The ‘Army of Same-Sex Lovers’ that Ruled the Ancient Greek Battlefield Sep 21, 2018 Stefan Andrews As any great army that celebrated big victories, the Spartans witnessed some terrible debacles on the battlefield, too. Homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece was regarded as contributing to morale. The Varangian Guard were the elite guard of the emperor himself. The Greeks also used archers and javelin throwers (called "peltasts"). This is a list of Roman army units and bureaucrats. When comparing to an ancient military most people would want to point out highly decorated units, such as Spartan heavy Infantry, specific Roman Legionary units, or other such units thats battlefield effectiveness was unquestioned at the time. Armies of Ancient Greece . The term legion also denotes the military system by which imperial Rome conquered and ruled the ancient world. Each class of human units — infantry, archer, and cavalry — is produced and upgraded by its own class-specific building.. In Ancient Greek warfare, psiloi (Ancient Greek ψιλοί, singular ψιλός,1 literally “bare, stripped”) were extremely light infantry who acted as skirmishers and missile troops. Lesson 1. The civilian authority for the Greece Military is the Ministry of National Defense.It was founded in 1828. Greece Military. The equipment for one soldier weighed altogether as much as seventy pounds. The basic Greek formation was made more flexible by Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander III the Great. A common symbol put on the shields of the soldiers of Athens was a little owl which represented the goddess Athena. The heavy equipment and weaponry of the Hellenic Army is of mostly foreign manufacture, from American, British, French, German and other suppliers. Cohors Germanorum: the unit of Germani custodes corporis. At first, citizens were called as volunteers to fight whenever their city-state was threatened. Transliteration of Greek is according to the rules of transliterating ancient Greek into English. Greece currently has universal compulsory military service for males, under which all men above 18 years of age serve for 9 months. The military history of ancient Greece is the history of the wars and battles of the Greek people in Greece, the Balkans and the Greek colonies in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea prior to 400 AD. The website of the Greek Armed Forces shows the flags of 66 units of the Greek Army. The Greek Titan in the The Titans expansion is the three-headed dog Cerberus.. Units [edit | edit source]. A foot solider in the ancient Greek army was known as a hoplite. The expanding early Roman Republic found the Greek phalanx formation too This game is the third in the series, the others being Hegemony Rome (header image) and Hegemony Gold Ancient Greece . At this point instead of an abstract battle resolution system with little player input, 3D units of soldiers appear, and you can move, turn, shoot, and cleave heads as you would in any RTS game. Life in Sparta was very much harder than life in the cultural city-state of Athens. According to Plutarch, the ‘Sacred’ of the unit’s name comes from an exchange of sacred vows made between lover and beloved at the shrine of Iolaus at Thebes. Greek soldiers sometimes decorated their shields. Ancient Greece Vocabulary 1. Modern Greek military ranks are based on Ancient Greek & Byzantine terminology, even though the ranks correspond to those of other Western armies. Glossary of ancient Greek military terms. According to regimental tradition, junior inductees were romantically paired with more seasoned fighters. At the beginning, they were a gift of 6000 warriors from the Rus Emperor Vladimir for the Roman Emperor Basil II. At the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, these 300 gay warriors led the Theban army against the Spartan army. Ancient Greek technology developed during the 5th century BCE, continuing up to and including the Roman period, and beyond. 22. Women may serve in the Greece Military… ... Stratelates – A Greek translation for the rank of magister militum that was used in the late Roman and Byzantine armies. 'Hoplite' can be translated as 'man-at-arms'. Inventions that are credited to the ancient Greeks include the gear, screw, rotary mills, screw press, bronze casting techniques, water clock, water organ, torsion catapult, the use of steam to operate some experimental machines and toys, and a chart to find prime numbers. The other form of elite military personnel of the Macedonian army was the Hertairoi, also known as the Companion Cavalry.They are regarded as the first shock cavalry, and renowned as the ancient world’s greatest cavalry. From colossal Prussians and delirious Vikings to a faith-based U.S. Army unit, find out more about seven of history’s most unconventional military outfits. All Greek words have been transcribed in the Latin alphabet. The