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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
Was the battle of salamis fought on land or water?
Water - in the strait between the island of Salamis and Athens.
Why was Thermopylae considered most glorious defeat?
A coalition of Greek city-state forces held the pass for three days. When the force was withdrawn, the Spartan and Thespian forces held the pass a bit longer to let them get away. It was a selfless sacrifice.
Why did the Spartans die at thermopylae?
They held on to allow their 4,000 allies to escape to friendly city walls by stopping the Persian cavalry from breaking through and riding them down in open country.
Why was the peloponnesian wars a disaster for everyone who fought in them?
Not disastrous for everyone. There are always some who come out better in any war, though not necessarily the ones who thought they might benefit, or the winners. Britain won in both World Wars but impoverished itself fighting on behalf of others and its empire dissolved afterwards.
The problem with the Peloponnesian War was that it went on an unexpected 27 years and devastated the Greek world to little positive gain. The city-states afterwards went back to fighting each other in different alliances. Some cities (Syracuse) and individuals benefitted, others lost badly. Athens lost half its population and lost its empire. Sparta lost so many men that it could not replace them and began a slide into obscurity.
The winner was the outsider Macedonia which took advantage of weakness and division to establish dominance.
What happened at salamis in 480 bc?
A combined fleet from the southern Greek city-states defeated the Persian navy comprised of contingents from Phoenicia, Asian-Greek cities and Egypt. The Persian navy retired to Mycale in Asia Minor, which meant thet the Persian army invading Greece could no longer be supplied by sea and half had to be withdrawn to Asia Minor as well, leaving the rest vulnerable to defeat at the land battle of Plataia the following year.
What city-state had a powerful navy at the battle of Salamis?
Athens provided the biggest contingent in the Greek fleet. Egypt provided the largest contingent in the Persian fleet.
Where was the battle of strait of salamis?
Between the Island of Salamis and the Greek mainland near Athens.
Was Sparta or Athens the leader of the Peloponnesian League?
Sparta led the Peloponnesian League . Athens led the Delian League .
What year was the battle of the red hills?
208/209 CE. It is more commonly known as the Battle of the Red Cliffs.
What were the consequences of the battle of marathon?
With its expedition to punish Athens for itervening within its empire failed, Persia resolved to bring mainland Greece under control, and launched a full scale invasion ten years later.
Who fought it the peloponnesian war?
Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta.
What are the answers to the Reading For Chapter 5 in Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War?
Which reading is this ?
What where the opposing forces in the battle of salamis?
The Persian navy, comprised mainly of contingents from Pxxxxxxx, Greek cities in Asia and from Egypt.
The Greek navy, compised mainly of contingents from southern Greece.
Each side comprised about 400 warships, each with a crew of about 200, so about 80,000 on each side.
What was the main purpose of the battle of Thermopylae?
The purpose of this battle is to hold the Persians from advancing so that the Athenians had enough time to evacuate to the island of Salamis.It was clearly a suicide mission.
Another view:
The Athenians had known about the impending invasion for months and had plenty of time to evacuate their families whom they sent south to the Peloponnese cities for refuge. The pass was held to push the Persians to outflank the position by sea, and the combined Greek navies lay in wait in the nearby strait of Artemesion to defeat them in a sea battle, and eliminate the amphibious threat to their cities. Unfortunately the Persians won the sea battles over three days. The blocking of the Thermopylae Pass had no further purpose so the blocking force was withdrawn. The Spartan 300 plus their 2,100 light and the Thespian 1,400 stayed behind to cover the retreat of the other 7,000 city contingents and were killed - a noble sacrifice to protect their allies.
Why the Battle of salamis start?
Persia was attempting to bring Greece within its empire to bring peace to the Aegean Sea area.
The southern Greek city-states resisted and were invaded.
The Greek strategy was to first defeat the Persian navy which threatened the Greek cities and so forced them to keep their armies at home, and allowed the Persians to pick off the cities one at a time.
So the Greek navy assembled at Salamis, where the Persians thought they had them cornered in the strait. However the Greek plan was to get the Persian fleet strung out entering the strait and defeat them while dispersed.
It worked.
Is the battle for Constantine the same as the battle of the milivian bridge?
Constantine led the victorious side at the battle of the Milvian Bridge 312 CE.
What kind of military power did Corinth have?
Its power varied over the three millenia of its existence.
During the classical Greek period, it was a second rate power, with a navy easily beatable by Athens, and an army which was easily beatable by Sparta or Athens.
During the absence of the main army of Athens on an expedition, Corinth took the opportunity to invade. All that was left in Athens were the old men and boys not elegible to go with its expeditionary force, and these turned out and repelled the Corinthian main army. On return home, this defeated army was chiacked by the boys and oldies of Corinth and was so humiliated it went back to try again the following day. It was ambushed, with great slaughter.
Howevr it did fight successfully in cooperation with other Peloponnesian allies in other conflicts.
