“I’m sitting on my couch, on my butt, breathing free air. Looking at the pictures of those boys – men and women that are coming home shot to pieces and in coffins, and I’m thinking I never made my payment and freedom isn’t free,” he said. “A few years ago, I got the idea in my head, like a song you can’t get rid of. And I couldn’t shake it.”

Szpicki is walking 1,000 miles, visiting each of the three 9/11 sites. He started in August from his home in Rockford, Illinois.

“I gained ten pounds before I started. I figured on lean days, I could live off my body fat. When I left Indiana, I had gained two pounds. That’s how well they had taken care of me,” said Szpicki.

We caught up with Szpicki as he passed from Maryland into D.C. Along the way, he takes it all in. He is a 70-year-old retired Chicago police detective who never served in the military himself.

“I’ve been to the Antietam Battlefield. I’ve been to Gettysburg. That’s sacrifice. When you see a tombstone that says 28 dead – unknown – that’s what sacrifice is,” said Szpicki. “They sent a young man home to Rockford who had no arms and legs. That’s sacrifice. Me being a policeman, I had my moments. But nothing compared to a person in the military actually giving his life.”

1,000 miles can be a long, lonely road.

“It wears on you mentally as much as physically because you miss your family. You’re far away from home,” he said.

He arrived in Shanksville two weeks ago. Szpicki is paying his own way, so every dime he raises goes to wounded warriors. He’s inspired.

“People that have taken care of me. People have encouraged me. Brought me into their homes even though I was a stranger, to give me a night’s rest,” said Szpicki.

It is a small sacrifice compared to fighting a war, but still much appreciated.

Ancient Greece first adopted a sense of unification from the city of Mycenae, although when one thinks of unification, the contemporary ideals of a unified nation must not be applied to Ancient Greek studies, because it simply won`t work. Mycenae happened to be the most influential city during the last phase of the Bronze Age, developing in conjuction (again, do not presume that this was planned or organized, rather, happenstance) with the Minoan culture that blossomed on the isle of Crete, an elaborate trade influence. Their power extended so much that they even were in contact, and traded with, tribes in Britain.

Eventually however, Mycenae collapsed as a powerful city, the reasons today not entirely certain. Some foreign invasion seems likely, but Mycenae today is a fairly well-preserved ruin in modern Greece. For whatever the reasons, Mycenae ceased to be inhabited, and the Greek Dark Ages began. Many towns and villages became abandoned, although several centres like Athens and Thebes managed to stay intact as a civic centre. Wanderers and nomads scoured the landscape, writing disappeared, metal working became lost, civilization seemed to implode within the Mediterranean world.

However, the Greeks were able to rebuild, slowly and surely, rediscovering the art of metalworking, and writing re-emerging as well. Because of Greece`s rugged and mountainous terrain, communities that sprung up tended to be isolated and seperate. From this geographic idealism grew the seeds of the polis.

The polis is a geo-political state that is similiar to the idea of city states. The term is interchangeable for the immediate civic focal point, as well as the surrounding area. So Athenians could be farmers tilling the land miles away. It would be the equivalent of people from Ladner calling themselves Vancouverites.

The Hoplite was the citizen-soldier that came into use during the late 7th Century, compromised almost entirely of the emergent middle-class. Since the polis was an independent and geographically small area, it was not wealthy enough to afford a professionalized standing army, and so a Hoplite had to afford his own equipment. Because they drew from the middle class and not a specialized sub-culture of warriors, the Hoplite warfare began as simplistic.

The equipment was heavy, weighing roughly 50-60 pounds, and a Hoplite was expected to fight in close-quarter, extremely brutal but quick fighting, jogging to the battle in the warm climes of the Mediterranean. The Hoplite was armed with a spear, about 2.7 meters in length. It was held in one hand, the other hand holding the Hoplites shield, and the spear resting on the top of the shield within ranks, and thrusting with tremendous force as the ranks of the Hoplites clashed. The burden of the Hoplite equipment was legendary, and in fact, one of the Olympian games in this time was the Hoplite Run.

