spartan group, military training, hunting, dancing, singing, the word agoge meant rearing in ancient Greek, but in this context generally meant leading, guidance, or training. The aim of the system was to produce a strong and capable warriors to serve in the Spartan army and it encouraged conformity and the importance of the Spartan state over ones personal interest and generated the future elites of Sparta. The men would become the walls of Sparta because Sparta was the only Greek city with no defensive walls after they had been demolished at the order of Lycurgus, discipline was strict and the males were encouraged to fight amongst themselves to determine the strongest member of the group. The agoge was prestigious throughout the Greek world, and many families from other cities vied to send their sons to Sparta to participate in the agoge for varying periods of time. The Spartans were very selective in which young men they would permit to enroll, such honors were usually awarded to the próxenoi of Sparta in other cities and to a few other families of supreme ancestry and importance. When a boy was born, he was washed with wine in the belief that this would make him strong, every infant was then examined by members of the Gerousia from the childs tribe to see whether he was fit and healthy enough to be allowed to live. In the event that the baby did not pass the test, at the age of seven, the male child was enrolled in the agoge under the authority of the paidonómos, or boy-herder, a magistrate charged with supervising education. This began the first of the three stages of the agoge, the paídes, the paidískoi, and the hēbōntes, some classical sources indicate that there were further subdivisions by year within these classes. The boys lived in groups under an older man and they were encouraged to give their loyalty to their communal mess hall known as the Syssitia, rather than to their families. Beginning at the age of 12 boys would be only one item of clothing per year — a red cloak known as a Phoinikis. They also created out of reeds pulled by hand, with no knife. Boys were intentionally underfed to encourage them to food for themselves, however. This was also meant to produce well-built soldiers rather than fat ones and this let the boys become accustomed to hunger, and this prevented hunger from being a problem during battle. Only the heirs apparent of the two Spartan royal households were exempt from the process, at around age 12 the boys would enter into an institutionalized relationship with a young adult male Spartan. Plutarch described this form of Spartan pederasty wherein somewhat older warriors would engage promising youths in a relationship with an instructive motive. The boys were expected to request the relationship, which was seen as a method to pass on knowledge, at the stage of paidiskoi, around the age of 18, the students became reserve members of the Spartan army. Also, some youths were allowed to become part of the Crypteia, a type of Secret Police and they would also kill Helot slaves who were out at night or spoke about rebelling against the Government, to help keep the population submissive
21.
Felice Cavallotti
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Felice Cavallotti was an Italian politician, poet and dramatic author. Born in Milan, Cavallotti fought with the Garibaldian Corps in their 1860 and 1866 campaigns during the Italian Wars of Independence, following his military service he created a series of anti-monarchical lampoons in the Gazzetta di Milano and in the Gazzettina Rosa between 1866 and 1872. He also commented Garibaldis deeds in the Neapolitan Indipendente, directed by Alexandre Dumas, in 1872 Cavallotti was elected to the Italian Parliament as deputy for Corteolona. When sworn in Cavallotti took the oath of allegiance, despite having lampooned the oath in his articles, eloquent and turbulent, his combativeness in and out of Parliament secured for him the leadership of the extreme Left on the death of Agostino Bertani in 1886. During his twelve years leadership his party increased in number from twenty to seventy, by skillful alliances with the Marquis Antonio di Rudinì he more than once obtained practical control of the Italian government and exacted notable concessions to Radical demands. Aged 55, Cavallotti was killed in a duel with Count Ferruccio Macola, editor of the conservative Gazzetta di Venezia, poet Giosuè Carducci issued a celebrative discourse for his death. Cavallotti was buried in the cemetery of Dagnente, on the Lake Maggiore, via Felice Cavallotti, a street in Spoleto, Italy This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Cavallotti, Felice
22.
Milan
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Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
23.
Ernesto Bazzaro
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Ernesto Bazzaro was an Italian sculptor. Like his elder brother, Leonardo, Ernesto Bazzaro studied at the Brera Academy in Milan, as a participant in the lively scene of the Scapigliatura movement, he was an attentive observer of the renewal in the plastic arts led by Giuseppe Grandi. From 1905 to 1908 he sat on the Milan City Council in the ranks of the Unione Partiti Popolari which comprised socialists, radicals, laura Casone, Ernesto Bazzaro, online catalogue Artgate by Fondazione Cariplo,2010, CC BY-SA. Media related to Ernesto Bazzaro at Wikimedia Commons
24.
