Hoplites,or the backbone of the Greek army during the classical period
were both feared and effective in equal measure. The most infamous of
all Greek warriors were the Spartans, who, just like all other Greek
infantry at the time, used the Phalanx formation. Spartans are often
romanticized for running into battle half naked killing men by the
hundreds.This how ever is extremely historically inaccurate. The Phalanx
is a very tight formation of Greek heavy infantry that form a spear and
shield wall. To understand the Phalanx one must understand what
equipment was used.
In the classical era, Greek Heavy infantry,
or hoplites were heavily armored spear men. Their spears would often
reach 8-9ft with iron heads and bronze butts at the end of the spear so
that if the head broke off there would be a second weapon. Their shields
were around 3 feet in diameter and were wood bodies with a bronze layer
covering it. The hoplites used a special shield that offered maximum
power and control. A leather strap would hold the forearm in place while
the left hand would grab a wooden grip. The shields weighed around 30
pounds and offered maximum protection as well as offensive ability due
to the heavy bronze used.
A hoplite's helmet was of Corinthian
design, which was a Greek city-state overlooking a narrow passage
connecting Northern and Southern Greece. More importantly it was in
between the 2 major city states of the classical period, Athens, and
Sparta. The helmet was forged of bronze and officers or politically
important people had horse hair crests on the top of their helmets.
Combat officers wore theirs side to side while normal warriors of high
rank wore them front to back. Their helmets covered their entire face
except their mouth,eyes and a small portion of their chin,these weighed
about 12-15 pounds.
Their cuirasses or breastplates, were made of
bronze. Greeks are known for creating art resembling the perfect man.
This is evident in their breastplates, for muscular bodies are portrayed
front and back including abs, navels,and pecs of godly perfection. This
was also intimidating to the enemy and extremely effective. Along with
shield,helmet, and breastplate,hoplites wore greaves to protect their
shins/legs. The greaves were made of bronze once again and weighed about
3 pounds each.
Along with a spear, a hoplite had a short
stabbing sword when the spear broke or was thrown. The blade was high
carbon and was around 12-15 inches in length. Hoplites painted shields
and wore capes as well. Under every piece of bronze armor was a leather
layer for comfort. Now one can envision what a hoplite looks like, the
phalanx makes more sense. Imagine a row of heavily armored warriors in
armor glistening from the sun tightly packed 150 men wide and 8-16 men
deep spears extended shields interlocking and waiting for you to charge
into them and be massacred.
This was the main idea behind the
phalanx. Arrows could not do damage due to their heavy armor and
interlocking shields and warriors could not get close due to a row of
spears extending 3-5 feet. They would literally have to run into the
spear wall to even get close, then the warriors deeper in formation used
their spears while the guys in front kept them away with their giant
shields. It literally was a massacre for anyone going straight against a
phalanx.
Although the phalanx was highly immobile, it proved
devastating in enclosed or narrow passages such as that of Thermopylae
where the battle field was only a few hundred meters wide. This allowed
the Spartan to use their numbers to full advantage. The Persians could
only fight 100 or so Spartans at a time and wouldn't get far. One on
one, no warrior on Earth could compare to the Spartan. When interlocked
with more Spartans, the only thing stopping them was aching sword/spear
arms.
All other Greek fighting forces used the same formation
until the Romans finally outmaneuvered the Greeks and conquered them in
146 BC. A major downside to the Greek Phalanx was its immobility which
proved to be the final nail in the Greek coffin when fighting the very
mobile Roman army in Macedonia in the 100's BC. Alexander used this
formation as well only having much longer spears and integrating Eastern
mercenaries for support.
It is difficult to trace the origins of
the phalanx precisely but it is commonly known the phalanx originated
in Southern Greece around 600-700BC. It was adopted very quickly and
almost all Greek warriors were uniform after that.
