Ancient Greek warfare The Greek ' Dark Age ' drew to a close as a significant rise in population allowed urbanized culture to be restored , and the rise of the city - states ( " Poleis " ) . These developments usher in the Archaic period ( 800 - 480 BC ) . They also restored the capability of organized warfare between these " Poleis " ( as opposed to small - scale raids to acquire livestock and grain , for example ) . The fractious nature of Ancient Greek society seems to have made continuous conflict on this larger scale inevitable . Concomitant with the rise of the city - state was the evolution of a new way of warfare - the hoplite phalanx . When exactly the phalanx developed is uncertain , but it is thought to have been developed by the Spartans . The chigi vase , dated to around 650 BC , is the earliest depiction of a hoplite in full battle array . The hoplite was a well - armed and armored citizen - soldier primarily drawn from the middle classes . Every man had to serve at least two years in the army . Fighting in the tight phalanx formation maximised the effectiveness of his armor , large shield and long spear , presenting a wall of armor and spearpoints to the enemy . They were a force to be reckoned with . With this evolution in warfare battles seem to have consisted mostly of the clash of hoplite phalanxes from the city - states in conflict . Since the soldiers were citizens with other occupations , warfare was limited in distance , season and scale . Neither side could afford heavy casualties or sustained campaigns , so conflicts seem to have been resolved by a single set - piece battle . The scale and scope of warfare in Ancient Greece changed dramatically as a result of the Greco - Persian Wars . To fight the enormous armies of the Achaemenid Empire was effectively beyond the capabilities of a single city - state . The eventual triumph of the Greeks was achieved by alliances of many city - states ( the exact composition changing over time ) , allowing the pooling of resources and division of labour . Although alliances between city states occurred before this time , nothing on this scale had been seen before . The rise of Athens and Sparta as pre - eminent powers during this conflict led directly to the Peloponnesian War , which saw further development of the nature of warfare , strategy and tactics . Fought between leagues of cities dominated by Athens and Sparta , the increased manpower and financial resources increased the scale , and allowed the diversification of warfare . Set - piece battles during the Peloponnesian war proved indecisive and instead there was increased reliance on attritionary strategies , naval battle and blockades and sieges . These changes greatly increased the number of casualties and the disruption of Greek society . Following the eventual defeat of the Athenians in 404 BC , and the disbandment of the Athenian - dominated Delian League , Ancient Greece fell under the hegemony of Sparta . However , it was soon apparent that the hegemony was unstable , and the Persian Empire sponsored a rebellion by the combined powers of Athens , Thebes , Corinth and Argos , resulting in the Corinthian War ( 395 - 387 BC ) . After largely inconclusive campaigning , the war was decided when the Persians switched to supporting the Spartans , in return for the cities of Ionia and Spartan non - interference in Asia Minor . This brought the rebels to terms , and restored the Spartan hegemony on a more stable footing . The Spartan hegemony would last another 16 years , until , at the Battle of Leuctra ( 371 ) the Spartans were decisively defeated by the Theban general Epaminondas . In the aftermath of this , the Thebans acted with alacrity to establish a hegemony of their own over Greece . However , Thebes lacked sufficient manpower and resources , and became overstreched in attempting to impose itself on the rest of Greece . Following the death of Epaminondas and loss of manpower at the Battle of Mantinea , the Theban hegemony ceased . Indeed , the losses in the ten years of the Theban hegemony left all the Greek city - states weakened and divided . As such , the city - states of southern Greece would shortly afterwards be powerless to resist the rise of the Macedonian kingdom in the north . With revolutionary tactics , King Phillip II brought most of Greece under his sway , paving the way for the conquest of " the known world " by his son Alexander the Great . The rise of the Macedonian Kingdom is generally taken to signal the end of the Greek Classical period , and certainly marked the end of the distinctive hoplite battle in Ancient Greece . Hoplite . The hoplite was a small infantryman , the central element of warfare in Ancient Greece . The word hoplite ( Greek ὁπλίτης , hoplitēs ) derives from hoplon ( ὅπλον , plural hopla , ὅπλα ) meaning an item of armor or equipment , thus ' hoplite ' may approximate to ' armored man ' . Hoplites were the citizen - soldiers of the Ancient Greek City - states . They were primarily armed as spear - men and fought in a phalanx . The origins of the hoplite