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This article is about The warfare
aspects of ancient Athens. For The military history of ancient Athens, see
Classical Athens. The Athenian Empire around 450 The Athenian military was the
military force of Athens, one of the major city-states (poleis) of Ancient
Greece. It was largely similar to other armies of the region – see
Ancient Greek warfare.
Army:
In the manner of neighboring city-states the backbone of the Athenian military
on land was the hoplite. Accompanying every hoplite was a lightly armed
attendant, either a poor citizen who could not afford a regular suit of armor
(panoplia), or possibly a trusted slave. These attendants carried the hoplite's
shield (aspis) until the battle and most of the baggage. While generally armed
with javelins, they sometimes had spears, slings or bows. The attendants acted
as skirmishers before the pitched battle and were assigned to guard the camp
during the actual fight. When the battle was over, they would attempt either to
cover the retreat of the main body or slaughter the fleeing enemy forces if
their own hoplites were victorious. During and after the Peloponnesian Wars,
the use and importance of light troops increased with the introduction of the
peltasts: lightly armoured, if at all, and armed with javelins and a shield,
the pelte. Their effectiveness in battle, even against the best-trained heavy
hoplites, was demonstrated by the Athenian general Iphicrates, who annihilated
an entire Spartan mora with his peltasts.
Navy:
Main article: Trireme:
During the Persian wars Athens developed a large, powerful navy in the eastern
Mediterranean that destroyed the even larger Persian Navy at the Battle of
Salamis. The Athenian Navy consisted of 80,000 crewing 400 ships.[citation
needed] The backbone of the navy's manpower was a core of professional rowers
drawn from the lower classes of Athenian society. This gave the Athenian fleets
an advantage in training over the less professional fleets of its
rivals.[citation needed] The main warships of the fleet were the triremes. With
its fleet, Athens obtained hegemony over the rest of the Greek city-states
forming the first Athenian Empire. Its fleet was destroyed and empire lost
during the Peloponnesian War. Athens regained some of its naval power after the
Second Athenian Empire was rebuilt; however, it never fully recovered as its
rivals were much stronger than before. The fleet included two sacred ships, the
Paralus and the Salaminia used for diplomatic and ceremonial duties.
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