The Importance Of Spartan Warfare

Sparta was a city-state completely based around military, so weaponry there had to be exceptional. Each warrior had to provide their own weaponry, so families would often pass down their weapons, armor and shields. It was a huge honour for a Spartan to go into battle with his father’s old weaponry, especially the family shield. This was also a reason as to why Spartans would never retreat, as to leave your ancestral weapons and run would be seen as a disgrace to Sparta and the warrior’s family. Spartan shields had a symbolic essence to each soldier and those who left their shields behind would be punished afterwards. A large reason as to why the Spartan’s were so formidable was due to their weaponry. The swords carried by the Spartan army got …show more content…
Therefore, a short sword could be used as an effective weapon for inflicting thrusting injuries on the enemy as it would be fast enough and able to pierce their light armor.Due to the Spartans obsession with improving their military force, they perfected their weapons and this resulted in their weapons being arguably the most effective in their time. One weapon that the Spartans used was the “Dory”, a spear made of either iron or bronze and wrapped in leather. The leather made sure the soldier had a good grip. The spears length was around 7 to 9 feet in length and it would with one hand, while in their other arm they would hold a shield. At the tip of the spear there was a leaf shaped spearhead, the shaft of the spear was made from the extremely strong cornel wood, this wood made it less likely the spear would break. The end of the spear had a spike, called a “sauroter”. The spike was used to stand the spear up, as well as used as another weapon if the spear broke. It was also useful for enemies that were wounded on the ground as they could be killed by the Spartans in the back rows of the phalanx, as they had to hold their spears vertically as there wasn’t enough room for them to face …show more content…
Spartan swords were around 1 – 1.5 feet long whereas the other Greek armies had 2-foot-long swords. The Spartans also had an alternative sword in their arsenal called the “Kopis”; It was a thick and curved iron sword used to hack off the limbs. Due to the nasty wounds it would inflict, it is associated as being the weapon of ‘villains’ in Greece. Weaponry was a key factor for Sparta’s success in war as it allowed them to make up for their smaller numbers; For instance, during the Greco Persian War in 480BC, the Persians outnumbered the Spartans by the thousands but Sparta had much better weaponry at hand. This is due to the Persian forces being comprised of hundreds of different tribes that came from lands which Xerxes had conquered. The weapons the tribes used tended to be light reed wood which was a cheap material that would affect the archers firing power as the arrows were light. During the Greco-Persian War in 480BC, the Greeks were greatly outnumbered so quality weaponry was a