are obscure , and no small matter of contention amongst historians . Traditionally , this has been dated to the 8th century BC , and attributed to Sparta ; but more recent views suggest a later date , towards the 7th century BC . Certainly , by approximately 650 BC , as dated by the ' Chigi vase ' , the ' hoplite revolution ' was complete . The major innovation in the development of the hoplite seems to have been the characteristic circular shield ( " Aspis " ) , roughly in diameter , and made of wood faced with bronze . Although very heavy ( ) , the design of this shield was such that it could be supported on the shoulder . More importantly , it permitted the formation of a shield - wall by an army , an impenetrable mass of men and shields . Men were also equipped with metal greaves and also a breast plate made of bronze , leather , or stiff cloth . When this was combined with the primary weapon of the hoplite , long spear ( the " doru " ) , it gave both offensive and defensive capabilities . Regardless of where it developed , the model for the hoplite army evidently quickly spread throughout Greece . The persuasive qualities of the phalanx were probably its relative simplicity ( allowing its use by a citizen militia ) , low fatality rate ( important for small city - states ) , and relatively low cost ( enough for each hoplite to provide their own equipment ) . The Phalanx also became a source of political influence because men had to provide their own equipment in order to be a part of the army . The Hoplite Phalanx . The Hoplite Phalanx of the Archaic and Classical periods in Greece ( approx . 750 – 350 BC ) was a formation in which the Hoplites would line up in ranks in close order . The Hoplites would lock their shields together , and the first few ranks of soldiers would project their spears out over the first rank of shields . The Phalanx therefore presented a shield wall and a mass of spear points to the enemy , making frontal assaults much more difficult . It also allowed a higher proportion of the soldiers to be actively engaged in combat at a given time ( rather than just those in the front rank ) . When advancing towards an enemy , the phalanx would break into a run that was sufficient enough to create momentum but not too much as to lose cohesion . The opposing sides would collide viciously , possibly terrifying many of the hoplites of the front row . The battle would then rely on the valour of the men in the front line ; whilst those in the rear maintained forward pressure on the front ranks with their shields . When in combat , the whole formation would consistently press forward trying to break the enemy formation ; thus when two phalanx formations engaged , the struggle essentially became a pushing match , in which , as a rule , the deeper phalanx would almost always win , with few recorded exceptions . Hoplite Warfare . At least in the Archaic Period , the fragmentary nature of Ancient Greece , with many competing city - states , increased the frequency of conflict , but conversely limited the scale of warfare . Unable to maintain professional armies , the city - states relied on their own citizens to fight . This inevitably reduced the potential duration of campaigns , as citizens would need to return to the own professions ( especially in the case of farmers ) . Campaigns would therefore often be restricted to summer . Armies marched directly to their target , possibly agreed on by the protagonists . If battle was refused by one side , they would retreat to the city , in which case the attackers generally had to content themselves with ravaging the countryside around , since siegecraft was undeveloped . When battles occurred , they were usually set piece and intended to be decisive . The battlefield would be flat and open , reducing the possibilities for complex tactical maneuvers . These battles were short , bloody , and brutal , and thus required a high degree of discipline . At least in the early classical period , other troops were less important ; ( cavalry ) generally protected the flanks , when present at all ; and both light infantry and missile troops were negligible . The strength of hoplites was shock combat . The two phalanxes would smash into each other in hopes of breaking or encircling the enemy force ' s line . Failing that , a battle degenerated into a pushing match , with the men in the rear trying to force the front lines through those of the enemy . This maneuver was known as the Othismos . Battles rarely lasted more than an hour . Once one of the lines broke , the troops would generally flee from the field , sometimes chased by peltasts or light cavalry . If a hoplite escaped , he would sometimes be forced to drop his cumbersome aspis , thereby disgracing himself to his friends and family . Casualties were slight compared to later battles , rarely amounting to more than 5 % of the losing side , but the slain often included the most prominent citizens and generals who led from the front . Thus , the whole war could be decided by a single field battle ; victory was enforced