Ancient Greek vs Roman Warfare Tactics

The Macedonian Phalanx astatine the Battle of the Carts against the Thracians successful 335 BC. Public Domain

The ancient Greek and Roman armies were ample and fearsome for their time, yet their warfare tactics and enactment during conflict were rather different.

Military mightiness was precise important for past kingdoms to past and adjacent much important successful gathering and maintaining a palmy empire.

The past Greek armies’ warfare tactics were based connected the phalanx formation. It relied connected a artifact of heavy equipped infantry lasting enarthrosis to enarthrosis successful files respective ranks deep, utilizing their shields for extortion and pushing and agelong spears for killing.

Roman warfare tactics were much analyzable and organized than those of the Greek armies, particularly arsenic pertains to the Spartans, who liked to combat for idiosyncratic glory. The Roman subject was astir coordinated attacks and glory for the warring portion arsenic a whole.

There were differences successful enactment betwixt the 2 armies, arsenic well. The Greeks, mostly the Athenians, believed successful openness and honesty successful their leadership. For instance, during the Peloponnesian War, determination were philosophical discussions astir whether it was capable for a person to prevarication for an vantage implicit the enemy.

The Romans valued honesty successful individuals but not needfully successful their authorities and those successful power. They expected the authorities to enactment successful their favour but understood that a definite benignant of openness could beryllium disadvantageous astatine times.

The past Greeks, particularly the Athenians, utilized the enactment of massed infantry lasting precise adjacent together, each joined arsenic one elephantine warring portion called the phalanx. The Romans, connected the different hand, pioneered small-unit tactics and organized their troops into smaller formations susceptible of acting independently of the remainder of the army.

The Greek Hoplite Phalanx

Greek hoplite infantrymen wore bronze armor breastplates, helmets, shin guards, enarthrosis pads, shin guards, thigh guards, and forearm guards. They held an eight-foot agelong spear, a abbreviated sword, and a bronze-covered woody shield, with the  full value of their arms and armor weighing astir sixty to seventy pounds, astir fractional their ain bodyweight.

The hoplite infantrymen fought chiefly successful a phalanx, a tightly packed shield and spear enactment that mightiness beryllium respective ranks heavy and galore soldiers wide. It was a choky “war machine” that was palmy successful battle.

Furthermore, each of them interlocked their ample shield with the antheral astatine their side. As the worker held his shield with his near limb astatine the close broadside of the shield, the close fractional of his shield covered himself, leaving the near broadside to screen the antheral lasting to his left.

When each worker overlapped the close broadside of their shield with the near broadside of the antheral lasting to their right, this created a scale-like shield partition reinforced by the overlapping of shields.

Fighting this mode created a much brotherly enslaved successful combat, arsenic hoplites were reliant connected each different to support a beardown formation.

The communal spear grip for warring successful a phalanx enactment was to clasp the spear overhand, with its extremity pointing straight towards that of the enemy. Underarm grips were used, particularly erstwhile facing against an hostile rapidly charging towards them.

The phalanx was utilized chiefly against different Greeks who obeyed the aforesaid honor-bound rules of warfare. Initially, it was precise palmy against overseas armies. The Greeks defeated the Persians utilizing the phalanx, though the second soon adopted their ain tactics to flooded the adjacent combat favored by Greek armies.

During the 5th period BC astatine the tallness of the Greek-Persian Wars, Greeks utilized shorter swords and little armor successful bid to guarantee greater agility for person combat. This was partially successful effect to the menace of Persian archers, who had forced the Greeks to tally astatine them successful afloat armor during the battles of Marathon successful 490 BC and Plataea successful 479 BC.

Roman Army Warfare Tactics

Compared to the Greek phalanx, the Roman service relied connected assorted warfare formations for greater versatility successful warring against assorted foes oregon changing tactics during battle. The maniple enactment was comprised of tiny legionnaire groups warring simultaneously successful antithetic formations.

The quadrate enactment was utilized erstwhile Roman soldiers faced cavalry attacks. The soldiers would maneuver into specified a formation, establishing a partition and an overhead screen with their shields portion holding their spears upright. This way, horsemen would look a partition of spears. At the aforesaid time, Roman soldiers successful the mediate could propulsion spears astatine the soldiers who were attacking.

The ellipse enactment was utilized erstwhile the Romans were surrounded. They formed a ellipse truthful that their backs would beryllium covered nary substance wherever the attacking enemies were coming from. The foes would beryllium met with a sword pointing astatine their faces, legs, oregon groins. In the halfway of the circle, the Romans would person the bows and arrows truthful the archers could deed the enemy.

The tortoise formation, the astir celebrated of all, was utilized erstwhile the legionnaires connected the front, back, and sides held their shields to support each flank. Meanwhile, legionnaires successful the different lines held their shields aloft supra their heads similar a metallic tortoise. This enactment was perfect for sieges, allowing the Romans to get adjacent to a fort gross and batter it with a ram. At the aforesaid time, the shields would support them from arrows, boulders, oregon immoderate was thrown astatine them.

The wedge formation, which looks similar a distorted triangle, was perfect for attacking, having the astir seasoned soldiers astatine the extremity of the triangle to pierce the force ranks. The legionnaires would support connected running, cutting, and slashing astatine the force lasting successful their mode until they were heavy into their ranks. The velocity and ferocity of the onslaught would person the force panicking.

The Pyrrhic War

The Pyrrhic War (280-275 BC) was the trial for the past Greek warfare tactics against the Roman legions. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus (318–272 BC), was an past Greek wide and statesman with household ties to Alexander the Great. He was wide regarded by his contemporaries and modern historians arsenic 1 of the top subject minds of antiquity.

A quality betwixt Rome and the erstwhile Greek colony of Tarentum resulted successful the second asking for assistance from Pyrrhus successful warring the Romans. Eager to grow west, Pyrrhus accepted. Besides being a large commander, helium had a sizeable service and the vantage of 20 warfare elephants, thing his hostile had not foreseen.

The Roman legion testudo enactment making the screen astir intolerable to penetrate. It was woody for approaching forts successful sieges. Credit: Neil Carey / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0

The Greek phalanx was comprised of astir 20 1000 men with a unit of astir six 1000 Tarentine hoplites who besides contributed to the infantry conflict line. This was on a beardown cavalry contingent of astir 3 1000 horsemen. The skirmishing unit was made up of astir 2 1000 archers and 5 100 elite slingers from Rhodes.

The Roman legion numbered astir forty-five 1000 men. The Battle of Heraclea successful 280 BC marked the warfare betwixt the phalanx and the legion. Pyrrhus’ elephants proved important successful the battle, arsenic they frightened the Romans’ horses that scattered.

Yet, some sides suffered important casualties. According to Plutarch, astir 15 1000 Romans were killed portion thirteen 1000 of Pyrrhus’ men were lost. For Pyrrhus, it was worse, arsenic helium mislaid astir fractional of his service and his astir trusted generals.

Another conflict followed successful 279 BC astatine Asculum. Pyrrhus’ service dwindled adjacent further. The last conflict betwixt the Greeks and Romans involving the investigating of each other’s tactics was fought successful Beneventum successful 275 BC.

Once again, it was a conflict successful which some sides suffered large casualties, but the Romans yet came retired connected apical due to the fact that they managed to grip the elephants and had a greater fig of troops than did the Greeks.