Overall, the
Greek phalanx in my mind was the greatest ancient fighting formation
ever devised when applied properly as history has shown. Alexander
conquered the world using it and 300 men held off half a million using
it. How ever when the Greeks conquered the East,man power was spread
thin and made them weak which in turn led to their demise at the hands
of the Romans.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Aftermath of the Last Stand at Thermopylae
The Greco-Persian wars occurred several times through out the two
people's history. I've been studying the Greeks for several years and
most this information comes from the ancient Greek historian
Herodotus.In 480 BC the Persian king Xerxes took approximately
350,000-500,000 soldiers across a narrow water way known as the
Hellespont that connects Asia Minor to Europe and went into northern
Greece. Thinking he would save Sparta by martyring himself, the Spartan
King, Leonidas took 300 of his best troops to go to the hot gates which
was a narrow pass near Thermopylae that would offer a tremendous
strategic advantage because only a small amount of men could fight at
one time,making the Persians massive numbers much less useful. About
7000 other Greeks came along with Leonidas including Thespians,who made
up the largest part of the Greeks at the battle. After 3 days they were
all dead, however they dealt a huge blow to Xerxes and his army's
numbers and moral. Xerxes's main objective was to destroy Athens for
supporting a rebellion in the Ionian town of Sardis years earlier as
well as the humiliating defeat at Marathon. After there was no standing
army in between Athens and Thermopylae, Xerxes marched straight to
Athens and burned it to the ground.
Xerxes realized this was a mistake and began rebuilding Athens the next day. With Leonidas dead, a new Spartan king was put in place. They needed to act quickly to save Southern Greece. The new Spartan king, Cleombrotos, decided he would make a wall at the narrowest part of the passage into Southern Greece by Corinth, and to not help Athens. Cleombrotos died suddenly approximately a month after his orders and Sparta gets a new King. Pausanias was one of Sparta's generals now he was king. Although Athens and Sparta were engaged in bloody conflict very often,Pausanias knew if he was going to save all of Greece he needed to ally with Athens to defeat the Persians. It is what happened after Thermopylae that saved the Western world and democracy. In 479 BC the Persians sacked Athens for a second time within the 365 days they sacked it the first time.The battle that would decide the fate of all Greece was the Battle of Plataea.
Pausanias was a warrior king and wanted to fight the Persians out of Greece. He knew that he did not have any skirmishers or archers so he developed a tactic to take out the Persian archers. It was called the hoplite run. All Greek heavy infantry of the time were hoplites which means they stood interlocking shields with 6-8 foot spears sticking out to make a spear wall. This was devastating against light infantry and to charge into a phalanx formation with cavalry was suicidal. However this formation was highly immobile and was vulnerable to flank attacks as well as missile troops. Pausanias developed the "hoplite run" which means that the hoplites would break the phalanx formation and sprint directly onto the enemy archer's position killing them before the Persian main infantry could start fighting.
In August, 479 BC, Pausanias took 45,000 Spartan warriors and 50,000 Greeks including several thousand helots and went to combat the Persian's 300,000 man force near Athens. The Persian's reaction was to fall back to Plataea where there was an open battlefield to fight at where their archers and cavalry could be used. The Persian general Mardonius was in command of 300,000 men and put them on the opposite side of the river Ossopus. Neither Mardonius or Pausanias moved to commence battle for a week. Mardonius finally sent a small mounted archer band to harass the Spartans into charging the field, but the Spartans did not take the bait. Instead they killed some of the Persians and held their ground. On the tenth day, Pausanias is running low on water and supplies so leads his men into a orderly retreat, but as he does this Mardonius charges his entire army onto the field to try and cut down the retreating Spartans, which ended up being a tremendous mistake. The Spartans turn directly towards the Persians, go into phalanx and advance towards the Persians.
Persian cavalry could not maneuver because of the rocky terrain so they order all the archers to fire. The Spartans shrug off the arrows as they advance right towards the Persian line. When the 2 lines collided, the Persians were instantly decimated. The Greek heavy infantry wearing 60 pounds of armor, using the best tactics and weapons available at the time period slaughtered the Persian light infantry and archers. It is said that Mardonius, the Persian commander was struck and killed with a rock thrown by a Greek during the battle. At the end of the day, over 150,000 Persians lay dead, a hard number to imagine, half of the entire Persian army. After this battle, the Persians would leave Greece in a few months and never try to invade again.