ancient Greek military hierarchy ran parallel to the social structure or social hierarchy in ancient Greece. An introduction to Ancient Greece . Legionary - the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire Medicus - physician or combat medic. Sparta was the greatest military power of ancient Greece with its own laws, money and kings. By the end of the fifth century, standing armies and required military service was the norm. Greece currently has universal compulsory Modern Military service for males, under which all men above 18 years of age serve for 9 months. Getty Images. Alexander’s core unit in the phalanx was the syntagma, normally 16 men deep. A staff of world-renowned tutors will expand your knowledge of subjects such as the Greek City, the Roman Army, Alexander the Great and the Roman Family. Legion, a military organization, originally the largest permanent organization in the armies of ancient Rome. The Ancient Greek civilisation emerged after 800 , and reached its peak around 330 with the conquests of Alexander the Great. Explore the ancient civilisations of the Roman Empire and ancient Greece on this BA Ancient History course, which brings these worlds to life by examining their culture, language and literature. The mottos in the emblems are mostly from ancient times, therefore in various forms of ancient Greek (e.g. νικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece.The term Hellenic, is the endogenous synonym for Greek.The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces, also constituted by the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) and the Hellenic Navy (HN). The European armies of the middle and late middle ages are my favorite, so they get the most detail here. Athens—ancient Greek city-state Ancient Greek Bronze Armor and Horse Tackle in Metropolitan Museum of Art Photo by Lucas Livingston, ancientartpodcast FLICKR 13 April 2013 cca2.0 8856818595 793435af46 o.jpg 2,448 × 3,264; 1.74 MB Ancient Greek terracotta figurines in the Museum of the Ancient … The Sacred Band was an elite military unit from Thebes comprising 150 gay couples. Between the 10th to 14th century the Byzantine empire’s army had special troops called the Varangian Guard. Archimedes—ancient Greek inventor and mathematician who invented Archimedes’ Screw 3. aristocrats—wealthy property owners in ancient Greece 4. One of classical Greece’s best-known elite units may very well be the Sacred Band of Thebes.Formed in 378 BCE by the Theban general Gorgidas, the legendary army was made up exclusively of 150 same-sex couples.Only the finest warriors from the city-state were invited to join. The Greeks can be considered as having the most standardized and easily memorized military in the game. Specializations included surgery ( medicus vulnerarius ), ophthalmology ( medicus ocularius ) and even veterinary ( medicus veterinarius ). Aristotle—ancient Greek philosopher; teacher of Alexander the Great 5. Although the primary example is the Sacred Band of Thebes, a unit said to have been formed of same-sex couples, the Spartan tradition of military heroism has also been explained in light of strong emotional bonds resulting from homosexual relationships. Interesting Facts About the Soldiers and War of Ancient Greece. This troop of crack soldiers consisted of 150 pairs of male lovers. Companion Cavalry. Ivan Sache, 18 February 2002. Cohors equitata: unit of auxiliary infantry with attached mounted squadrons. from Homer's Ilias). Like in the social structure of ancient Greece, aristocratic class got the higher positions in the military hierarchy also. Athens was the bitter enemy and Cohors milliaria: 'thousand strong unit'; military unit with an establishment strength of a 1000 soldiers. Alexander the Great—ancient Macedonian who conquered most of the known world around 334 B.C. Greek warriors: Hoplites, taking their name from the word 'Hoplon' meaning their complete military kit. Distinct meanings of the same word are indicated by numbers between brackets. The aim of this lesson is to give pupils an overview of Ancient Greece . This glossary offers an explanation of Greek (GR) and a few Persian (PE) terms and expressions associated with ancient Greek warfare. Ancient Greek War. Q: What are the most basic Medieval army units? 2. They served from the year 378 BC until the unit was entirely wiped out by a Macedonian army 40 years later. The people of Sparta were led by its king and had to follow very strict military-like rules. Cohors classica: auxiliary unit originally formed of sailors and marines. When describing the mighty armies of the Persian empire, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus paid particular attention to the battalion of elite troops he dubbed the "Immortals" — a unit that seemed to the Greek scribe to always be at its full complement of 10,000 soldiers. ... 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