Argos
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Argos is a city in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is also a bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. It is the biggest town in Argolis and a center for the area. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the municipality of Argos-Mykines, the municipal unit has an area of 138.138 km2. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour, a settlement of great antiquity, Argos has been continuously inhabited as at least a substantial village for the past 7,000 years. The city is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network, a resident of the city of Argos is known as an Argive. However, this term is used to refer to those ancient Greeks generally who assaulted the city of Troy during the Trojan War. Numerous ancient monuments can be found in the city today, the most famous of which is the Heraion of Argos, agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy. The name of the city is ancient and several etymological theories have been proposed as an explanation to its meaning. The most popular one maintains that the name of the city is a remainder from the Pelasgian language, i. e. the one used by the people who first settled in the area, in which Argos meant plain. Alternatively, the name is associated with Argos, the king of the city in ancient times. It is also believed that Argos is linked to the word αργός, which meant white, possibly, according to Strabo, the name could have even originated from the word αγρός by antimetathesis of the consonants. As a strategic location on the plain of Argolis, Argos was a major stronghold during the Mycenaean era. There is evidence of settlement in the area starting with a village about 7000 years ago in the late Neolithic. It was colonized in prehistoric times by the Pelasgian Greeks, since that time, Argos has been continually inhabited at the same geographical location. Its creation is attributed to Phoroneus, with its first name having been Phoronicon Asty, the city is located at a rather propitious area, among Nemea, Corinth and Arcadia. It also benefitted from its proximity to lake Lerna, which, during the Dorian invasion, c.1100 BC, Argos was divided into four neighbourhoods, each of them inhabited by a different phyle. Argos experienced its greatest period of expansion and power under the energetic 7th century BC ruler King Pheidon, under Pheidon, Argos regained sway over the cities of the Argolid and challenged Sparta’s dominance of the Peloponnese
25.
First Persian invasion of Greece
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The first Persian invasion of Greece, during the Persian Wars, began in 492 BC, and ended with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. The invasion, consisting of two campaigns, was ordered by the Persian king Darius I primarily in order to punish the city-states of Athens. These cities had supported the cities of Ionia during their revolt against Persian rule, Darius also saw the opportunity to extend his empire into Europe, and to secure its western frontier. However, further progress was prevented when Mardoniuss fleet was wrecked in a storm off the coast of Mount Athos, the following year, having demonstrated his intentions, Darius sent ambassadors to all parts of Greece, demanding their submission. He received it from almost all of them, except Athens and Sparta, with Athens still defiant, and Sparta now effectively at war with him, Darius ordered a further military campaign for the following year. The second Persian campaign, in 490 BC, was under the command of Datis, the expedition headed first to the island Naxos, which it captured and burnt. It then island-hopped between the rest of the Cycladic Islands, annexing each into the Persian empire, reaching Greece, the expedition landed at Eretria, which it besieged, and after a brief time, captured. Eretria was razed and its citizens enslaved, finally, the task force headed to Attica, landing at Marathon, en route for Athens. There, it was met by a smaller Athenian army, which proceeded to win a remarkable victory at the Battle of Marathon. This defeat prevented the conclusion of the campaign, and the task force returned to Asia. Nevertheless, the expedition had fulfilled most of its aims, punishing Naxos and Eretria, the unfinished business from this campaign led Darius to prepare for a much larger invasion of Greece, to firmly subjugate it, and to punish Athens and Sparta. However, internal strife within the empire delayed this expedition, and it was thus left to his son Xerxes I to lead the second Persian invasion of Greece, beginning in 480 BC. The main source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus, Herodotus, who has been called the Father of History, was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor. He wrote his Enquiries around 440–430 BC, trying to trace the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars, Herodotuss approach was entirely novel, and at least in Western society, he does seem to have invented history as we know it. Some subsequent ancient historians, despite following in his footsteps, criticised Herodotus, nevertheless, Thucydides chose to begin his history where Herodotus left off, and therefore evidently felt that Herodotuss history was accurate enough not to need re-writing or correcting. A negative view of Herodotus was passed on to Renaissance Europe, however, since the 19th century his reputation has been dramatically rehabilitated by archaeological finds which have repeatedly confirmed his version of events. The prevailing modern view is that Herodotus generally did a job in his Historia. Nevertheless, there are some historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story
26.