In about 150 years, all the city-states joined together under the command and influence of Phillip II of Macedon. When Phillip was assassinated, his son Alexander took over and with all the resources of Greece and Macedon, invaded Persia destroying the entire empire and starting a new reign of Greek rulers in Asia Minor,Egypt, and as far as Western India. When Alexander died, several kingdoms were established by Alexander's generals which would eventually collapse. Since Greece's manpower was spread so thin over Alexander's great empire it made mainland Greece and Macedon very weak, but rich. However most the riches would stay in Asia Minor. Approximately 200 years after Alexander's campaign, Rome conquered Greece and Macedon.
Roman officials bred with the Greeks so much that after a hundred years most of the Romans controlling Greece were 50-75% Greek and when Constantine separated the empire into Western and Eastern, the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine empire (after the city of Byzantium, the capital) was almost completely Greek. The Greco-Roman empire would outlast the original Roman empire by 1000 years. In the ancient world no one could rival the accomplishments of Alexander the Great, defeat Greek philosophy or have such a great sense of pride in culture as the Greeks did. They truly were the Powerhouse of the Mediterranean world during the Classical Age.
Xerxes realized this was a mistake and began rebuilding Athens the next day. With Leonidas dead, a new Spartan king was put in place. They needed to act quickly to save Southern Greece. The new Spartan king, Cleombrotos, decided he would make a wall at the narrowest part of the passage into Southern Greece by Corinth, and to not help Athens. Cleombrotos died suddenly approximately a month after his orders and Sparta gets a new King. Pausanias was one of Sparta's generals now he was king. Although Athens and Sparta were engaged in bloody conflict very often,Pausanias knew if he was going to save all of Greece he needed to ally with Athens to defeat the Persians. It is what happened after Thermopylae that saved the Western world and democracy. In 479 BC the Persians sacked Athens for a second time within the 365 days they sacked it the first time.The battle that would decide the fate of all Greece was the Battle of Plataea.
Pausanias was a warrior king and wanted to fight the Persians out of Greece. He knew that he did not have any skirmishers or archers so he developed a tactic to take out the Persian archers. It was called the hoplite run. All Greek heavy infantry of the time were hoplites which means they stood interlocking shields with 6-8 foot spears sticking out to make a spear wall. This was devastating against light infantry and to charge into a phalanx formation with cavalry was suicidal. However this formation was highly immobile and was vulnerable to flank attacks as well as missile troops. Pausanias developed the "hoplite run" which means that the hoplites would break the phalanx formation and sprint directly onto the enemy archer's position killing them before the Persian main infantry could start fighting.
In August, 479 BC, Pausanias took 45,000 Spartan warriors and 50,000 Greeks including several thousand helots and went to combat the Persian's 300,000 man force near Athens. The Persian's reaction was to fall back to Plataea where there was an open battlefield to fight at where their archers and cavalry could be used. The Persian general Mardonius was in command of 300,000 men and put them on the opposite side of the river Ossopus. Neither Mardonius or Pausanias moved to commence battle for a week. Mardonius finally sent a small mounted archer band to harass the Spartans into charging the field, but the Spartans did not take the bait. Instead they killed some of the Persians and held their ground. On the tenth day, Pausanias is running low on water and supplies so leads his men into a orderly retreat, but as he does this Mardonius charges his entire army onto the field to try and cut down the retreating Spartans, which ended up being a tremendous mistake. The Spartans turn directly towards the Persians, go into phalanx and advance towards the Persians.
Persian cavalry could not maneuver because of the rocky terrain so they order all the archers to fire. The Spartans shrug off the arrows as they advance right towards the Persian line. When the 2 lines collided, the Persians were instantly decimated. The Greek heavy infantry wearing 60 pounds of armor, using the best tactics and weapons available at the time period slaughtered the Persian light infantry and archers. It is said that Mardonius, the Persian commander was struck and killed with a rock thrown by a Greek during the battle. At the end of the day, over 150,000 Persians lay dead, a hard number to imagine, half of the entire Persian army. After this battle, the Persians would leave Greece in a few months and never try to invade again.
