8 MILITARY SCIENCES. 



cally ; laid out plans by which they would endeavor to conduct the military 

 operations ; practised in peace the manoeuvres required in war ; studied 

 their arms and means of defence, improving the old and inventing new. 

 They devised and tested organizations for their army, so that were war 

 declared, the army might be brought promptly into activity and consist 

 of disciplined troops. The land force, however, though sufficient, was yet 

 less perfectly organized than the naval, since the geographical position 

 of Greece caused her enemies in almost every case to approach her by 

 sea, so that the first and most decisive combat fell to the lot of the fleet. 

 In the department of this work which is devoted to naval affairs, we shall 

 find occasion to treat of the ancient Greek navy and its system, and we 

 confine ourselves here exclusively to the land force. 



The Greek army consisted of infantry and cavalry. The infantry were 

 either heavy armed (o'rXiraj, Hoplites), light armed (TiXoj, Psilites), or formed 

 a middle class (■jrsXT-ao'raj, Peltastes). The first had long spears (24 feet at 

 first, afterwards somewhat shorter) and broad shields ; the second had 

 bows, javelins, and slings ; the last, shields and short lances. The cavalry 

 also were divided into light and heavy, and as middle class seirved a species 

 of soldier who fought sometimes on foot and sometimes mounted. With 

 the heavy armed both horse and rider were clad in mail ; their w^eapon 

 was a long spear, often pointed at both ends. The light armed had mail- 

 less horses, and carried javelins or arrows. The heavy cavalry consisted 

 of citizens, the light of mercenaries. The best horsemen were the Thes- 

 ^alian. Saddles and stirrups were not used ; the horse was ridden bare- 

 backed {pL 2, jigs. 12 and 13). The Athenian cavalry numbered at first 

 only 69 men, but were afterwards increased to 1200. Before the intro- 

 duction of cavalry, and indeed at the time of Homer, the armed chariot 

 with partially mailed horses was used {ph 5, Jig. 4). These chariots were 

 harnessed usually with two, but sometimes with three or four horses, of 

 which, however, only the two inside drew ; the others, merely guided by 

 the reins, served only to increase the onset. Upon the car stood the 

 warrior and the driver. One kind of these chariots had a sharp spike 

 projecting from the pole, and sharp scythes set on the ends of the axles, as 

 shown in the representation, and were called scythe-cars. The battle-cars 

 were mostly two-wheeled, yet some had four wheels. At the time of the 

 Persian war such battle and scythe-cars were still in use ; elephants and 

 camels were first used in the time of Alexander, who saw them in the 

 Indian armies. The former carried turrets upon their backs, in which 

 from ten to thirty soldiers were placed {pL 5, Jig. 3). 



The arms of the Greeks were divided into offensive and defensive, or 

 weapons of attack and of defence ; and the former again into missiles and 

 weapons of percussion, of which the last were most carefully perfected. The 

 earliest off*ensive weapons were the club, lance, and javelin. The lance, of 

 which pi. 3, Jig. 4, and also the two preceding plates give various represen- 

 tations, was long — not less, indeed, than from fourteen to sixteen ells for 

 the longest, the Sarissa, which was used by the phalanx ; but there were 

 also shorter ones, of four to six ells. The shorter had sometimes two points, 

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