The total length is 2~2.5 meters; The short sword is made of iron, and the blade is straight or curved, and is only used in hand-to-hand combat. Including the metal helmet, cuirass and shin, a hoplite infantry weighs 30 kilograms. Therefore, a heavily armed infantryman is often accompanied by one or more slaves to carry his weapons and ensure the safety of his rear during battle.

Ancient Greek phalanx

In ancient warfare, as in modern warfare, tactics were also an important factor. The reason why the Greeks defeated the Persians in the Battle of Marathon was mainly because of their tactical superiority.

The heavily armed infantry of ancient Greece was inseparable from the phalanx tactical formation that appeared at the same time. The ancient Greek infantry phalanx had a strict formation, a tight formation, a clear hierarchy, and its power lay in the unity of the infantry in the formation, uniting against the enemy and heavy equipment.

Originally, before Homer's time, the infantry was fighting like a swarm of swarms, so the ancient Greek phalanx, with its strict formation, could easily defeat a numerically superior but chaotic enemy. This was a tactical innovation at the time.

In 418 B.C., the Spartans also set up a flute team in order to keep the pace of the phalanx in order to make the pace of the Manding monster sub-battlefield, and the infantry marched slowly to the rhythm of the flute.

However, the ancient Greek phalanx also had an Achilles' heel, that is, if you try to prevent it from having a unified battlefield, and only attack its flanks or back, and not its front, you can kill it. For example, in 371 B.C., the Theban strategist Epaminonda used a concentrated force of 16 layers in depth in Leuktra to penetrate from the right side of the phalanx, and as a result, the Spartan phalanx was broken. However, the victory of Thebes was overshadowed by a new phalanx of Macedonia in 338 BC.

Macedonian phalanx

The Macedonian phalanx was created on the basis of the ancient Greek phalanx, and its formation was denser and deeper, with 16 layers of spears and the tips of the spears pointing forward. The spear was six or seven meters long, twice as long as the spear used in the ancient Greek phalanx. In this way, not only can the first strike be launched, but the tips of the guns in the first five rows can be stretched out in front of the shields in the first row and participate in the battle together.

However, although the Macedonian phalanx defeated the Spartans and the Athenians, it was later defeated by a more flexible, mobile and better equipped opponent ---- the ancient Roman legions.

legion

Legend has it that the ancient Roman legions were born out of defeat. In 216 BCE, at Cannai, the Roman heavily armed infantry, fighting in the formation of the ancient Greek phalanx, was defeated by the Carthaginian military commander using outflanking tactics. The ancient Romans learned from this fiasco and reformed the ancient Greek phalanx to create the ancient Roman legions.

The ancient Roman legions were the basic combat units, each legion was about 6,000 people, divided into 10 brigades, each brigade was divided into 3 detachments, and each detachment was divided into 2 centenarians. The first two platoons of the detachment were equipped with throwable javelins, and the third platoon was armed with spears.

The formation of the ancient Roman legions is flexible and changeable, and can be changed into a lightly armed infantry battle formation or a heavily armed infantry battle formation at any time according to the terrain or battle situation, and can attack from all sides. At the same time, the ancient Romans also learned from the defeat the importance of cavalry to protect the infantry and manipulate the enemy, and strengthened the coordination of cavalry.

The armament of the ancient Roman legions was also constantly improved. If the rivet on the handle of the javelin is replaced with a wooden pin, the javelin will be crooked or broken, making it impossible for the enemy to use it again. By the 1st century BC, all legions were armed with reinforced javelins, which could be thrown and used as spears. By the second century AD, the hinged metal breastplates worn by the infantrymen had been replaced by chain mail, and the bronze helmets had changed shape, wearing military shoes on their feet, holding wooden shields reinforced with metal, and carrying 60-centimeter-long swords at their waists.

In 202 BC, 14 years after the defeat of Konnai, the Roman legions took revenge on Carthage at Zama. In 168 BC, the ancient Roman legions broke the Macedonian phalanx again. The ancient Roman legions were the strongest army of their time.

cavalry

The ancient people of Europe and Asia also used some animals to participate in wars, and some of them can really be regarded as special weapons. To this day, horses still occupy a certain place in the army.

As early as the second millennium BC, horses were involved in warfare. At that time, the two light chariots were the weapons of the Hittite conquerors in their victorious sweeps across Phoenicia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Ararians of ancient Persia also used horses as a tool to conquer others. At that time, horses occupied a decisive place in the war.

Henghe's cavalry for a while, by the time of Homer, was reduced to a very minor with the appearance of the ancient Greek phalanx. This was because the horses at that time were not equipped with stirrups, and as long as the horses were startled, the cavalry was in danger of being thrown off at any time; The second is that the horse's hooves are quickly worn off on the hard ground before they are put on the iron palms, and the horses become poor lame or wasted horses.

By the time of the Roman Empire, cavalry was established in order to defend the Great Wall of the empire and recruit "barbarian" soldiers. Cavalry is slowly becoming important again.

During the period of the Western Roman Empire, especially in 378 AD, the heavy cavalry armed with spears by the Goths of Turkey wiped out all the generals and 40,000 soldiers of the Emperor Valens and his ancient Roman legions with lightning speed, and the Western Rome was devastated from then on. The importance of cavalry has also become more prominent.

Elephants and pigs

In the ancient wars of Europe and Asia, there was another animal------ elephant. Its massive body and deafening roar caused great fear among the people.

The first Westerner to put elephants into combat was Alexander, who brought elephants from India and Africa to use against cavalry. Horses cannot compete with elephants unless they are specially trained. Against the infantry of the time, the elephant was an absolute victory.

In 301 BC, Seleucus I (Alexander's successor) won the battle of Epsos with a formation of up to 480 elephants. Elephants are mighty.

However, after the appearance of any new weapon, another newer weapon will inevitably appear against it, and this is the development relationship between spear and shield. Elephants are no exception. In 270 BC, the Megara people of Greece won the war by using pigs against elephants. They smeared the pigs with pine resin, lit them with fire, and drove the pigs towards the herd. When the elephants saw these howling live torches, they fled in all directions, and the enemy army was thrown into chaos.

By the first century BC, elephants had finally disappeared from the battlefield.

Siege weapons

The ancient people of Europe and Asia not only fought each other in the wilderness, but also fought for the level of the fortress castle. The world-famous siege of Troy lasted for ten years, and the Greeks finally used the "Trojan Horse Strategy" to break through the city.

By the 8th century BCE, the Assyrians had mastered siege tactics and had created activities to climb walls or towers