by ransoming the fallen back to the defeated , called the ' Custom of the Dead Greeks ' . The Greco - Persian Wars . The Greco - Persian Wars ( 499 - 448 BC ) were the result of attempts by the Persian Emperor Darius the Great , and then his successor Xerxes I to subjugate Ancient Greece . Darius was already ruler of the Greek cities of Ionia , and the wars are taken to start when they rebelled in 499 BC . The revolt was crushed by 494 BC , but Darius resolved to bring mainland Greece under his dominion . Many city - states made their submission to him , but others did not , notably including Athens and Sparta . Darius thus sent his commanders Datis and Artaphernes to attack Attica , to punish Athens for her intransigence . After burning Eretria , the Persians landed at Marathon . An Athenian army of c . 10 , 000 hoplites marched to meet Persian army of c . 20 - 60 , 000 . The Athenians were at a significant disadvantage both strategically and tactically . Raising such a large army had denuded Athens of defenders , and thus any attack in the Athenian rear would cut off the Army from the City . Tactically , the hoplites were very vulnerable to attacks by cavalry , and the Athenians had no cavalry to defend the flanks . After several days of stalemate at Marathon , the Persian commanders attempted to take strategic advantage by sending their cavalry ( by ship ) to raid Athens itself . This gave the Athenian army a small window of opportunity to attack the remainder of the Persian Army . This was the first true engagement between a hoplite army and a non - Greek army . The Persians had acquired a reputation for invincibility , but the Athenian hoplites proved crushingly superior in the ensuing infantry battle . To counter the massive numbers of Persians , the Greek general Miltiades ordered the troops to be spread across an unusually wide front , leaving the centre of the Greek line undermanned . However , the lightly armored Persian infantry proved no match for the heavily armored hoplites , and the Persian wings were quickly routed . The Greek wings then turned against the elite troops in the Persian centre , which had held the Greek centre until then . Marathon demonstrated to the Greeks the lethal potential of the hoplite , and firmly demonstrated that the Persians were not , after all , invincible . The revenge of the Persians was postponed 10 years by internal conflicts in the Persian Empire , until Darius ' s son Xerxes returned to Greece in 480 BC with a staggeringly large army ( modern estimates suggest between 150 , 000 - 250 , 000 men ) . Many Greeks city - states , having had plenty of warning of the forthcoming invasion , formed an anti - Persian league ; though as before , other city - states remained neutral or allied with Persia . Although alliances between city - states were commonplace , the scale of this league was a novelty , and the first time that the Greeks had united in such a way to face an external threat . This allowed diversification of the allied armed forces , rather than simply mustering a very large hoplite army . The visionary Athenian politician Themistocles had successfully persuaded his fellow citizens to build a huge fleet in 483 / 82 BC to combat the Persian threat ( and thus to effectively abandon their hoplite army , since there were not men enough for both ) . Amongst the allies therefore , Athens was able to form the core of a navy , whilst other cities , including of course Sparta , provided the army . This alliance thus removed the constraints on the type of armed forces that the Greeks could use . The use of such a large navy was also a novelty to the Greeks . The second Persian invasion is famous for the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis . As the massive Persian army moved south through Greece , the allies sent a small holding force ( c . 10 , 000 ) men under the Spartan king Leonidas , to block the pass of Thermopylae whilst the main allied army could be assembled . The allied navy extended this blockade at sea , blocking the nearby straits of Artemisium , to prevent the huge Persian navy landing troops in Leonidas ' s rear . Famously , Leonidas ' s men held the much larger Persian army at the pass ( where their numbers counted for nothing ) for three days , the hoplites again proving their superiority . Only when a Persian force managed to outflank them by means of a mountain track was the allied army overcome ; but by then Leonidas dismissed the majority of the troops , remaining with 300 Spartans ( and perhaps 2000 other troops ) to guard the pass , in the process making one of history ' s great last stands . The Greek navy , despite their lack of experience , also proved their worth holding back the Persian fleet whilst the army still held the pass . Thermopylae provided the Greeks with time to arrange their defences , and they dug in across the Isthmus of Corinth , an impregnable position ; although an evacuated Athens was thereby sacrificed to the advancing Persians . In order to outflank the isthmus , Xerxes needed to use this fleet , and in turn therefore needed to defeat the Greek fleet ; similarly , the Greeks needed to neutralise the Persian fleet to ensure their safety . To this end , the Greeks were able to lure the Persian fleet into the straits of Salamis ; and , in a battleground where Persian numbers again counted for nothing , they won a decisive victory , justifying Themistocle ' s decision to build the Athenian fleet . Demoralised , Xerxes returned to Asia Minor with much of his army , leaving his general Mardonius to campaign in Greece the following year ( 479 BC ) . However , a united Greek army of c . 