The runners would run either a single or double diaulos (approximately 400 or 800 yards) in full or partial armour, carrying a shield and additionally equipped either with greaves or a helmet. As the armour weighed 60 lb, the hoplitodromos emulated the speed and stamina needed for warfare. Due to the weight of the armour, it was easy for runners to drop their shields or trip over fallen competitors.

It was extremely praiseworthy in Hellenic culture (Greek culture) to serve as a Hoplite. Almost all of the famed men of Ancient Greece fought as Hoplites at one time or another in their lives. Many markers dot the Greek landscape, describing with the common honorific “Died in the front ranks”.

Though it started out simply, and lasted for about an hour of intense, bloody combat, the Hoplite method of warfare eventually evolved to incorporate other wings of the army, cavalry which was largely ignored till a famous ruler called Phillip II used a tactic of infantry-cavalry co-operation that his son would use to devastating effect. That son, was Alexander the Great.

The Ashikaga family established a shogunate in the Muromachi district of Kyoto in 1338.  The Ashikaga shoguns were weak and unable to maintain control.  This period was marked by battles among the warrior class, called the samurai.  In 1603, clan leader Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated his rivals and established himself as shogun of the whole country.

Fact:

In 1603 Ieyasu founded the most powerful shogunate in Edo (now Tokyo).  In 1867 the shogun resigned and returned power to the emperor.

Image via Wikipedia

            War appears to be an inevitable part of the human existence.  Wars occur not only because of diplomatic unrest, but also because people are exposed to images and ideas of war through numerous forms of media.  Much of the media appears to glorify war, but in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, the astounding retelling of the ninth year in the ten-year Trojan War, Homer does not glorify the war itself, but rather glorifies the participants of the war, the heroes.  Through the use of epithets, description of arming scenes, telling of aresteias, and explaining soldier lifestyles, Homer gives importance and glory to the heroes of both sides of war.

            The first noticeable piece of evidence showing that Homer glorifies individual participants in the war is the use of epithets.  An epithet is a descriptive phrase that comes directly before or directly after a character’s name.  Since Homer composed The Iliad orally, epithets were used as a pneumonic device to help remember characters but these epithets also serve a greater purpose as they flatter and compliment the Heroes to which they are assigned.  Some characters have several epithets designated to them, and in some cases, noticeably Achilles, small epithets are combined into a larger one such as when Homer says “swift footed godlike Achilles” (6).  Achilles is the greatest warrior on the Greek side and is thus given descriptions as “godlike” (Homer 6) for his strength and “swift footed” (Homer 5) for his speed and agility.  Though Achilles may be a great, if not the greatest warrior involved in the war, he is not the only hero to be given such complimentary accolades in the form of epithets.  Diomedes, Menelaos, and Agamemnon are described as “strong Diomedes” (Homer 63), “fair haired Menelaos” (Homer 57), and “Agamemnon, lord of men” (Homer 7) respectfully.  Homer does not discriminate against the Trojans, as two of their key heroes, Alexandros and Hektor are given flattering epithets.  Alexandros is known for his beauty and, thus, is named as “god like Alexandros” (Homer 42).  Hektor is known for his helmet and warrior abilities and is called such things as “glorious Hektor”  (Homer 287) and “Hektor of the glinting helmet” (Homer 94).  These epithets are used to describe the heroes of the story and set them apart from the rest of the men fighting the battle, the common soldiers.  These common soldiers are not described individually, rather they are grouped together under one name laos.  Using this word, Homer describes thousands of men, but when it comes to the heroes, Homer will use several words to glorify them individually.

            Homer continues to glorify the singular heroes, the individual dominators of the war through particularly descriptive and lengthy arming scenes.  Ever soldier involved in the war, fighting the battle, wears armour and, obviously, prepares for battle by donning said armour, but Homer wants to show off the individual glory of the heroes so he focuses on each hero donning his armour.  Homer does not simply say that the hero strapped on his armour, but instead Homer goes into vivid detail as seen in the arming scene of Agamemnon:

            “First he placed greaves upon his legs, a fine pair, fitted with silver ankle-pieces.  Next, he put a corselet round his chest, which Kinyres once gave him as a gift of friendship” (Homer, 166).

