This episode is a side trip to look at ancient Greek military strategy and weapons. Specifically hoplites and triremes. I’ve mentioned that ancient Greece wasn’t that large of a place, and they weren’t as populous as some of the other larger empires that they fought against, but they were still somehow able to defeat many of their enemies. Eventually, under Alexander the Great, they will conquer the largest area of land, and create the largest empire, that the world had ever seen, to that point, but we’re not there yet.
Today, I want to take a look at the technology, training, culture, and tactics that allowed Greece to be so successful militarily.
Greek Hoplites
Greek phalanx
Greek Trireme crashing into another Greek Trireme