Battle of Marathon
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The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis, the battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. The Greek army decisively defeated the more numerous Persians, marking a point in the Greco-Persian Wars. The Athenians and Eretrians had succeeded in capturing and burning Sardis, in response to this raid, Darius swore to burn down Athens and Eretria. Also he charged one of his servants, to say Master, remember the Athenians, three times before dinner each day. At the time of the battle, Sparta and Athens were the two largest city states, once the Ionian revolt was finally crushed by the Persian victory at the Battle of Lade in 494 BC, Darius began plans to subjugate Greece. In 490 BC, he sent a task force under Datis and Artaphernes across the Aegean, to subjugate the Cyclades. Reaching Euboea in mid-summer after a campaign in the Aegean. The Persian force then sailed for Attica, landing in the bay near the town of Marathon, the Athenians, joined by a small force from Plataea, marched to Marathon, and succeeded in blocking the two exits from the plain of Marathon. The Athenians also sent a message asking for support to the Spartans, when the messenger arrived in Sparta, the Spartans were involved in a religious festival and gave this as a reason for not coming to aid of the Athenians. The Athenians and their allies chose a location for the battle, with marshes and mountainous terrain, Miltiades, the Athenian general, ordered a general attack against the Persians. He reinforced his flanks, luring the Persians best fighters into his center, the inward wheeling flanks enveloped the Persians, routing them. The Persian army broke in panic towards their ships, and large numbers were slaughtered, the defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia. Darius then began raising a new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece, however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted. After Darius died, his son Xerxes I restarted the preparations for an invasion of Greece. The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten, the battle also showed the Greeks that they were able to win battles without the Spartans, as they had heavily relied on Sparta previously. This win was due to the Athenians, and Marathon raised Greek esteem of them. The main source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus, Herodotus, who has been called the Father of History, was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor
27.
Plutarch
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Plutarch was a Greek biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist, Plutarchs surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers. Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the town of Chaeronea, about 80 km east of Delphi. The name of Plutarchs father has not been preserved, but based on the common Greek custom of repeating a name in alternate generations, the name of Plutarchs grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in Moralia and in his Life of Antony. His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are mentioned in his essays and dialogues. Rualdus, in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus, recovered the name of Plutarchs wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation. The exact number of his sons is not certain, although two of them, Autobulus and the second Plutarch, are often mentioned. Plutarchs treatise De animae procreatione in Timaeo is dedicated to them, another person, Soklarus, is spoken of in terms which seem to imply that he was Plutarchs son, but this is nowhere definitely stated. Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy at the Academy of Athens under Ammonius from 66 to 67, at some point, Plutarch took Roman citizenship. He lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and was initiated into the mysteries of the Greek god Apollo. For many years Plutarch served as one of the two priests at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the site of the famous Delphic Oracle, twenty miles from his home. By his writings and lectures Plutarch became a celebrity in the Roman Empire, yet he continued to reside where he was born, at his country estate, guests from all over the empire congregated for serious conversation, presided over by Plutarch in his marble chair. Many of these dialogues were recorded and published, and the 78 essays, Plutarch held the office of archon in his native municipality, probably only an annual one which he likely served more than once. He busied himself with all the matters of the town. The Suda, a medieval Greek encyclopedia, states that Emperor Trajan made Plutarch procurator of Illyria, however, most historians consider this unlikely, since Illyria was not a procuratorial province, and Plutarch probably did not speak Illyrian. Plutarch spent the last thirty years of his serving as a priest in Delphi. He thus connected part of his work with the sanctuary of Apollo, the processes of oracle-giving
28.
