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WARFARE AND POLITICS

KAISH PANJWANI 9th December 2018

Abstract

Over the time City-states of Ancient Greece have been governed by several different Kings, Rulers and Groups. But over all the things Ancient Greece has done, it is most known for one thing. The contribution of Democracy to the civilization. On the other hand, Ancient Greece has over the time built war strategies which have proven to be one of the best during the time. This document explores the types of Governmental Structures and Strategies that have been used by the Ancient Greece over serveral centuries.

Contents

Contents i

List of Figures ii

1 POLITICS 1 1.1 Monarchy ...... 2 1.2 Oligarchy ...... 3 1.3 Tyranny ...... 4 1.4 Democracy ...... 5

2 WARFARE 8 2.1 Military Campaigns ...... 9 2.2 Supplies ...... 9 2.3 Structure and Strategies ...... 10

References 13

i List of Figures

1 An illustration of General Assembly ...... 1 2 Map of Ancient Greece ...... 2 3 in ...... 3 4 Dionysios I of Syracuse ...... 4 5 A landscape of Athens ...... 5 6 A statue of ...... 6 7 Gravestone with an inscription of a Slave ...... 7 8 A painting of the ...... 9 9 Fresh Fish - One of the favourite dishes in Greece ...... 10 10 - Religious Rituals are performed here ...... 11 11 A painting of fighting ...... 11

ii 1 POLITICS

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore doesnot partake of society, is either a beast or a god”.1 —

Figure 1: An illustration of General Assembly (‘Comparing Ancient Greece and ,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/ comparisons-ancient-greece-and-ancient-rome-118635 )

Unlike other nations of that time, the Greeks had a very diverse Governing Structure. Greeks always questioned the importance of sovereignty, or the way they called it Kyrion.2 They explored different aspects of how Kyrion or the sovereignty of nation should be controlled either by Constitution, Citizens, Law or Officials. Nevertheless, by not settling on one absolute structure, the government in Ancient Greece took unusual diverse systems

1‘Politics Quotes by Aristotle,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://www.goodreads. com/work/quotes/14746717-politics . 2S. Forsdyke, Exile, , and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece (Princeton University Press, 2008), https://books.google.ca/books?id=uBimAQAACA AJ .

1 1. POLITICS over different timelines. This way the political power could’ve rest inthe hands of an elite, a single individual or in the hands of every male citizen (Demokratia): This system was later known to be called Democracy –oneof the notable biggest contribution by Ancient Greece. On the other hand, Ancient Greece was divided into several Poleis. Poleis were the Independent City-States. Typically, they were just one city, however, every city-state was different from one another in terms of their legal, judicial, political, religious and social practices. This means, perhaps in one city the practises thatare illegal could have been legal in other city-states. Throughout the time, Ancient Greece primarily explored the following political ideology:3

1.1 Monarchy

Figure 2: Map of Ancient Greece (‘File:Map 200 BC-ca.Svg - Wikimedia Commons,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https : / / commons . wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Macedonia_200_BC-ca.svg )

3D. Kagan, ‘Ancient Greece,’ 2010–2018, https://www.ancient-greece.org/ .

2 1.2. Oligarchy

In Ancient Greece, Monarchies were the rarest form of governing structure used by the city-states. They were quite distinguishable from Tyranny, where the ruler earned their political power through unconventional methods. The most famous Monarchies of Ancient Greece were those in the city-states of Eperios and Macedonia. However, in these societies the ruler shared his power with the citizens of the state. While also possessed an assembly made up of citizens of the state, it was rather famous for having two kings. The Spartans weren’t absolute Monarchs, however, during wars they possessed great power over the Spartan Army. On the other hand, during times the kings were kept in check by . Ephors were the representatives that were elected during the assemblies. However, unlike other Monarchies, Spartan kings could be put on trial and also get exiled from the state.

