re: #115 The Ghost of a Flea

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com…]

The phalanx was the best heavy infantry in that part of the world for quite a long time, but the Greeks triumphing versus Persia thing is overhyped and omits details like the Persians allocating only a portion of their forces to any of their campaigns in Greece, and fun stuff like the army at Platea being a third to one-half helots (bonded slaves). Persian bureaucratic materials paint a rather different picture of resource distribution and effort placed into the two invasions.

And VDH’s Carnage and Culture take on Greek warfare is a joke, subset to a comedy routine in which “the Western Way of War” has to do with a bunch of values he clumsily smears across Europe regardless of their regional and temporal relevance. It sounds good, but it makes no damn sense, and in spite of his condemnation of racial interpretation his Occidental/Oriental simplifications are just as dishonest and hamhanded.

I don’t really agree. The Persians could never muster their full army for one campaign, because much of it was needed for anti-bandit and internal security work. For Platea, are you referring to the Greek army as a whole or just the Spartans (and the helots were more serfs than slaves, though the Spartans were worse than most medieval lords)?

Hanson backs up his case on Greek Warfare in A War Like None Other. He really does know his stuff for ancient Greece.