Leotychidas
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Leotychidas was a ruler of Sparta in 491–476 BC. He led Spartan forces during the Persian Wars from 490 BC to 478 BC, later that year, he joined Cleomenes second expedition to Aegina, where ten hostages were seized and given to Athens. However, after Cleomenes death in 488 BC, Leotychidas was almost surrendered to Aegina, in the spring of 479 BC, Leotychidas commanded a Greek fleet consisting of 110 ships at Aegina and later at Delos, supporting the Greek revolts at Chios and Samos against Persia. Leotychidas defeated Persian military and naval forces at the Battle of Mycale on the coast of Asia Minor in the summer of 479 BC. In 476 BC, Leotychidas led an expedition to Thessaly against the Aleuadae family for collaboration with the Persians, upon returning to Sparta he was tried for bribery, and fled to the temple of Athena Alea in Tegea. Leotychidas died some years later, around 469 BC, Leotychidas is not to be confused with another Eurypontid, Leotychides, who was the son of Agis II. Andrew R. Burn, Persia and the Greeks, The Defense of the West 456-478 B. C, new York,1962 Peter Green, The Year of Salamis 480-479 B. C. London,1970 Simon Hornblower, The Greek World, 479-323 B. C
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Jacques-Louis David
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Jacques-Louis David was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. David later became a supporter of the French Revolution and friend of Maximilien Robespierre. Imprisoned after Robespierres fall from power, he aligned himself with yet another political regime upon his release, at this time he developed his Empire style, notable for its use of warm Venetian colours. After Napoleons fall from Imperial power and the Bourbon revival, David exiled himself to Brussels, then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, where he remained until his death. David had a number of pupils, making him the strongest influence in French art of the early 19th century. Jacques-Louis David was born into a family in Paris on 30 August 1748. When he was nine his father was killed in a duel. He covered his notebooks with drawings, and he said, I was always hiding behind the instructors chair. Soon, he desired to be a painter, but his uncles and he overcame the opposition, and went to learn from François Boucher, the leading painter of the time, who was also a distant relative. Boucher was a Rococo painter, but tastes were changing, Boucher decided that instead of taking over Davids tutelage, he would send David to his friend, Joseph-Marie Vien, a painter who embraced the classical reaction to Rococo. There David attended the Royal Academy, based in what is now the Louvre, each year the Academy awarded an outstanding student the prestigious Prix de Rome, which funded a three- to five-year stay in the Eternal City. Each pensionnaire was lodged in the French Academys Roman outpost, which from the years 1737 to 1793 was the Palazzo Mancini in the Via del Corso. David competed for, and failed to win, the prize for three years, each failure contributing to his lifelong grudge against the institution. After his second loss in 1772, David went on a hunger strike, confident he now had the support and backing needed to win the prize, he resumed his studies with great zeal—only to fail to win the Prix de Rome again the following year. Finally, in 1774, David was awarded the Prix de Rome on the strength of his painting of Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus Disease, a subject set by the judges. In October 1775 he made the journey to Italy with his mentor, Joseph-Marie Vien, while in Italy, David especially studied the works of 17th-century masters such as Poussin, Caravaggio, and the Carracci. Mengs principled, historicizing approach to the representation of classical subjects profoundly influenced Davids pre-revolutionary painting, such as The Vestal Virgin, mengs also introduced David to the theoretical writings on ancient sculpture by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the German scholar held to be the founder of modern art history. In 1779, David toured the newly excavated ruins of Pompeii, while in Rome, David also assiduously studied the High Renaissance painters, Raphael making a profound and lasting impression on the young French artist
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French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
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Pythia
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The Pythia, was the name of the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi who also served as the oracle, commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi. The name Pythia is derived from Pytho, which in myth was the name of Delphi. Pythia was the House of Snakes, the Pythia was established at the latest in the 8th century BC, and was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by being filled by the spirit of the god, in this case Apollo. The Pythian priestess emerged pre-eminent by the end of 7th century BC, during this period the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks, and she was without doubt the most powerful woman of the classical world. The oracle is one of the religious institutions of the classical Greeks. Nevertheless, details of how the Pythia operated are missing as authors from the classical period treat the process as common knowledge with no need to explain and those who discussed the oracle in any detail are from 1st century BC to 4th century AD and give conflicting stories. Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC describes the Pythia speaking in dactylic hexameters, the 8th-century reformulation of the Oracle at Delphi as a shrine to Apollo seems associated with the rise in importance of the city of Corinth and the importance of sites in the Corinthian Gulf. The earliest account of the origin of the Delphic oracle is provided in the Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo, which recent scholarship dates within a narrow range, c. It describes in detail how Apollo chose his first priests, whom he selected in their swift ship, but Apollo, who had Delphinios as one of his cult epithets, leapt into the ship in the form of a dolphin. Dolphin-Apollo revealed himself to the terrified Cretans, and bade them follow him up to the place where you will have rich offerings. The Cretans danced in time and followed, singing Iē Paiēon, paean seems to have been the name by which Apollo was known in Mycenaean times. G. L. Huxley observes, If the hymn to Apollo conveys a historical message, an early visitor to these dells of Parnassus, at the end of the eighth century, was Hesiod, who was shown the omphalos. There are also many stories of the origins of the Delphic Oracle. On entering the chasm, he found himself filled with a presence and could see outside of the present into the past. Excited by his discovery he shared it with nearby villagers, many started visiting the site to experience the convulsions and inspirational trances, though some were said to disappear into the cleft due to their frenzied state. A shrine was erected at the site, where people began worshiping in the late Bronze Age, after the deaths of a number of men, the villagers chose a single young woman as the liaison for the divine inspirations. Eventually she spoke on behalf of gods, according to earlier myths, the office of the oracle was initially possessed by the goddesses Themis and Phoebe, and the site was initially sacred to Gaia. Subsequently, it was believed to be sacred to Poseidon, the Earth-shaker god of earthquakes, apparently Poseidon was mollified by the gift of a new site in Troizen
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Delphi
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Delphi is famous as the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of the oracle that was consulted on important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. Moreover, it was considered as the navel of the world by the Greeks as represented by the Omphalos and it occupies an impressive site on the south-western slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the coastal plain to the south and the valley of Phocis. It is now an archaeological site and the modern town is nearby. The site of Delphi is located in upper central Greece, on multiple plateaux/terraces along the slope of Mount Parnassus, and includes the Sanctuary of Apollo and this semicircular spur is known as Phaedriades, and overlooks the Pleistos Valley. In myths dating to the period of Ancient Greece, the site of Delphi was believed to be determined by Zeus when he sought to find the centre of his Grandmother Earth. He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the omphalos, Apollo was said to have slain Python, a drako a serpent or a dragon who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth. Python is claimed by some to be the name of the site in recognition of Python which Apollo defeated. The Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo recalled that the ancient name of this site had been Krisa, others relate that it was named Pytho and that Pythia, the priestess serving as the oracle, was chosen from their ranks by a group of priestesses who officiated at the temple. At the settlement site in Delphi, which was a settlement of the late 9th century. Pottery and bronze work as well as tripod dedications continue in a steady stream, the victors at Delphi were presented with a laurel crown which was ceremonially cut from a tree by a boy who re-enacted the slaying of the Python. Delphi was set apart from the other sites because it hosted the mousikos agon. These Pythian Games rank second among the four stephanitic games chronologically and these games, though, were different from the games at Olympia in that they were not of such vast importance to the city of Delphi as the games at Olympia were to the area surrounding Olympia. Delphi would have been a renowned city whether or not it hosted these games, it had other attractions that led to it being labeled the omphalos of the earth, in other words, in the inner hestia of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. The name Delphoi comes from the root as δελφύς delphys, womb. Apollo is connected with the site by his epithet Δελφίνιος Delphinios, the epithet is connected with dolphins in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, recounting the legend of how Apollo first came to Delphi in the shape of a dolphin, carrying Cretan priests on his back. The Homeric name of the oracle is Pytho, another legend held that Apollo walked to Delphi from the north and stopped at Tempe, a city in Thessaly, to pick laurel which he considered to be a sacred plant. In commemoration of this legend, the winners at the Pythian Games received a wreath of laurel picked in the Temple, Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger, additionally, according to Plutarchs essay on the meaning of the E at Delphi—the only literary source for the inscription—there was also inscribed at the temple a large letter E
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Prophecy