1.2 Oligarchy

Figure 3: Map of Ancient Greece (‘File:Athens Banner.Jpg – Travel Guide at Wikivoyage,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://en.wikivoyage.org/ wiki/File:Athens_Banner.jpg )

According to the Greek system (especially in Athens), any Governmental Structure which was not a Monarchy or Tyranny and didn’t seek the whole citizen body for political decision was an Oligarchy. This made the

3 1. POLITICS understanding of Oligarchy a little complex. However, in general, Oligarchy is a system of political power which is controlled by a selected group of individuals. It is usually made up of small number of people, however, it could include a large group too. And as the structure of Oligarchy is so huge, it was the most common governing structure in Ancient Greece. These, Oligarchies usually occurred when ‘Democracy went wrong’. Though being an important political structure during the era of Ancient Greece, the information related to this subject is rather scarce.

1.3 Tyranny

Figure 4: Dionysios I of Syracuse (‘Dionysius I of Syracuse - Wikipedia,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https : / / en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Dionysius _ I _ of _ Syracuse # /media / File : Dionysius _ I _ of _ Syracuse.jpg )

Unlike Monarchs, were sole rulers of a state who gained power through an unconstitutional manner, generally by murdering the current ruler. Nevertheless, the deeds the Tyrants did to reach the power was not morally correct, yet most of the Ancient Greece tyrants were not Evil. They rather wanted to run the system in their manner and simply chose to look

4 1.4. Democracy after their own interests. Some famous rulers were: Pesisistratos (560BCE), Dionysios I (405BCE) and Dionysios II (367 BCE).

1.4 Democracy

Figure 5: A landscape of Athens (‘File:Athens Banner.Jpg – Travel Guide at Wikivoyage,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://en.wikivoyage.org/ wiki/File:Athens_Banner.jpg )

It was noted that the birth of Democracy was somewhere near 460BCE in Athens. However, several other city-states established a very similar governmental structure. As majority of the artefacts that have been recovered have pointed out towards Athens, hence a very clear picture could be drawn about it, contrary to other city-states. The General Assemblies usually met at least once a month, nevertheless, during wars and other actions where the state needed to come up with a decision, multiple assemblies were held in a month. These assemblies consisted of about every male citizen above theage of 18, who had the capability speaking or casting a vote during the assembly. These assemblies were held on the Pynx Hill, where a dedicated spacewas

5 1. POLITICS allotted for this. This space could accommodate roughly 60004 people.

Figure 6: A statue of Socrates (‘File:Σωκράτης, Ακαδημία Αθηνών 6616.Jpg - Wikipedia,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/File:%CE%A3%CF%89%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B7%CF% 82,_%CE%91%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B4%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%AF%CE%B1_%CE% 91%CE%B8%CE%B7%CE%BD%CF%8E%CE%BD_6616.jpg )

The attendance was not compulsory for every citizen; however, it was always encouraged. During certain periods the citizens were even paid to come to the assembly, as several citizens could not take time-off from work in order to attend the assembly. The assemblies usually discussed issues like: maintenance of supply, debating about military campaigns and electing magistracies. A smaller body called Boulē decided which topics should be discussed and prioritized during the assembly. 4The Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies - Google Books, in collab. with B. Graziosi, accessed December 6, 2018, https://books.google.ca/books?id=n3sfjh_l61gC&pg=PT143 &source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q=kyrion&f=false .

6 1.4. Democracy

Even though democracy promised that everyone’s contribution matter, nevertheless, critics and historians like: and stated that the best, influential and wealthiest speakers were the one that dominated this arena. Both the historians also described how democracy could be easily be swayed by popular leaders and good orators. And perhaps the most controversial of all was the death sentence given to the famous philosopher Socrates in the year 399BCE.

Slavery

Figure 7: Gravestone with an inscription of a Slave (‘File:Grabstein Einer Frau Mit Dienerin.Jpg - Wikipedia,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/File:Grabstein_einer_Frau_mit_Dienerin.jpg )

While putting the political aspect on the side, slavery was a very common practice in Ancient Greece. Several writers of that time thought of slavery as a natural thing and also necessary, this can be seen in their works, including the works of Aristotle. These slaves were primarily brought from battleground. The defeated would become slaves to the triumphant. Other slaves were brought by either trading them or through banditry. While war was not always won, hence the banditry provided a better and constant supply of

7 2. WARFARE slaves. It is not clear how the slaves were treated, nevertheless, Aristotle described their routine in three words: Work, Discipline and Feeding.