Homer describes each individual piece as it is applied to the body and, in the case of the corselet, where the piece came from and how the owner came to own it.  Homer then describes that corselet in vivid detail:

            “It had ten bands of dark blue enamel, and twelve of gold, and twenty of tin: and enamel snakes reached up to the neck, three on each side, like rainbows which the son of Kronos fixes in the cloud as a sign for humankind” (166).

Homer continues the arming scene describing the weapons Agamemnon uses in the same detail as the previous items.  Alexandros receives similar treatment when he arms himself for his battle with Diomedes in Book Three:

            “First he placed greaves upon his legs, a fine pair, fitted with silver ankle-pieces.  Next, he put a corselet round his chest: it was his brother Lyakon’s, and it fitted him.  Over his shoulders he slung a bronze sword, the hilt nailed with silver. . .grip of his hand” (Homer, 49)

The pieces of armour are described as to how they look and how they fit the character.  One very significant arming scene, which really shows the glorification of a character, is the arming scene of Achilles.  The arming scene for Achilles takes place over two books, most of which is focused on his shield.  Because Achilles is such a pivotal character in the story, Homer spends a significant amount of time describing Achilles’ shield. The shield is made by the god Hephaistos and is described in extremely vivid, meticulous detail.  Achilles is a special warrior, the son of a god and is given a glorious shield.  Only a glorious warrior as great as Achilles could possess such a piece.  These arming scenes focus on the individual heroes of the war which shows that the character is important as the scene focuses only on that one character.  The arming scenes, however, were also used by Homer to signify the coming aresteia of the hero centering the arming scene.

            An aresteia is a hero’s finest hour.  It is the time when a hero goes on a rampage killing many enemy soldiers and leaving corpses and blood in his wake.  Though there are thousands of men battling in the war, only the heroes get an aresteia.  The rest of the battling is forgotten as Homer focuses in on one man’s triumphant rampage.  The first aresteia that Homer tells of is the aresteia of Diomedes in Book Five.  Homer tells of Diomedes’ rampage against the mortal men of Troy and several gods including Apollo, Ares, and Aphrodite.  Homer says that Diomedes kills numerous men, but also describes significant kill of an opposing soldier by Diomedes in gruesome detail:

            “So speaking he let fly: and Athene guided the weapon to hit on the nose by his eye, and it pierced through his white teeth.  The tireless bronze sheared away the tongue at its root, and the point came out by the base of his chin” (74).

Homer describes more of Diomedes killings in detail as well as his fight with the gods.  Though Diomedes cannot kill the gods, as they are immortal, he does injure them, and Homer describes these scenes with the same amount of detail as the killing of mortal men scenes.  By describing these rampages in such detail, Homer makes the character stand out above the rest, he puts the character on a pedestal so that he may be worshipped and glory may be bestowed upon him.  Following the arming scene of Agamemnon, is the scene of Agamemnon’s aresteia, which carries over two pages.  These rampages, however, are not shown to be savage.  Though the killings may be gruesome, the characters are given positive attributes.  An example of this is when Homer says Agamemnon has the “rage of a lion,” (172).  Even though Agamemnon gets wounded during his rampage, Homer says he “[keeps] plying his attack on the rest of the Trojan line, with spear, and sword and huge stones,” (172).  Agamemnon keeps fighting and does not die.  He takes down many of the enemy during his aresteia and is worshipped for his work.  The aresteia is a shining beacon of glory for a character, and only the best heroes receive one.  Homer describes the meeting of the two armies and the fighting that takes place but Homer explains it all in a couple lines saying “then there were mingled the groaning and the crowing of men killed and killing, and the ground ran with blood,” (64).  This is a description of thousands of men striking each other but it is not given in great detail.  The big battle, the overall war, is skimmed, so to say, by Homer.  The big battle is not glorified, it is a background event that allows for the heroes to perform their tasks and receive the glory Homer wishes to bestow upon them. 

