Holding the Line with the Comrades of Chance: Classical Sparta, Social Conditioning, and Combat Effectiveness

Crowley, Jason ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1836-2777 (2022) Holding the Line with the Comrades of Chance: Classical Sparta, Social Conditioning, and Combat Effectiveness. In: Brill’s Companion to Courage and Cowardice in Ancient Mediterranean Warfare. Brill's Companions to Classical Studies: Warfare in the Ancient Mediterranean World . Brill. (In Press)

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Abstract

The ancient Greeks were a pugnacious people who adopted a particularly brutal style of warfare focusing on heavy infantry, and the battles they fought, such as Delion, in 424 BC, remain justly famous for their ferocity. This battle, and others like it, were part of the fabric of Greek society, primarily because the Greeks could not agree on anything, and they tended to resolve their disputes on the battlefield. One thing they did agree on, however, was that out of all of them, the Spartans were by far the toughest. Despite this consensus, the basis of Spartan military superiority is not fully understood. According to Xenophon, a contemporary observer who fought alongside the Spartans, what set them apart was their ability to do what no other Greeks could, namely continue to fight when their battle-line became disordered. What Xenophon means by disorder, however, continues to elude modern scholars, as does the origin of the Spartan ability to fight on in confused tactical circumstances. Of course, neither of these problems are entirely intractable, and after analysis of tactical and psychological nature of Greek warfare, this article will define disorder, and in addition, it will reveal precisely why the Spartans could fight on when others would abandon their arms and run for their lives.