In about 150 years, all the city-states joined together under the command and influence of Phillip II of Macedon. When Phillip was assassinated, his son Alexander took over and with all the resources of Greece and Macedon, invaded Persia destroying the entire empire and starting a new reign of Greek rulers in Asia Minor,Egypt, and as far as Western India. When Alexander died, several kingdoms were established by Alexander's generals which would eventually collapse. Since Greece's manpower was spread so thin over Alexander's great empire it made mainland Greece and Macedon very weak, but rich. However most the riches would stay in Asia Minor. Approximately 200 years after Alexander's campaign, Rome conquered Greece and Macedon.
Roman officials bred with the Greeks so much that after a hundred years most of the Romans controlling Greece were 50-75% Greek and when Constantine separated the empire into Western and Eastern, the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine empire (after the city of Byzantium, the capital) was almost completely Greek. The Greco-Roman empire would outlast the original Roman empire by 1000 years. In the ancient world no one could rival the accomplishments of Alexander the Great, defeat Greek philosophy or have such a great sense of pride in culture as the Greeks did. They truly were the Powerhouse of the Mediterranean world during the Classical Age.
The Trojan War Homer's Iliad Decoded
The Trojan war was so intriguing to the people of the ancient
Mediterranean world that it survived through song and story for over 300
years until Homer compiled what he knew of the story and wrote it down
as the Iliad. The Iliad is hard to understand to the common person
causing it to be interpreted in much different ways by different groups
of people. When Wolfgang Peterson directed the movie Troy in 2004 many
people became irritated due to the lack of historical accuracy.Most
people thought the Iliad was fictional until the discovery of troy in
1879. Troy was found after a series of journalists and archeologists
searched for Ilium, a Roman city built on top of Troy during the reign
of Augustus. It disappeared gradually once the establishment of
Constantinople as the Byzantine Empire's capital was complete.
\Homer's Iliad was set in approximately 1250BC placing it in the Bronze age. During the Bronze age much of Ionia, or modern day Turkey, was controlled by the Hittites,which some believe to be responsible for Troy's collapse instead of the Trojan war with Greece.The Bronze Age was a time period in which people made their tools,weapons,and armor from bronze,a much inferior metal to modern blade steel. Bronze is 40% heavier than steel and isn't anywhere near as effective for holding a sharp edge and not breaking. Bronze was made by alloying copper and scarce tin with a ratio of about 80:20 bronze to tin. Although swords,cuirasses,shields,and greaves were made of bronze with a leather interior,spear tips were made of wrought iron.
Homer's Iliad says the Trojan war started when Helen of Sparta was kidnapped by Paris of Troy. Menelaus, king of Sparta and brother to Agamemnon, ruler of Greece demanded she be returned. When Paris refused Menelaus pleaded with his brother Agamemnon to invade Troy to get Helen back. Agamemnon saw an opportunity to take Troy and satisfy his brother's needs at the same time and ordered 50,000 Greek warriors to assemble. In that day it was the largest fighting force ever assembled on Earth. Greek kings from all cities followed Agamemnon's orders and sailed to Troy in a fleet of approximately 1000 ships. Among these ships, one carrying the famous warrior Achilles landed first at the beach of Troy.
Achilles was the greatest warrior to ever be brought into the world, he was invincible all except for his ankle which is where we get the term "Achilles tendon". Achilles and his Myrmidons landed killing the defensive force guarding the shrine to Apollo who was a patron to Troy. The shrine was sacked and desecrated by the Greeks. Other famous Greek warriors at Troy were Odysseus king of Ithaca,Ajax, and Achilles bisexual lover, Patroclus. An even more famous story was written about Odysseus and his journey home called the Odyssey.