            Though these heroes may act savagely and tear through each other with ferocity and rage, they are not savages themselves.  The heroes are honourable and Homer makes a point of this when he describes a conversation between Glaukos and Diomedes in which Homer tells of the so called heroic code:  always to be bravest and best and excel over others, and not to bring disgrace on the stock of my fathers,” (96).  This means that a warrior should always fight with courage and bravery, always fight with his best effort and not to shame his family.  The warriors of The Iliad live by this code.  They are not beasts by nature, but are men, who have honour and feel shame.  To break the code would be to bring great shame upon that man and his family. 

            Homer does not tell of the greater battle in much detail because he wishes to focus on the heroes.  The heroes are the ones who deserve the glory for individual tasks and feats earn the right to glory.  There are, however, instances where homer describes the meeting of the two armies with similes.  These similes seem to beautify the clash of the two armies and the war itself as seen when Homer says the following:

            “As when two winter-swollen streams coursing down from the mountains hurl together the mass of their waters where the valleys meet, joining in the gash of a ravine from the great well-heads above, and a shepherd hears their thunder from far in the mountains: such was the noise and the violence of the armies’ meeting,” (64).

This simile does serve a purpose but this purpose is to give the reader, or when Homer would have recited the tale, the listener, and image of what the clashing of the armies was like.  The simile provided may describe a natural occurrence, some natural beauty, but this is only to paint a picture of a similar instance in which the armies battled. 

            The Trojan War lasted ten long years, but Homer’s epic poem The Iliad only focuses on several days in the ninth year.  The reason for this is that the events covered in the poem are pivotal in the eventual and inevitable fall of Troy.  Homer focuses on the heroes, the main characters, of the war and when describing each with epithets, arming scenes and aresteias, gives each a share of glory.  Homer focuses on the individuals because it is an individual who earns glory, who should be glorified, not the war itself.  To the Greeks, it was more important to be remembered than to live.  Achilles had the choice of leaving the war and returning home where he would live a long life, but he chose the path that led to his ultimate demise.  This choice meant that Achilles would be remembered and talked about forever.  He would live on in stories as a glorious warrior. 

Works Cited

Homer. The Iliad.  Trans.  Martin Hammond.  Toronto: Penguin Books, 1987.  Print.

At the funeral of Patroclus, the cousin of Achilles, Homer writes of the sacrifice of prisoners of war. In fact, the Etruscan tomb-paintings found in Italy make a great display of it as well, and often in different cities north of the Tiber. It is unknown exactly when these grisly rituals began, or where, but it has been determined to be a part of Etruscan history and such incidents have been dated as far back as the 6th Century BC. Surely, through some macabre religious rituals in devotion to dead warriors, the ideas themselves could date back more than a thousand years prior.

In the 6th Century B.C., Rome came under Etruscan rule. Through this ruling it is said that Rome came to adopt many of Etruria’s habits, traditions, and ceremonies. This particular origin of the gladiatorial combats is described by the Greco-Syrian historian Nicolaus of Damascus. One particular allusion to such an origin is the fact that after each gladiator’s death, he/she was picked up, piece by piece if necessary, and hauled out of the amphitheatre by one dressed as the Etruscan death-demon Charun who carried a pole-hammer.

Inglorious Gladiators

Through such ceremonious duels to the death, gladiators became highly popularized. Not individually, but as spectator-sports-men. Often, many would be pitted against few. The Emperor Caligula, for instance, matched five against a group of net and trident wielders. Multiple duels or mass murders were also frequent. And another custom adopted from the Etruscan traditions was the animal hunt.

The “glory of Rome” was equally counter-balanced by its ritualistic barbarism. It has been said that only the Nazi death camps can match the cruelty by the numbers.

The Colosseum was built between AD 70 and 80 and became what we could call the show-room for the gladiatorial combats. It would be the central Roman theatre of violence for another three centuries, six if you include the beast hunts. Even Constantine the Great, after his conversion to Christianity, continued to support the fights.

The Abolition of Gladiators

It was in AD 399 that Honorius closed all the gladiator schools in Rome. Later, in AD 403-4, the poet Prudentius continued to write to the Emperor, urging him to forbid the use of the games in the death-sentencing of criminals. His urgings preceded a final crisis in another Roman town where such a sentencing was being held.