2 WARFARE

“Neither in war nor yet at law ought any man to use every way of escaping death. For often in battle there is no doubt that if a man will throw awayhis arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death; and in other dangers there are other ways of escaping death, if a man is willing to say and do anything. The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, butin avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death”.5

— Socrates

5‘Quote by Socrates: “Neither in War nor yet at Law Ought Any Man To ...”,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/718746-neither-in-war- nor-yet-at-law-ought-any-man .

8 2.1. Military Campaigns

2.1 Military Campaigns

Figure 8: A painting of the Spartan Army (‘Greek - Spartan Army - Wikipedia,’ accessed December 6, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Spartan_army#/media/File:Greek_Phalanx.jpg )

During the Ancient Greece era, warfare was considered to be a necessary evil. As they believed that the reward earned from the victory of war would always outweigh the cost of lives and materials. Though the Ancient Greece empire had several alliances and long periods of peace, however, motifs like expansion and revenge inevitably ended up in war.

2.2 Supplies

The main reason why Greek wars were so short was mainly due tothe unreliable supply of ration, medicine and other materials required to uphold the army on the battlefield. The biggest problem was that the soldiers were expected to bring their own rations and equipment. Henceforth, most were attended by a slave who would carry all their rations, bedding andother required materials. Only Spartan armies had a medical officer, thus the slaves also acted as healers during this period. During the end of the Classical period, the supplies were brought on ships and wagons. The responsibility of supplies came under the men who were too old to fight in wars.6

6Kagan, ‘Ancient Greece.’

9 2. WARFARE

Figure 9: Fresh Fish - One of the favourite dishes in Greece (‘Fish Plate K588 - - Wikipedia,’ accessed December 6, 2018, h t t p s : //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_cuisine#/media/ File:Fish_plate_Louvre_K588.jpg )

2.3 Structure and Strategies

Religious Rituals

As religion was an important part of a Greek, hence the first thing to be done before the war began, was to complete the Religious Rituals. Apollo was the god of war and the rituals were done to please him and favour their side in the war, these were performed at the Delphi. In this ritual special animal sacrifices were done and omens were read by a diviner. This ritual wasso important that if there seems to be any ominous atmosphere the war could undoubtedly be delayed. For some states like Sparta, warfare was prohibited during religious festivals. And in all states the wars were forbidden during the Panhellenic Games.7

7M. Sage, Warfare in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook, 4th (UK: Routledge, June 1, 2002), isbn: 0-415-14354-3, https://books.google.ca/books?id=yeuEAgAAQBAJ&printsec= frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false .

10 2.3. Structure and Strategies

Figure 10: Delphi - Religious Rituals are performed here (‘File:Delphi, Greece - Panoramio.Jpg - Wikimedia Commons,’ accessed December 6, 2018, h t t p s : //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Delphi,_Greece_-_panora m i o . j p g )

Hoplite-Phalanx

Figure 11: A painting of Hoplite fighting (‘Hoplites_fight_Louvre_E735.Jpg (3008×2000),’ accessed November 26, 2018, https://upload.wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Hoplites_fight_Louvre_E735.jpg )

11 2. WARFARE

In the Greek army, the main support was the Hoplite. To deliver a greater mobility in battle, a Hoplite use to wear light weight armour, like a leather linen corselet and an open face helmet. Hoplites carried a short sword, a long spear, a circular bronze shield and ankle guards. As these warriors were very mobile, hence, during battle they fought at the close-quarters and itwas bloody and lethal. These wars gave the Greek warriors the perfect opportunity to show their strength and manliness. While Hoplites did play an important support role, nevertheless, a – a more mobile warrior possessed a big threat to the Hoplites. Hence, the armies decided to restructure their strategy. And thus, they came up with the idea of Lochoi. A Lochoi was a basic unit of the Phalanx. Phalanx is a line of well-armoured and well-armed Hoplite warriors – usually 10 to 12. This structure minimized their body exposure and gain less damage. Lochoi were so important that each Spartan Army had at least 5 to 6 Lochoi.8

