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Ancient Wars
The Ancient period is generally accepted as being 600 BCE to 500 CE, before which was the Archaic period, and after which began the Medieval period. However as there is not an Archaic Wars category, it is acceptable to post pre-500 BCE military questions in this area.
1,657 Questions
What is the definition of BCE as in c400 BCE?
BCE = Before Common Era which replaces Before Christ
The following period is CE = Common Era
Other cultures have different calendars, and a common measure of the years is in everyone's interest. These terms are meant to peplace the old BC and AD, which have to religous connection for one fifth of the World's population. It is thought a reasonable exchange for the other four fifths to use the time division, with the concession that the religious meaning be replaced by Common Era which it now is. A fair and sensible exchange.
How did Themisticles defeat the Persians?
He did not defeat the Persians. The Persians were defeated in three battles - Themistocles was at one of them - Salamis where the commander was Spartan Eurybiades. Themistocles is credited with a successful ruse to split the Persian fleet which evened the size of the fleets, and proposing the battle be carried out in the confined waters in the strait at Salamis which gave the Greek fleet the opportunity to attack the flanks of the heavier Persian ships with their lighter ones.
How many people did Hannibal Barca kill?
It is hard to estimate how many Roman and ally troops died in battle against Hannibal. Ancient historians varied in their estimates of casualties in the main battles and modern historians think that some of their estimates are exaggerated and tend to come up with lower figures. In some of the battles no casualty estimates were given. Moreover, there were also engagements and skirmishes in addition to the main battles. Their number is not known and how many people died is not known either. Below are the main battles and some figures:
Battle of the Trebbia: no estimates by ancient historians. Modern estimates range for 20,000 to 32,000 despite great difficulties in reconstruction.
Battle of Lake Trasimene: Polybius 15,000; Livy 10,000
Battle of Cannae. Estimates varied. Polybius gave 76,600; Livy, 42,000; Appian and Plutarch 50,000. Modern historians' estimates range from 15,000 to Livy's figure. Even Livy's estimate is often considered excessive.
Battle of Capua: unknown
Battle of Hedonia: up to 13,000
Batle of Numistro: unknown
Battle of Canusium: 6,000
Battle of Tarentum 2,000
When Sparta defeated Athens in 405 BC where did Sparta rule from?
Sparta did't try to rule Athens. Having dismantled Athens' war power by destroying its fleet, it left Athens to sort itself out (though it did make one inefectual intervention to try to force stability).
Athens eventually re-established democracy and began to engage in the usual ongoing warfare amongst the Greek city-states on varying sides as self-interest dictated.
Who expanded the Athenian navy to fight Persia?
Themistocles. He persuaded the people to use a large strike of silver In the mines to pay for the fleet rather than dividing it up amongst themselves, foreseeing the increasing threat of a Persian invasion in retaliation for the defeat inflicted at Marathon.
The Persian Wars lasted for fifty years, and brought the Persians to accept that the Greek city-states would be independent.
The legacy of the Persian War was that Athens, having led a league of Ionian-Greek city-states against Persia for the second half of the Persian Wars, converted this league of apparently freed cities into an empire of its own. Athens used this Empire to finance its own benefit, and back aggression against the Peloponnesian League of Dorian-Greek city-states led by Sparta. This led to the Peloponnesian War between the two groups, which Athens lost, and was stripped of it's empire.
Persia supported the Peloponnesian League during that war, and after that league defeated the Athenian league, and fighting still persisted between the Greek cities, took the opportunity to reclaim the Greek city-states in Asia Minor to its own empire.
The Greeks defeated the invading Persian army in this battle due to their better weapons and armor?
The Battle of Marathon .
Why was the Peloponnesian war good?
No war is 'good'.
The Pelopennesian War benefited Sparta for a generation until its defeat by Thebes.
Athens lost its empire and became a second rank power, ending its Golden Age which depended on the money it mulcted from the citkes in its empire.
Why was it a problem that the Persians captured emperor valerian?
Valerian was defeated and captured whild trying to liberate the eastern empire from Persian incursions. Defence of the eastern empire against not only Persians but also Goths was the problem, which Valerian's failure did not solve.
The capture of Valerian in the Battle of Edessa caused serious problems for the empire. Valerian was co-emperor in the east and his son Gallienus was co-emperor in the west. The east of the empire lost its leader and Gallienus' position of in the west was weakened.