The story reached the Emperor Honorius of a monk from Asia Minor named Telemachus who rushed into an arena to stop a fight. The monk’s actions infuriated the crowd into a frenzy in which they seized the monk and literally tore him limb from limb. Honorius used this opportunity to abolish all gladiatorial operations once and for all.

For gladiators the story ends there, but the beast-hunts continued to be used as entertainment well into the 7th Century AD.

More from Adam Henry Sears:

Self-Editing Made Easy,

Twilight: Good, Bad, or Ugly?,

12 Quotes To Inspire All Writers,

The True Haiku And Its Origins,

Venusian Temple

Once at home, they recover to the best of their abilities physically.  What happens when night after night they can’t sleep, or won’t sleep because of the dreams they have.  They have seen things and experienced things we can’t imagine.  These kids are 19 and 20 years old in some cases.  What happens when they start having dark thoughts and possibly start thinking about suicide?  Sometimes they do what every 19 or 20 year old does, they get on Myspace or facebook and talk about it.  Remember, they are trained to live, but now they can’t handle the way they are living and haven’t completely reinvented themselves.

I was reading The Houston Chronicle online the other day and saw an article about the Veterans Administration doing a little out of the box thinking.  That’s right, the government getting it right.  What they are doing is monitoring online social media sites like facebook and myspace for veterans that might be having dark thoughts, or thinking of suicide.  When they see posts with these dark thoughts and red flags they are reaching out proactively with counseling and support to prevent dark things from happening.  Good job VA!

Take care of those who fight for us there so we don’t have to fight here!  We, as a country, must take care of our Warriors and their families that serve here at home.  Shame, Shame on us all, if we don’t!

I am Mark McIntyre, and I write about reinventing yourself. Not the kind of reinvention you get on a couch paying someone by the hour. The kind of reinvention you get, when you want to, or need to change your circumstances. On my foeggy pages at http://www.foeggy.com, I provide practical tools, tips, techniques and tactics, that a healthy balanced individual like you and I, can use to reinvent ourselves with. The best place to start is at the foeggy pages, and link to the blog from there. I hope you enjoy my twist on things, and that the tips I pass along are useful to you. If the foeggy tips are fun and useful to you, I hope you will come back often, and tell your friends about the foeggy pages at http://www.foeggy.com.

Pages began their training in knight school where they learned basic fighting skills with wooden swords and shields.  They were also taught good manners. When they were 14 years old, pages became esquires. Esquires were the attendants of medieval knights: a youth serving as a knight’s helper and shield bearer during a stage in his own training for knighthood. Esquires would often accompany the knights they served into battle.

Instructions

First, learn combat skills in hand to hand fighting and with a knight’s weapons. The knight’s weapons included a pole-ax designed with a deadly blade to slice through body armor and human flesh. The knight’s mace was made of a metal or wooden handle and a metal head. A blow from this weapon could shatter a man’s skull or knock him off his horse.  The knight’s dagger was employed for stabbing the enemy during close combat on the ground. The knight’s sword was a metal weapon with a sharp blade designed to slash an enemy open. And the knight’s lance was a 3.3 meter long wooden weapon with a sharp metal point designed to penetrate or knock an enemy off his horse when knights were fighting on horseback.  

Second, learn combat skills in full body armor. Medieval Knights wore different kinds of body armor designed from basic padded clothing, chain mail, and plate metal armor. Although a suit of plate body armor protected a knight from both stabbing and slashing blows, it was less flexible than chain mail. Therefore, many wealthy knights wore a combination of chain mail and plate armor. For extra protection, a knight carried a shield made of hide stretched over a wooden frame with a metal rim.

Third, learn horsemanship and understand the usage of various horse related military equipment. For example, the saddle was designed to protect the knight’s stomach and prevent him from being thrown over the horse’s head. The shaffron protected the front of the horse head and ears. Some shaffrons covered areas around the eyeholes to prevent the horse from seeing straight ahead, which stopped the horse from being startled or scared in the heat of battle. The peytral was chest armor for the horse, which was the most significant part of the horse to protect. The stirrup was where knights placed their feet to stay in the saddle when he was hit by another knight’s lance. The horseshoe was designed to protect the horses’ hooves during a long journey. Esquires had to train with horses for logistic and combat operations during battle.