40 , 000 hoplites decisively defeated Mardonius at the Battle of Plataea , effectively ending the invasion . Almost simultaneously , the allied fleet defeated the remnants of the Persian navy at Mycale , thus destroying the Persian hold on the islands of the Aegean . The remainder of the wars saw the Greeks take the fight to the Persians . The Athenian dominated Delian League of cities and islands extirpated Persian garrisons from Macedon and Thrace , before eventually freeing the Ionian cities from Persian rule . At one point , the Greeks even attempted an invasion of Cyprus and Egypt ( which proved disastrous ) , demonstrating a major legacy of the Persian Wars : warfare in Greece had moved beyond the seasonal squabbles between city - states , to coordinated international actions involving huge armies . The ambitions of many Greek states had dramatically increased , and the tensions resulting from this would lead directly onto the Peloponnesian War . The Peloponnesian War . The Peloponnesian War ( 431 - 404 BC ) , was fought between the Athenian dominated Delian League and the Spartan dominated Peloponnesian League . Whatever the proximal causes of the war , it was in essence a conflict between Athens and Sparta for supremacy in Greece . The war ( or wars , since it is often divided into three periods ) was for much of the time a stalemate , punctuated with occasional bouts of activity . Tactically the Peloponnesian war represents something of a stagnation ; the strategic elements were most important as the two sides tried to break the deadlock , something of a novelty in Greek warfare . Building on the experience of the Persian Wars , the diversification from core hoplite warfare , permitted by increased resources , continued . There was increased emphasis on navies , sieges , mercenaries and economic warfare . Far from the previously limited and formalized form of conflict , the Peloponnesian War transformed into an all - out struggle between city - states , complete with atrocities on a large scale ; shattering religious and cultural taboos , devastating vast swathes of countryside and destroying whole cities . From the start , the mismatch in the opposing forces was clear . The Delian League ( hereafter ' Athenians ' ) were primarily a naval powers , whereas the Peloponnesian League ( hereafter ' Spartans ' ) consisted of primarily land - based powers . The Athenians thus avoided battle on land , since they could not possibly win , and instead dominated the sea , blockading the Peloponnesus whilst maintaining their own trade . Conversely , the Spartans repeatedly invaded Attica , but only for a few weeks at a time ; they remained wedded to the idea of hoplite - as - citizen . Although both sides suffered setbacks and victories , the first phase essentially ended in stalemate , as neither league had the power to neutralise the other . The second phase , an Athenian expedition to attack Syracuse in Sicily achieved no tangible result other than a large loss of Athenian ships and men . In the third phase of the war however the use of more sophisticated stratagems eventually allowed the Spartans to force Athens to surrender . Firstly , the Spartans permanently garrisoned a part of Attica , removing from Athenian control the silver mine which funded the war effort . Forced to squeeze even more money from her allies , the Athenian league thus became heavily strained . After the loss of Athenian ships and men in the Sicilian expedition , Sparta was able to foment rebellion amongst the Athenian league , which therefore massively reduced the ability of the Athenians to continue the war . Athens in fact partially recovered from this setback between 410 - 406 BC , but a further act of economic war finally forced her defeat . Having developed a navy that was capable of taking on the much - weakened Athenian navy , the Spartan general Lysander seized the Hellespont , the source of Athens ' grain . The remaining Athenian fleet was thereby forced to confront the Spartans , and were decisively defeated . Athens had little choice but to surrender ; and was stripped of her city walls , overseas possessions and navy . In the aftermath , the Spartans were able to establish themselves as the dominant force in Greece for three decades . Mercenaries and light infantry . Although tactically there was little innovation in the Peloponessian War , there does appear to have been an increase in the use of light infantry , such as peltast s ( javelin throwers ) and archers . Many of these would have been mercenary troops , hired from outlying regions of Greece . For instance , the Agrianes from Thrace were well - renowned peltasts , whilst Crete was famous for its archers . Since there were no decisive land - battles in the Peloponnesian War , the presence or absence of these troops was unlikely to have affected the course of the war . Nevertheless , it was an important innovation , one which was developed much further in later conflicts . Spartan & Theban hegemonies . The peace treaty which ended the Peloponnesian War left Sparta as the " de facto " ruler of Greece ( " hegemon " ) . Although the Spartans did not attempt to rule all of Greece directly , they prevented alliances of other Greek cities , and forced the city - states to accept governments deemed suitable by Sparta . However , from the very beginning , it was clear that the Spartan hegemony was shaky ; the Athenians , despite their crushing defeat , restored their democracy but just one year later , ejecting the Sparta - approved oligarchy . The Spartans did not feel strong enough to impose their will on a shattered Athens . Undoubtedly part of the reason for the weakness of the hegemony was a decline in the Spartan population . The first major challenge to the Spartan hegemony occurred in the Corinthian War ( 395 - 387 BC ) . Sensing the Spartan weakness , an alliance of Athens , Thebes , Corinth and Argos , supported by the Persians , sought to escape from the hegemony , and increase their own influence . The early encounters , at Nemea and Coronea were typical engagements of hoplite phalanxes , resulting in Spartan victories . However , the Spartans suffered a large setback when their fleet was wiped out by a Persian Fleet at the Battle of Cnidus , undermining the Spartan presence in Ionia . The war petered out after 394 BC , with a stalemate punctuated with minor engagements . One of these is particularly notable however ; at the Battle of Lechaeum , an Athenian force composed mostly of light troops ( e . g . peltasts ) defeated a Spartan regiment . The Athenian general Iphicrates had his troops make repeated hit and run attacks on the Spartans , who , having neither peltasts nor cavalry , could not respond effectively . The defeat of a hoplite army in this way demonstrates the changes in both troops and tactic which had occurred in Greek Warfare . The war ended when the Persians , worried by the allies ' successes , changed sides , and threatened to intervene on behalf of Sparta . The peace treaty which ended the war , effectively restored the " status quo ante bellum " , although Athens was permitted to retain some of the territory it had regained during the war . The second major challenge Sparta faced was , in the event , fatal to its hegemony , and even its position as a first - rate power in Greece . As the Thebans attempted to expand their influence over Boeotia , they inevitably incurred the ire of Sparta . After they refused to disband their army , an army of approximately 10 , 000 Spartans and Pelopennesians marched north to challenge the Thebans . At the decisive Battle of Leuctra ( 371 BC ) , the Thebans routed the allied army . The battle is famous for the tactical innovations of the Theban general Epaminondas . Defying convention , he strengthened the left flank of the phalanx to an unheard of depth of 50 ranks , at the expense of the centre and the right . The centre and right were staggered backwards from the left ( an ' echelon ' formation ) , so that the phalanx advanced obliquely . The Theban left wing was thus able to crush the elite Spartan forces on the allied right , whilst the Theban centre and left avoided engagement ; after the defeat of the Spartans and the death of the Spartan king , the rest of the allied army routed . This is one of the first known examples of both the tactic of local concentration of force , and the tactic of ' refusing a flank ' . Following this victory , the Thebans first secured their power - base in Boeotia , before marching on Sparta . As the Thebans were joined by many erstwhile Spartan allies , the Spartans were powerless to resist this invasion . The Thebans marched into Messenia , and freed it from Sparta ; this was a fatal blow to Sparta , since Messenia had provided most of the helots which supported the Spartan warrior society . These events permanently reduced Spartan power and prestige , and replaced the Spartan hegemony with a Theban one . The Theban hegemony would be short - lived however . Opposition to it throughout the period 369 - 362 BC caused numerous clashes . In an attempt to bolster the Thebans ' position , Epaminondas again marched on the Pelopennese in 362 BC . At Mantinea , the largest battle ever fought between the Greek city - states occurred ; most states were represented on one side or the other . Epaminondas deployed tactics similar to those at Leuctra , and again the Thebans , positioned on the left , routed the Spartans , and thereby won the battle . However , such were the losses of Theban manpower , including