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Prophecy is not limited to any one culture. It is a property to all known ancient societies around the world. Many systems and rules about prophecy have been proposed over several millennia, the related meaning thing spoken or written by a prophet dates from c. 1300, while the verb to prophesy is recorded by 1377, the former closely relates to the definition by Al-Fârâbî who developed the theory of prophecy in Islam. According to Western esotericist Rosemary Guiley, clairvoyance has been used as an adjunct to divination, prophecy, Modern research in prophecy is a pseudoscience. In general, a diviners foretelling or a prophetic prediction of the future does not adhere to the scientific method, from a skeptical point of view, there is a Latin maxim, prophecy written after the fact vaticinium ex eventu. The Jewish Torah already deals with the topic of the false prophet, the Haedong Kosung-jon records that King Beopheung of Silla had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheungs Grand Secretary, Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal, Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhisms power. Ichadons scheme went as planned, and the officials took the bait. The omen was accepted by the court officials as a manifestation of heavens approval. In ancient Chinese, prophetic texts are known as Chen, the most famous Chinese prophecy is the Tui bei tu The New Testament refers to prophecy as one of the spiritual gifts given by the indwelling Holy Spirit. From this, many Christians believe that the gift of prophecy is the ability to receive. The purpose of the message may be to edify, exhort and comfort the members of the Church, in this context, not all prophecies contain predictions about the future. The Apostle Paul teaches in First Corinthians that prophecy is for the benefit of the whole Church, a recognized form of Christian prophecy is the prophetic drama which Frederick Dillistone describes as a metaphorical conjunction between present situations and future events. The gift of prophecy was acknowledged in the Church after the death of the apostles, in his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr argued that prophets were no longer among Israel but were in the Church. The Shepherd of Hermas, written around the mid-2nd century - John A. T. Robinson dates it before 85 AD, irenaeus confirms the existence of such spiritual gifts in his Against Heresies
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Xerxes I
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Xerxes I, called Xerxes the Great, was the fourth king of kings of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia. He ruled from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC at the hands of Artabanus, Xerxes I is most likely the Persian king identified as Ahasuerus in the biblical Book of Esther. He is also notable in Western history for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC. Like his predecessor Darius I, he ruled the empire at its territorial apex and his forces temporarily overran mainland Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth until the losses at Salamis and Plataea a year later reversed these gains and ended the second invasion decisively. Xerxes was born to Darius I and Atossa, Darius and Atossa were both Achaemenids as they were both descendants of Achaemenes. While Darius was preparing for war against Greece, a revolt spurred in Egypt in 486 BC due to heavy taxes. Under Persian law, the king was required to choose a successor before setting out on dangerous expeditions, when Darius decided to leave, Darius prepared his tomb at Naqsh-e Rustam and appointed Xerxes, his eldest son by Atossa, as his successor. However, Darius could not lead the campaign due to his failing health, Xerxes was crowned and succeeded his father in October–December 486 BC when he was about 36 years old. Almost immediately, Xerxes crushed revolts in Egypt and Babylon that had broken out the year before, and appointed his brother Achaemenes as satrap over Egypt. In 484 BC, he outraged the Babylonians by violently confiscating and melting down the statue of Bel. This comes from the Daiva Inscriptions of Xerxes, lines 6-13, although Herodotus report in the Histories has created debate concerning Xerxess religious beliefs, modern scholars consider him a Zoroastrian. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxess first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax, in retaliation, Xerxes ordered the Hellespont whipped three hundred times, and had fetters thrown into the water. Xerxess second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful, many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles, Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus estimated was roughly one million strong along with 10,000 elite warriors named the Persian Immortals. More recent estimates place the Persian force at around 60,000 combatants, at the Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of Greek warriors led by King Leonidas of Sparta resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated. According to Herodotus, the Persians broke the Spartan phalanx after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. At Artemisium, large storms had destroyed ships from the Greek side and so the battle stopped prematurely as the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae, most of the Athenians had abandoned the city and fled to the island of Salamis before Xerxes arrived. A small group attempted to defend the Athenian Acropolis, but they were defeated, Xerxes burnt the city, leaving an archaeologically attested destruction layer, known as the Perserschutt
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Hoplite