The Trojan war lasted 10 years with several skirmishes in between. The first of which Menelaus was killed by Paris unfairly when his sword broke and was hit by an arrow by another Trojan helping Paris. Many Greeks were killed at the first attempt to take Troy. It was said that many Greek gods came down to help different sides during battle, an example is a Greek saying to another Greek. "Look! Ares joins our battle line!" Ares was the god of war and was known for his keen combative skills. The role of the gods in this story was very important and emphasized by Homer greatly when he wrote it. During several more skirmishes, Patroclus, lover of Achilles was killed by Hektor the Trojan prince and eldest son of Priam,the king of Troy. Achilles was enraged and vowed to revenge his death.
The duel between Hektor and Achilles is the most well known in the Iliad and all of ancient Greece. Specifics of the duel are vague. In the end, Achilles stabs Hektor in the throat with his spear. Hektor's last words are "Take my body back to Troy." Instead of honoring Hektor's last wish Achilles drags his body around Troy on his chariot for his wife Andromache,father Priam, and brother Paris to see. He continues for 14 days and finally brings back his body to the Greek encampment. Priam later asks Achilles for his son back.
After 10 long years drag on Agamemnon grows very impatient and needs a way to take Troy. Odysseus, hero of the Odyssey comes up with a plan to hide inside a wooden horse and use it as an offering to Troy. Once they were inside the city they jumped out and slaughtered Troy's citizens and unprepared guard. The Trojan army could not mobilize in the chaos and was picked off through out the city. Agamemnon ordered the burning of Troy and plundered its precious gold from its temples and palace. The only survivors were led by prince Paris out of the city through a secret tunnel. Once inside the city, Achilles is shot through his ankle by Paris and dies. It is said in later literature that Achilles son kills Paris with a poisoned arrow.
Aeneas leads whats left of the Trojans out of the city to modern day Italy and founds Rome. This is the story of the Aenead. After 10 years of siege, Agamemnon wins his victory at the cost of thousands of Greeks. Achilles, Patroclus,Menelaus, and Ajax lay dead. It is said that Ajax was not killed by Trojans but by Odysseus in a duel over who gets to keep Achilles's armor. Troy has remained a very famous place and its story is immortal. Alexander the Great was obsessed with Achilles and claimed he was of the same bloodline. When Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor, he visited the ruins of Troy to pay his respects to his ancestors. Over the next 3200 years, cities were built on top of Troy which disappeared and came back. There were 10 different cities built on the same site over 3 millennia. The 2nd Troy was thought to of been the one where Priam was king and the Trojan war occurred.
\Homer's Iliad was set in approximately 1250BC placing it in the Bronze age. During the Bronze age much of Ionia, or modern day Turkey, was controlled by the Hittites,which some believe to be responsible for Troy's collapse instead of the Trojan war with Greece.The Bronze Age was a time period in which people made their tools,weapons,and armor from bronze,a much inferior metal to modern blade steel. Bronze is 40% heavier than steel and isn't anywhere near as effective for holding a sharp edge and not breaking. Bronze was made by alloying copper and scarce tin with a ratio of about 80:20 bronze to tin. Although swords,cuirasses,shields,and greaves were made of bronze with a leather interior,spear tips were made of wrought iron.
Homer's Iliad says the Trojan war started when Helen of Sparta was kidnapped by Paris of Troy. Menelaus, king of Sparta and brother to Agamemnon, ruler of Greece demanded she be returned. When Paris refused Menelaus pleaded with his brother Agamemnon to invade Troy to get Helen back. Agamemnon saw an opportunity to take Troy and satisfy his brother's needs at the same time and ordered 50,000 Greek warriors to assemble. In that day it was the largest fighting force ever assembled on Earth. Greek kings from all cities followed Agamemnon's orders and sailed to Troy in a fleet of approximately 1000 ships. Among these ships, one carrying the famous warrior Achilles landed first at the beach of Troy.
Achilles was the greatest warrior to ever be brought into the world, he was invincible all except for his ankle which is where we get the term "Achilles tendon". Achilles and his Myrmidons landed killing the defensive force guarding the shrine to Apollo who was a patron to Troy. The shrine was sacked and desecrated by the Greeks. Other famous Greek warriors at Troy were Odysseus king of Ithaca,Ajax, and Achilles bisexual lover, Patroclus. An even more famous story was written about Odysseus and his journey home called the Odyssey.