Finally, study the ceremony of dubbing. when the esquire was about 21 years old, the king or another noble would decide whether the young warrior was worthy of becoming a knight. If selected the young esquire participated in a ceremony called dubbing. An esquire would often spend the night before the ceremony praying to God that he would be a good and loyal knight. The esquire was initiated into to knighthood in a ceremony on the battlefield where an older knight would touch the esquire on the shoulder with his sword and thus beginning the esquire’s life long career as a knight.

References:

• Grant, R.G.; Battle; DK Publications, 2005
• Nelson, Rebecca; The Handy History Answer Book; Visible Ink Press, 1999.

            Sparta was one of the most war-sophisticated civilizations known to mankind. Sparta was a city of ancient Greece. It was located in a fertile, mountain -walled valley. With their swords, knives, and spears they would conquer most of Europe. The Spartiates gave themselves wholly to war (Spartan Society,15). They carried swords instead of bibles, and shields instead of baskets. They acquired everything they needed by brute force.  Sparta was a war machine who molded strong courageous men out of the strongest boys. The boys would be checked at birth to see if he was worthy. If a baby was weak, it would be tossed aside ruthlessly (Sparta Society 10). Sparta had no room for weaklings. At the age of seven, boys started training to join the army. They were trained to endure pain, hunger, and the cold. At age twenty, they joined the army. At age thirty, you acquired full citizenship, but you still had to live in the barracks and eat with warriors. At age sixty, soldiers could retire from the army. Spartan men were usually in the army and women ran the homes and waited for their husbands to comeback from wars.

            A Spartan hoplite usually carried a sword made of bronze and a shield made of the same alloy. They may also carry spear with a bronze tip and a shield that protected about three-fourths of their body. Spartan generals usually carried a sword encrusted with precious stones, metals, or jewels. Their armor usually consisted of a helmet, chest plate, leg plates, and fore arm plates which were all made of bronze. A Spartan rushed into battle for honor and came home a hero, if he returned at all.

                        One of the best war inventions was the hoplite phalanx. It was, in itself, a formation of soldiers in a rectangle. When a soldier was taken down in front of you, moved up into his spot. This created a defensive wall of hurt on anyone who opposed them.  Armies that used this were unbeatable, especially Sparta. Mostly soldiers in this formation carried long spears and shields that was about one meter tall and covered most of their body mass(Corinthian War) The Spartan legions traveled in this formation everywhere they went.

The Persian wars were a series of conflicts fought between Greek states and the Persian Empire (Persian Wars). The Persian army was massive. Not only were there many foot soldiers, but their navy was immensely large. It was unmatched by anything the Greeks had. It took most of the states in Greece to defeat Persia. Some states surrendered when Persia invaded them. These states were spared. The others, however, were not given a break from the constant war. One of the most famous battles was at Thermopylae, where the Spartan king Leonidas held off Xerxes’ army. Leonidas brought a small amount of soldiers because for Sparta to survive, a Spartan king must die (“Peloponnesian War”). This was told to him by an oracle. During the Persian wars, the battle of Marathon was underway. This is when Greece had the first victory of the war. Supposedly, a messenger named Pheidippides ran twenty five miles to Athens to tell of the victory. At the end of the great run, he died. This is why we have marathons. In 479 B.C., Xerxes was defeated at Plataea by Pausanias, the nephew of king Leonidas. Pausanias was called home to face a charge of treasonable negotiations with Persia (Pausanias). Luckily, he was acquitted of all charges. This happened yet again later on. And the same thing happened. Then he was accused plotting against Sparta. He hid in a temple and was left to starve to death.

The Peloponnesian Wars were most likely the most important wars of Sparta. These were wars against Athens, which was probably one of Sparta’s worst enemies. They took place from 431 B.C. to 404 B.C. (Peloponnesian War). There were very many disputes of government. Athens and Sparta battled on land and by sea. There was an armistice between the two, although they kept fighting without an end. Finally, in 422 B.C., the Spartans won at Amphipolis. This was a major feat for Sparta, as they had just taken out their biggest enemy. One of the most notable Spartan was a naval commander named Lysander. He led an army of Spartans but he fell in the battle of Haliartus. By taking Athens, Sparta took control of the land and enslaved its people.