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Hoplites were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers utilized the phalanx formation in order to be effective in war with fewer soldiers, the hoplites were primarily represented by free citizens—propertied farmers and artisans—who were able to afford the bronze armour suit and weapons. Hoplites were not professional soldiers and often lacked sufficient military training, although some states did maintain a small elite professional unit, hoplite soldiers were relied on heavily and made up the bulk of ancient Greek armies of the time. In the 8th or 7th century BC, Greek armies adopted a military innovation known as the phalanx formation, the formation proved successful in defeating the Persians when employed by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC during the First Greco-Persian War. The phalanx was also employed by the Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The word hoplite derives from hoplon, the name for the type of shield used by the soldiers, however, the shield was more commonly known as an aspis, so the word hopla may refer to the soldiers weapons or even their full armament. In the modern Hellenic Army, the word hoplite is used to refer to an infantryman, the fragmented political structure of Ancient Greece, with many competing city-states, increased the frequency of conflict, but at the same time limited the scale of warfare. Limited manpower did not allow most Greek city-states to form armies which could operate for long periods because they were generally not formed from professional soldiers. Most soldiers had careers as farmers or workers and returned to these professions after the campaign, all hoplites were expected to take part in any military campaign when called for duty by leaders of the state. This inevitably reduced the duration of campaigns and often resulted in the campaign season being restricted to one summer. Armies generally marched directly to their destination, and in cases the battlefield was agreed to by the contestants in advance. Battles were fought on ground, and hoplites preferred to fight with high terrain on both sides of the phalanx so the formation could not be flanked. An example of this was the Battle of Thermopylae, where the Spartans specifically chose a narrow pass to make their stand against the massive Persian army. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days, when battles occurred, they were usually set piece and intended to be decisive. The battlefield would be flat and open to facilitate phalanx warfare and these battles were usually short and required a high degree of discipline. At least in the classical period, when cavalry was present, its role was restricted to protection of the flanks of the phalanx, pursuit of a defeated enemy. Light infantry and missile troops took part in the battles but their role was less important, before the the opposing phalanxes engaged, the light troops would skirmish with the enemies light forces, and then protect the flanks and rear of the phalanx. The military structure created by the Spartans was a phalanx formation
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Immortals (Achaemenid Empire)
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The Immortals also known as the Immortals Army or Persian Warriors was the name given by Herodotus to an elite heavy infantry unit of 10,000 soldiers in the army of the Achaemenid Empire. This force performed the roles of both Imperial Guard and standing army. The force consisted mainly of Persians, but also included other Iranian peoples such as Medes and Elamites, essential questions regarding the unit remain unanswered, because authentic sources are missing. Herodotus describes the Immortals as being heavy infantry, led by Hydarnes and this elite corps is only called the Immortals in sources based on Herodotus. There is evidence of the existence of a permanent corps from Persian sources and these do not however record the name of Immortals. Probably, Herodotus informant has confused the name Anûšiya with Anauša, the Immortals played an important role in Cambyses IIs conquest of Egypt in 525 BC and Darius Is invasion of Indias smaller western frontier kingdoms and Scythia in 520 BC and 513 BC. Immortals participated in the Battle of Thermopylae 480 BC and were amongst the Persian occupation troops in Greece in 479 BC under Mardonius. During the final decades of the Achaemenid empire, the role expected of the hazarapatish of the Immortals was extended to include that of minister to the king. The provision of a bodyguard, in attendance on the monarch, had already been allocated to a select thousand strong detachment of the corps. Herodotus describes their armament as follows, wicker shields, short spears, quivers, swords or large daggers, slings, underneath their robes they wore scale armour coats. The spear counterbalances of the common soldiery were of silver, to differentiate commanding ranks, the headdress worn by the Immortals is believed to have been the Persian tiara. Its actual form is uncertain, but some describe it as a cloth or felt cap which could be pulled over the face to keep out wind. The title of Immortals was first revived under the Sassanid army, the most famous of the Savaran units were the Zhayedan and numbered 10,000 men, like the Achaemenid predecessors, with the difference that they were cavalry. Their task was mainly to secure any breakthroughs and to battles at crucial stages. Many centuries later, during the Napoleonic Wars, French soldiers referred to Napoleons Imperial Guard as the Immortals, the Iranian Army under the last Shahanshah included an all volunteer Javidan Guard, also known as the Immortals after the ancient Persian royal guard. The Immortals were based in the Lavizan Barracks in Tehran, by 1978 this elite force comprised a brigade of 4, 000–5,000 men, including a battalion of Chieftain tanks. Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979 the Immortals were disbanded and their signature shield is adopted in the insignia of the 65th Airborne Special Forces Brigade and 55th Airborne Brigade of the Iranian Army. However, they are dressed in black and other dark colors
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Leonidas". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