The Trojan war lasted 10 years with several skirmishes in between. The first of which Menelaus was killed by Paris unfairly when his sword broke and was hit by an arrow by another Trojan helping Paris. Many Greeks were killed at the first attempt to take Troy. It was said that many Greek gods came down to help different sides during battle, an example is a Greek saying to another Greek. "Look! Ares joins our battle line!" Ares was the god of war and was known for his keen combative skills. The role of the gods in this story was very important and emphasized by Homer greatly when he wrote it. During several more skirmishes, Patroclus, lover of Achilles was killed by Hektor the Trojan prince and eldest son of Priam,the king of Troy. Achilles was enraged and vowed to revenge his death.
The duel between Hektor and Achilles is the most well known in the Iliad and all of ancient Greece. Specifics of the duel are vague. In the end, Achilles stabs Hektor in the throat with his spear. Hektor's last words are "Take my body back to Troy." Instead of honoring Hektor's last wish Achilles drags his body around Troy on his chariot for his wife Andromache,father Priam, and brother Paris to see. He continues for 14 days and finally brings back his body to the Greek encampment. Priam later asks Achilles for his son back.
After 10 long years drag on Agamemnon grows very impatient and needs a way to take Troy. Odysseus, hero of the Odyssey comes up with a plan to hide inside a wooden horse and use it as an offering to Troy. Once they were inside the city they jumped out and slaughtered Troy's citizens and unprepared guard. The Trojan army could not mobilize in the chaos and was picked off through out the city. Agamemnon ordered the burning of Troy and plundered its precious gold from its temples and palace. The only survivors were led by prince Paris out of the city through a secret tunnel. Once inside the city, Achilles is shot through his ankle by Paris and dies. It is said in later literature that Achilles son kills Paris with a poisoned arrow.
Aeneas leads whats left of the Trojans out of the city to modern day Italy and founds Rome. This is the story of the Aenead. After 10 years of siege, Agamemnon wins his victory at the cost of thousands of Greeks. Achilles, Patroclus,Menelaus, and Ajax lay dead. It is said that Ajax was not killed by Trojans but by Odysseus in a duel over who gets to keep Achilles's armor. Troy has remained a very famous place and its story is immortal. Alexander the Great was obsessed with Achilles and claimed he was of the same bloodline. When Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor, he visited the ruins of Troy to pay his respects to his ancestors. Over the next 3200 years, cities were built on top of Troy which disappeared and came back. There were 10 different cities built on the same site over 3 millennia. The 2nd Troy was thought to of been the one where Priam was king and the Trojan war occurred.
History of the First Punic War
The Punic wars were 3 wars fought between Carthage and Rome. the word
"Punic", in Latin means Carthaginian. In 264, Rome was just a small
republic in the Mediterranean sea. Carthage however, was a super power
with much influence through the Mediterranean. Rome was quickly
expanding in Italy, but lacked the naval power of the Carthaginians. The
first Punic war started over a quarrel in the Sicilian city of Messana,
which is located in the north-east corner of the island.
Half of the city was Carthaginian, the other half Roman. A Carthaginian fleet was invited by one side of the city, and Rome retaliated by sending an expeditionary fleet there. Carthage got upset and sent a larger fleet towards Messana. Rome assembled an army to go to Sicily, the Carthaginians countered Rome's move and had an army of 50,000. Despite the numbers, Rome won many victories in Sicily, though neither side ever had a victory good enough to make a turning point in the war.
The first Punic war went on for 20 years and ended in 241BC with Carthage on the losing side. Carthage itself was not conquered how ever. The Romans put an indemnity on Carthage by making them give up claims to Sicily which gave Rome a new income and a new province. Rome became a super power in the Mediterranean, Rome also learned how to wage war on a massive scale. Much things were learned from the first Punic war for Rome. Although trade wasn't in Rome's interest at the moment, Sicily was. Sicily was a port city that had access to the Adriatic as well as Greece,Asia Minor, and most of the Mediterranean.