Epaminondas himself , that Thebes was thereafter unable to sustain its hegemony . Conversely , another defeat and loss of prestige meant that Sparta was unable to regain its primary position in Greece . Ultimately , Mantinea , and the preceding decade , severely weakened many Greek states , and left them divided and without the leadership of a dominant power . The end of the hoplite era . Although by the end of the Theban hegemony the cities of Greece were severely weakened , they might have risen again had it not been for the ascent to power of the Macedonian kingdom in the north of Greece . Unlike the fiercely independent ( and small ) city - states , Macedon was a tribal kingdom , ruled by an autocratic king , and importantly , covering a larger area . Once firmly unified , and then expanded , by Phillip II , Macedon possessed the resources that enabled it to dominate the weakened and divided states in southern Greece . Between 356 - 342 BC Phillip conquered all city states in the vicinity of Macedon , then Thessaly and then Thrace . Finally Phillip sought to establish his own hegemony over the southern Greek city - states , and after defeating the combined forces of Athens and Thebes , the two most powerful states , at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC , succeeded . Now unable to resist him , Phillip compelled most of the city states of southern Greece ( including Athens , Thebes , Corinth and Argos ; but not Sparta ) to join the Corinthian League , and therefore become allied to him . This established a lasting Macedonian hegemony over Greece , and allowed Phillip the resources and security to launch a war against the Persian Empire . After his assassination , this war was prosecuted by his son Alexander the Great , and resulted in the takeover of the whole Achaemenid Empire by the Macedonians . A united Macedonian empire did not long survive Alexander ' s death , and soon split into the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Diadochi ( Alexander ' s generals ) . However , these kingdoms were still enormous states , and continued to fight in the same manner as Phillip and Alexander ' s armies had . The rise of Macedon and her successors thus sounded the death knell for the distinctive way of war found in Ancient Greece ; and instead contributed to the ' superpower ' warfare which would dominate the ancient world between 350 - 150 BC . The effect of war on the economy . Campaigns were often timed with the agricultural season so as to impact the enemy ' s or enemies ' crops and harvest . The timing had to be very carefully arranged so that the invaders ' enemy ' s harvest would be disrupted but the invaders ' harvest would not be affected . Late invasions were also possible in the hopes that the sowing season would be affected but this at best would have minimal effects on the harvest . One alternative to disrupting the harvest was to ravage the countryside by uprooting trees , burning houses and crops and killing all who were not safe behind the walls of the city . Ravaging the countryside cost much effort and was also dependent on the season because green crops do not burn as well as those nearer to harvest which are more dry . War also led to acquisition of land and slaves which would lead to a greater harvest , which could support a larger army . Plunder was also a large part of war and this allowed for pressure to be taken off of the government finances and allowed for investments to be made that would strengthen the polis . War also stimulated production because of the sudden increase in demand for weapons and armor . Ship builders would also experience sudden increases in their production demands . The innovations of Phillip II . One major reason for Phillip ' s success in conquering Greece was the break with Hellenic military traditions that he made . With more resources available , he was able to assemble a more diverse army , including strong cavalry components . He took the development of the phalanx to its logical completion , arming his ' phalangites ' ( for they were assuredly not hoplites ) with a fearsome pike , the ' sarissa ' . Much more lightly armored , the Macedonian phalanx was not so much a shield - wall as a spear - wall . The Macedonian phalanx was a supreme defensive formation , but was not intended to be decisive offensively ; instead , it was used to pin down the enemy infantry , whilst more mobile forces ( such as cavalry ) outflanked them . This ' combined arms ' approach was furthered by the extensive use of skirmisher s , such as peltast s . Tactically , Phillip absorbed the lessons of centuries of warfare in Greece . He echoed the tactics of Epaminondas at Chaeronea , by not engaging his right wing against the Thebans until his left wing had routed the Athenians ; thus in course outnumbering and outflanking the Thebans , and securing victory . Alexander ' s fame is in no small part due to his success as a battlefield tactician ; the unorthodox gambits he used at the battles of Issus and Gaugamela were unlike anything seen in Ancient Greece before .