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Battle Of Hysiae (c.669 BC)
The first Battle of Hysiae was fought in either 669 or 668 BCE at or near Hysiae, Argolis, during the rule of the Argive tyrant Pheidon. It is referenced by Pausanias (2.24.6) as a victory by the army of Argos over that of Sparta. Nothing else is known about the conflict except that the location in Argolis suggests the repulse by Argos of a Spartan invasion. Hysiae was a stronghold located to the south-west of Argos and east of Tegea, near the border with Sparta. The battle marked a turning point in military history as it caused the Spartans to adopt the phalanx of hoplites in place of the loose spear-throwing formations prevalent until then. The phalanx was to revolutionise warfare. Battle Conventional warfare during this time period would involve the two armies meeting in an open field. The Argives apparently chose the city of Hysiae for reasons still unknown. By this time, the aspis, a shield designed by the city of Argos, was already equipped with the Argive army, givin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hysiae, Argolis
Hysiae or Hysiai ( grc, Ὑσιαί), also Hysia (Ὑσία), was a garrison town of ancient Argolis, also called the Argeia, southern Greece during the archaic period. It was located to the southwest of Argos and east of Tegea, on the road between them, at the foot of Mount Parthenium, not far from the Argive border with Laconia. In , the First Battle of Hysiae was fought between the Spartans and the Argives, who won to repulse a Spartan invasion of Argolis. It appears to have been destroyed by the Argives, along with Tiryns, Mycenae, and the other towns in the Argeia, after the Greco-Persian Wars; but it was afterwards restored, and was occupied by the Argives in the Peloponnesian War as a frontier-fortress. During the Peloponnesian War, in 417 BCE, the Second Battle of Hysiae was fought, again between the Spartans and the Argives, and resulted in a decisive Spartan victory. The Spartans captured Hysiae and destroyed it; all captured male citizens were executed. Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspis
An aspis ( grc, ἀσπίς, plural ''aspides'', ), or porpax shield, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a hoplon ( el, ὅπλον) (a term actually referring to the whole equipment of a hoplite), was the heavy wooden shield used by the infantry in various periods of ancient Greece. Construction An aspis was deeply dished and made primarily of wood. Some had a thin sheet of bronze on the outer face, often just around the rim. In some periods, the convention was to decorate the shield; in others, it was usually left plain. The aspis measured at least in diameter and weighed about , and it was about thick. This large shield was made possible partly by its shape, which allowed it to be supported comfortably on the shoulder. The revolutionary part of the shield was, in fact, the grip. Known as an grip, it placed the handle at the edge of the shield and was supported by a leather or bronze fastening for the forearm at the center, known as the porpax. This allowed hoplites m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
7th-century BC Conflicts
The 7th century is the period from 601 ( DCI) through 700 ( DCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era. The spread of Islam and the Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by Muhammad starting in 622. After Muhammad's death in 632, Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula under the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) and the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750). The Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century led to the downfall of the Sasanian Empire. Also conquered during the 7th century were Syria, Palestine, Armenia, Egypt, and North Africa. The Byzantine Empire suffered setbacks during the rapid expansion of the Caliphate, a mass incursion of Slavs in the Balkans which reduced its territorial limits. The decisive victory at the Siege of Constantinople in the 670s led the empire to retain Asia Minor which assured the existence of the empire. In the Iberian Peninsula, the 7th century was known as the ''Siglo de Concilios'' (century of councils) refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurybus Of Athens
Eurybus of Athens ( el, Εὔρυβος Ἀθηναῖος) was an ancient Greek athlete listed by Eusebius of Caesarea as a victor in the stadion race of the 27th Olympiad (672 BC).Sextus Julius Africanus, ''Chronographiae: The Extant Fragments'' p. 19] His name is also referred as ''Eurybates''Dionysius of Halicarnassus ''Roman Antiqutities'', 3.1.https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/3A*.html]. or ''Eurybotos'' and possibly ''Eurybotas'' elsewhere in Pausanias, both of the latter two have been anglicised to "Eurybotus" by editors, although elsewhere the distinction is preserved. He was the second winner from Athens preceded only by Pantacles of Athens, Pantacles. Eurybus was quite possibly the noted discobole ''Eurybotas'' depicted on the Chest of Cypselus, which was left as a votive offering at Olympia and was still visible there centuries later and was subject to a detailed description by Pausanias. He does not explicitly say that this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympiad
An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until Hippias that a consistent list was established and not until Ephorus in the Hellenistic period that the first recorded Olympic contest was used as a Epoch (reference date), calendar epoch. Ancient authors agreed that other Olympics had been held before the race won by Coroebus of Elis, Coroebus but disagreed on how many; the convention was established to place Coroebus's victory at a time equivalent to the summer of 776 BC, 776 in the Gregorian calendar and to treat it as Year 1 of Olympiad 1. Olympiad 2 began with the next games in the summer of 772 . Thus, for N less than 195, Olympiad N is reckoned as starting in the year 780-(4\times N) and ending four years later. For N greater than or equal to 195, Olympiad N starte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates and is the capital of the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. It was a centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, and the home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely because of its cultural and political influence on the European continent—particularly Ancient Rome. In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archon
''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same root as words such as monarch and hierarchy. Ancient Greece In the early literary period of ancient Greece the chief magistrates of various Greek city states were called ''archontes''. The term was also used throughout Greek history in a more general sense, ranging from "club leader" to "master of the tables" at '' syssitia'' to "Roman governor". In Athens, a system of three concurrent archons evolved, the three office holders being known as ''archon eponymos'' (), the ''polemarch'' (), and the ''archon basileus'' (). According to Aristotle's '' Constitution of the Athenians'', the power of the king first devolved to the archons, and these offices were filled from the aristocracy by el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peisistratos (archon)
Pisistratus or Peisistratus ( grc-gre, Πεισίστρατος ; 600 – 527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular peninsula of Greece containing Athens, along with economic and cultural improvements laid the groundwork for the later preeminence of Athens in ancient Greece. His legacy lies primarily in his institution of the Panathenaic Games, historically assigned the date of 566 BC, and the consequent first attempt at producing a definitive version of the Homeric epics. Peisistratos' championing of the lower class of Athens is an early example of populism. While in power, he did not hesitate to confront the aristocracy and greatly reduce their privileges, confiscating their lands and giving them to the poor. Peisistratos funded many religious and artistic programs, in order to improve the economy and spread the wealth more equally among the Athenian p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoplite
Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Polis, city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the soldiers from acting alone, for this would compromise the formation and minimize its strengths. The hoplites were primarily represented by free citizens – propertied farmers and artisans – who were able to afford a Linothorax, linen armour or a bronze armour suit and weapons (estimated at a third to a half of its able-bodied adult male population). Most hoplites were not professional soldiers and often lacked sufficient military training. Some states maintained a small elite professional unit, known as the ''wikt:επιλέγω, epilektoi'' ("chosen") since they were picked from the regular citizen infantry. These existed at times in Athens, Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, Thebes, Greec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece. Given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the leading force of the unified Greek military during the Greco-Persian Wars, in rivalry with the rising naval power of Athens. Sparta was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), from which it emerged victorious after the Battle of Aegospotami. The decisive Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended the Spartan hegemony, although the city-state maintained its political independence until its forced integration into the Achaean League in 192 BC. The city nevertheless ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phalanx
The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly used to describe the use of this formation in ancient Greek warfare, although the ancient Greek writers used it to also describe any massed infantry formation, regardless of its equipment. Arrian uses the term in his ''Array against the Alans'' when he refers to his legions. In Greek texts, the phalanx may be deployed for battle, on the march, or even camped, thus describing the mass of infantry or cavalry that would deploy in line during battle. They marched forward as one entity. The term itself, as used today, does not refer to a distinctive military unit or division (e.g., the Roman legion or the contemporary Western-type battalion), but to the type of formation of an army's troops. Therefore, this term does not indicate a standard comba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tegea
Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit with an area of 118.350 km2. It is near the modern villages of Alea and Episkopi. The legendary founder of Tegea was Tegeates, a son of Lycaon. History Tegea ( grc, Τεγέα; grc-x-ionic, Τεγέη) was one of the most ancient and powerful towns of ancient Arcadia, situated in the southeast of the country. Its territory, called Tegeatis (Τεγεᾶτις), was bounded by Cynuria and Argolis on the east, from which it was separated by Mount Parthenium, by Laconia on the south, by the Arcadian district of Maenalia on the west, and by the territory of Mantineia on the north. The Tegeatae are said to have derived their name from Tegeates, a son of Lycaon, and to have dwelt originally in eight, afterwards nine, demoi or townships ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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