Half of the city was Carthaginian, the other half Roman. A Carthaginian fleet was invited by one side of the city, and Rome retaliated by sending an expeditionary fleet there. Carthage got upset and sent a larger fleet towards Messana. Rome assembled an army to go to Sicily, the Carthaginians countered Rome's move and had an army of 50,000. Despite the numbers, Rome won many victories in Sicily, though neither side ever had a victory good enough to make a turning point in the war.
The first Punic war went on for 20 years and ended in 241BC with Carthage on the losing side. Carthage itself was not conquered how ever. The Romans put an indemnity on Carthage by making them give up claims to Sicily which gave Rome a new income and a new province. Rome became a super power in the Mediterranean, Rome also learned how to wage war on a massive scale. Much things were learned from the first Punic war for Rome. Although trade wasn't in Rome's interest at the moment, Sicily was. Sicily was a port city that had access to the Adriatic as well as Greece,Asia Minor, and most of the Mediterranean.
History of the Roman Empire
It has been said that Rome was founded by Romulus, who killed his
brother and named the city after himself. It is also believed by some
people that they are the descendants of the city of Troy. Either way,
Rome was believed to rebel against the Etruscans, who ruled them, taught
them how to make and use weapons and armor, and taught them
agriculture. Rome started with the SPQR which stands for Senate and
People of Rome. They were very small, but by the year 340 B.C., it is
believed that Rome had conquered the middle part of modern day Italy,
controlling estates such as Rome, Capua, and Arettium. Rome had been
founded on a republic, which is when the people vote for other
representatives to vote for them, who then vote for the senate council.
By 270 B.C., the SPQR owned all of Italy, except for one Greek province, Syracuse, which was later captured. Once that was completed, Rome began to push through and around the Alps to take settlements in the North and Eastern coast. The western area of Gaul would be conquered by Gauis Julius Caesar. He would be assassinated shortly after his successful military campaign in Gaul, by Brutus and other conspirators. The Romans, by the 100's B.C. would have weaponry such as the gladius, a short steel sword, and different types of laminar armor along with spears and shields.
Rome began pushing into Greece and Dacia, along with Thrace and Macedonia during the 100's B.C. which would lead to the story of Spartacus, who led a rebellion against the Romans in 109 B.C. The Romans have invented many things useful to us by then, such as the arch, aqueduct, and dome. All of these are used today. By 325 A.D., Constantine, the current ruler of the Roman empire at the time, made a decision to split the empire in 2 to make the Western Roman empire, and the Eastern Roman empire, which would outlast the Western empire by almost 1000 years. Then Constantine officially made Rome a christian empire. The Byzantines (Eastern Roman empire) fell in the 1400's by the turns who used gunpowder to destroy the walls of Constantinople and destroyed it. The 2000 year legacy of Rome ended that day.
By 270 B.C., the SPQR owned all of Italy, except for one Greek province, Syracuse, which was later captured. Once that was completed, Rome began to push through and around the Alps to take settlements in the North and Eastern coast. The western area of Gaul would be conquered by Gauis Julius Caesar. He would be assassinated shortly after his successful military campaign in Gaul, by Brutus and other conspirators. The Romans, by the 100's B.C. would have weaponry such as the gladius, a short steel sword, and different types of laminar armor along with spears and shields.
Rome began pushing into Greece and Dacia, along with Thrace and Macedonia during the 100's B.C. which would lead to the story of Spartacus, who led a rebellion against the Romans in 109 B.C. The Romans have invented many things useful to us by then, such as the arch, aqueduct, and dome. All of these are used today. By 325 A.D., Constantine, the current ruler of the Roman empire at the time, made a decision to split the empire in 2 to make the Western Roman empire, and the Eastern Roman empire, which would outlast the Western empire by almost 1000 years. Then Constantine officially made Rome a christian empire. The Byzantines (Eastern Roman empire) fell in the 1400's by the turns who used gunpowder to destroy the walls of Constantinople and destroyed it. The 2000 year legacy of Rome ended that day.
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