            The tremendous wars that Sparta was in were usually a landslide. Sparta was usually outnumbered, and with their military superiority, they came out triumphant. There were many feats that took place during the history of Sparta, but like other civilizations, there was an end. The Corinthian war was an armed conflict between Corinth, Argos, Thebes, and Athens on one side and Sparta on the other (Corinthian War 14). The only way to bring upon the downfall of Sparta was to overwhelm its forces.

            Through all the fighting and disputes, Sparta had much conquered land. The Spartiates were the only citizens and the only sharers in the land allotments of the lands and of the Helots… (Spartan Society 1). Although the Spartans had a lot of land, there was an excess amount of people in Sparta. Even as they expanded their borders, the overpopulation became worse. It was once said that Helots, the slaves, outnumbered Spartans by as much as ten to one. Sparta also took over many civilizations. Surely Sparta could not control it all. This spread Sparta’s governing power too thin. They also had governors from the different regions they took over. These people usually did not listen to the king and their people would be punished severely. Also, the Helots revolted a few times, but did not prevail.

            Government also played a part in war. Whoever was ruling was commander of the army. If the ruler was worthy, the army was effective. However, there were many revisions of the Spartan government which tended to make the army less effective. Also, there was a lot of corruption in their government. This caused many disputes within the civilization. Sparta was weakened because its people were now fighting each other. (Spartan Society 4)

            The Spartan society was different from many others. Since most of the men were at war, women were the people who ran shops and what not. They would produce weapons and armor. Women also owned most of the land in Sparta. If you compare the society to that of Athens, you see major differences in their army. In Sparta, everyone was supposed to do their job. Men were supposed to be in the army, and women do everyday things. However, in Athens, women were to only marry and have children. They were also rarely seen in public.  Most of the men were the ones who worked, therefore their army would never be able to be as strong as Sparta’s. A family In Sparta, however, was not very sturdy. The father went to war, the boys were taken at the age of seven, and some newborns would be thrown away. If you had a weak child, it brought shame to your family, so it was best to only have strong Spartans who would someday become heroes (Spartan Society 3). Even the Spartans in the community were strict. They could not eat with their families. They had to belong to a special dining table. They could not have any luxuries such as music, reading, or even talking nice. They spoke short and got to the point. Some people say this is called laconic speaking because the Spartans originated from Laconia.

            The Corinthian war was the last fought by the Spartans. It started in 395 B.C. and ended in 86 B.C. (Corinthian War 13). Sparta was outnumbered four to one. It was the first and only time Sparta would lose a major war, this one costing its very existence. Athens gained help from Persia to build a fleet better than the Spartan fleet of battleships. Antalcidas persuaded Artaxerxes II to agree to the King’s Peace or peace of Antalcidas. This was going to make Persia stop helping the other Greek states. The Persian king controlled it, however. This did eliminate many enemies though. Sparta fell in 371 B.C. The greatest warring state had been defeated by Thebes at Leuctra.

            In conclusion, Sparta had fallen for many reasons. First, its government was corrupt. Second, with all the inside disputes, people were fighting their own people. And last, they were overwhelmed by all the forces. Athens had gotten what they wanted-revenge. Sparta advanced the way humans see battle today. They made new types of weapons. They also made battle plans that humans used for centuries after that. They were also the first to dominate large amounts of land and to make a huge empire. The Spartans set guidelines as to how soldiers are to be raised.             They also solved problems past civilizations had. Sparta was one of the most war-advanced civilizations that ever battled on the face of the earth. It was a forerunner of war, battle, and soldiers. All throughout history you can see bits and pieces of the Spartan war culture in many civilizations around the world. If you look closely, you can trace them back to Sparta, the land of the Spartans.

The Aztecs were famous soldiers and ruthless in battle. They were usually dressed like animals like the eagle or the jaguar. They used pretty primitive weapons like clubs and bows but used them with great effectiveness. The “Shorn Ones” (Cuachicqueh) were the greatest warriors and as soon as the enemy came they swore they would not take another step back. They were eventually defeated by the Spaniards with much more modern weapons but they were a great empire in large part due to their great warriors.