8D. Kagan and G. F. Viggiani, eds., Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece (USA: Princeton University Press, 2013), isbn: 978-0-691-16845-6, https://books.google.ca/b ooks?id=xx6orLkVV4YC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad= 0#v=onepage&q&f=false .

12 References

References

‘Comparing Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://www.thoughtco.com/comparisons-ancient-greece- and-ancient-rome-118635 . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. ‘Dionysius I of Syracuse - Wikipedia.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_I_of_ Syracuse#/media/File:Dionysius_I_of_Syracuse.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. ‘File:Athens Banner.Jpg – Travel Guide at Wikivoyage.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/File:Athens_Banner.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. ‘File:Delphi, Greece - Panoramio.Jpg - Wikimedia Commons.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: Delphi,_Greece_-_panoramio.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. ‘File:Grabstein Einer Frau Mit Dienerin.Jpg - Wikipedia.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File: Grabstein_einer_Frau_mit_Dienerin.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. ‘File:Map Macedonia 200 BC-ca.Svg - Wikimedia Commons.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: Map_Macedonia_200_BC-ca.svg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search.

13 References

‘File:Σωκράτης, Ακαδημία Αθηνών 6616.Jpg - Wikipedia.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File: %CE%A3%CF%89%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82,_% CE%91%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B4%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%AF%CE%B1_%CE% 91%CE%B8%CE%B7%CE%BD%CF%8E%CE%BD_6616.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. ‘Fish Plate Louvre K588 - Ancient - Wikipedia.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_ Greek_cuisine#/media/File:Fish_plate_Louvre_K588.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. Forsdyke, S. Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece. Princeton University Press, 2008. https://books.google.ca/books?id=uBimAQAACAAJ . This book primarily focuses importance of Ostracism in democratic Greece. ‘Greek Phalanx - Spartan Army - Wikipedia.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. h t t p s : //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartan_army#/media/File: Greek_Phalanx.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. ‘Hoplites_fight_Louvre_E735.Jpg (3008×2000).’ Accessed November 26, 2018. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/ Hoplites_fight_Louvre_E735.jpg . Permission to use, share and modify according to Google Advanced Image Search. Kagan, D. ‘Ancient Greece.’ 2010–2018. https://www.ancient-greece.org/ . This website highlights the key events in the timeline of Ancient Greece (Consists important dates and their significance).

14 References

Kagan, D., and G. F. Viggiani, eds. Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece. USA: Princeton University Press, 2013. isbn: 978-0-691-16845-6. https://books.google.ca/books?id= xx6orLkVV4YC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_ summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false . This book explores the role of a Hoplite in war and also emphasises upon several other strategies used during the warfare.

‘Politics Quotes by Aristotle.’ Accessed December 6, 2018. h t t p s : //www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/14746717-politics . ‘Quote by Socrates: “Neither in War nor yet at Law Ought Any Man To ...”’ Accessed December 6, 2018. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/718746-neither-in- war-nor-yet-at-law-ought-any-man . Sage, M. Warfare in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook. 4th. UK: Routledge, June 1, 2002. isbn: 0-415-14354-3. https://books.google.ca/books?id= yeuEAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_ summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false . This book talks about the framework in which the wars took placein Ancient Greece. It also throws light upon how war was a more constant phase in comparison to peace. The Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies - Google. Books In collaboration with B. Graziosi. Accessed December 6, 2018. https://books.google.ca/ books?id=n3sfjh_l61gC&pg=PT143&source=gbs_toc_r&cad= 3#v=onepage&q=kyrion&f=false .

15