Following the battle of Edessa, the Persians conducted attacks in Turkey. These were repelled by Macrianus, a tax collector who rallied the Roman forces in Turkey. Macrianus and his two sons became usurpers, taking advantage of the fact that Gallienus was busy in the west. Macrianus invaded Eastern Europe and the legions of Pannonia joined his army. Gallienus sent his commander of the cavalry, Aureolos, with a large force. Macrianus was defeated. However, this deployment weakened Gallienus' military force in the west and left him unable to deal with a rebellion in northern Gaul by Postumus, the commander of the army of the Rhine. Postumus became a usurper who took Gemania, Britannia Hispania and much of Gaul and created a breakaway state which historians have termed the Gallic Empire and which remained independent for 14 years. This weakening of the now sole emperor also led to a rebellion in Egypt by an ex supporter of Macrianus. Gallienus had to fragment his military power further by having to send a force to Egypt to (successfully) supress this revolt. Gallienus also had to deal with a large-scale invasion in the Balkans by the Heruli, which was repelled successfully. Shortly afterwards, Gallienus was treacherously murdered.
The capture of a (co-)emperor by an enemy was a psychological blow. It also left a sole emperor overstretched with dealing with troubles both in the west and the east and a time (the crisis on the 3rd century) when the empire was subjected to constant invasions and usurpations. Gallienus was successful at dealing with the problems in the east, but at the cost of losing a very large part of the European possessions in the west. It was the3rd emperor after Gallienus (Aurelian) who restored order in the empire.
What are the reasons that Spartans didn't help the athenians?
The Spartans helped the Athenians on several occasions and vice versa.
If you are talking about the Persian expedition against Athens in 490 BCE, the Spartans were engaged in a mandatory religious festival when the request for help from Athens arrived. As soon as the festival ended, they hit the road but arrived too late for the battle of Marathon, but marched on to view the battlefield, congratulated the Athenians and went home.
The historical accuracy of 300 compared to the battle of thermopylae?
Read the account of the battle in the account by historian Herodotos to compare it.
Why was the sea important to Athens during the Peloponnesian War?
Its Peloponnesian League opponents were superior on land.
Athens' strategy was to defend the city walls and attack the opposition cities with its superior navy.
This worked until persia financed a comparable navy for the Peloponnesian League.
Delos was a Greek city-state where the treasury of the anti-Persian Delian League was held for safe keeping in its temple of Apollo.
Armada is the Spanish word for "Navy", and thus doesn't have a set size.
Was Cyrus defeated by the Greeks at the Bay of Marathon?
No, it was a punitive expedition launched by Darius I against not the Greeks generally but Eretria and Athens. Eretria was captured and enslaved but Athens defeated the attack on it at Marathon and in front of the city in 490 BCE.
Cyrus the Great was killed in a battle with the Massagetae the previous century and was subsequently succeeded by his son Cambyses II.
How did Julius Caesar overcome his weakness?
He managed to stop his epileptic fits becoming common knowledge by having servants cover it up, but couldn't stop them.
How did the location of Italy help launch the Roman empire?
Italy is positioned in the Mediterranean in a spot that gives easy access to the whole of the coast. It has fertile land and a supply of stone to build with. Its only land border with another country is a mountain range, making Italy hard to invade.
How did the plague and the blockade help the winner of the Peloponnesian War?
The Peloponnian League faced an Athens weakened in the short and middle term of the 27-year war by losing a third of its manpower in the plague outbreaks of 430, 429 and 427 BCE. Replacing these soldiers and seamen, further reduced by the loss in Sicily, took over two decades as the children grew up, and by then the war was turning against Athens when Persia began supporting the Peloponnesian League.
The blockade of Athens in 404 BCE by land and sea, after the anihilation of its fleet the year before at Aigospotamai, left Athens with no option but to surrender - unable to produce food, cut off from imported food supplies, and with its overseas garrisons forced home into the city to exacerbate the food crisis.
With the city-state of Athens decimated by the plague , along with the loss of it's prominent leader Pericles , Sparta was left in the stronger position and ultimately persevered over Athens .
How is Julius Caesar different from other leaders?
he was the one who counqured Gaul and started the ceasers
What lands did Mark Anthony rule?
He shared the Roman Empire with Octavian and Lepidus, his partners in the Second Triumvirate. His share was the provinces in Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt and the Levant.
See the separate panel below Sources and related links for a list of wars.