The Mongols were considered barbarians and savages. They dominated Europe and Asia and were most famous for riding on horseback lead by one of the greatest military commanders in history, Genghis Kahn. They were highly disciplined and masters with using the bow and arrow on horse back. They used a composite bow that could rip through armor and were also pretty good with lances and scimitars. They were masters of psychological warfare and intimidation, and built one of the largest empires the world has ever seen.

A mamluk was a slave soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages. Over time, they became a powerful military caste often defeating the Crusaders. On more than one occasion, they seized power for themselves; for example, ruling Egypt in the Mamluk Sultanate from 1250–1517. After mamluks had converted to Islam, many were trained as cavalry soldiers. Mamluks had to follow the dictates of furusiyya, a code that included values such as courage and generosity, and also cavalry tactics, horsemanship, archery and treatment of wounds, etc.

The backbone of the Roman army that led to an empire that was unrivaled in terms of size and power. They were usually heavy infantry with armor and a shield modeled after the ancient Greeks. They were masters of the sword and spear combination going along with a shield. They were made up of the wealthiest soldiers that could afford to make the best weapons and armor. They were disciplined, well-armed, and had great strategy which lasted beyond their empire.

The apaches were both savage and skillfull. They would sneak up behind you and slit your throat without you even knowing. They used primitive weapons made mostly of wood and bone, Some of their arrowheads were either dipped in posion or made from rock that would crack when struck in a person or animal causing much more damage. They were also the greatest knife fighters the world has ever seen and were pretty good with the tomahawk and throwing ax. They terrorized the southwest United States and even the military had trouble beating them. They were great hit and run fighters and their descendants teach modern day special fighters how to fight in hand to hand combat.

To become a Samurai you had to be born into a Samurai Clan. The samurai were the knights of Japan and the masters of the katana. They were heavily armed soldiers covered in armor and willing to die for their masters, They followed A Samuria code called Bushido “The way of the Warrior” there are seven virtues in Bushido. They are Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor and Loyalty. They wielded the sharpest sword the world has ever seen and it could easily slice a man in two. They were also masters of the yumi (bow) and were some of the best shots of the ancient world. They were like professional soldiers and were harshly trained and fought knowing their honor was on the line and accepting death.

Just like the Samurai but a little different, to be a Ninja you had to either be born into a Clan or adopted into one. The ninja were the masters of stealth and sabotage. They were originally peasants trained to defeat marauding samurai, but the eventually became the legendary assassins that most people think of today. They are known for using a Kanata like sword, blowgun, ninja stars, and kusarigama. They are known for being stealthy shadow warriors of the night. They greatly feared for their ability to kill and just disappear. They were also great martial artists and underwent rigorous training.

Vikings – the terror of Europe. The most feared warrior of the ancient world. They terrorized Europe with their raids and pillaging. They were ferocious in battle and used weapons that suited their stature. They were big and mean and used their axes, swords, and spears expertly in the conquering of cities. Even their religion was about war and they believed when you died in battle you fought once again in a never ending battle. They were all you would want in a soldier and proved it on the battlefield by destroying all in their paths. On the flip-side, they were also incredibly good traders so they also brought much good to Europe.

Knights were great warriors clad in full body armor on horseback. The warrior of feudal Europe, the protector of kings. They were the richest, most trained warriors, and had the armor, weapons, and horses to get the job done. They were among the toughest soldiers in history to kill because of their armor. They were highly effective soldiers that had trained almost their entire lives (due to boys of the day wanting to grow up to be one) and became the tank of the ancient world.

The Spartan culture was all about war and training men for war their entire lives, Babies were inspected for any flaws if any were found they were tossed over a cliff to die. If the baby had no flaws they were then taken and raised to be Spartans. They had a saying: “come back with the shield or on top of it” which means don’t come back unless you are victorious. They were some of the toughest soldiers the world had ever seen and have become infamous for their last stand at the battle of Thermopylae. They were masters of the shield and spear combination that was later copied by many other armies.

2. Knight