Battles: Hellenes on 0 A.D.

Battle of Granicus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The battle of the Granicus was the first battle in the campaign of Megas Alexandros, Alexander the Great, in Persia. In this battleAlexander displayed the skills that would lead him to victory many times in the future and pave the way for one of the most famous conquests in history.

The invasion of Persia was long in the making. In 336 BC Phillip II of Makedon was assassinated by a disgruntled noble. The results ofPhilip’s death were enormous and his dream of leading a pan-Hellenic crusade against Persia in revenge for the invasion of Xerxeswas put on hold. His successor was his 20 year old son Alexander. The new king had fought in battle before, but had no experience ruling. To the surprise of all Alexander was able to rise to the challenge and within two years he had defeated and subdued theThracians to his north and west as well as brought low the rebellious cities of Hellas.

Battle of Leuctra

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The battle of Leuctra was a battle of the 4th century B.C. In this battle the famous Spartan myth of invincibility was broken, and theSpartan hegemony over the Greek world was broken.

The Spartans’ tyranny paved the way to Leuctra. Ever since the Spartans triumphed over Athens in the Peloponnesian War, and even more so after the Corinthian War, Sparta had become more and more tyrannical. The most hated action of the Spartans was when they placed a government of their own in city, ruled by a harmost, an administrator, who was backed up by a garrison of 1,500. When the King’s Peace, the peace treaty that ended the Corinthian War, came into effect it broke all of the leagues and made every city inGreece independent of each other. Sparta was to make sure it stayed this way. Instead Sparta abused her power and used her new found position of world policeman as an excuse to go in and establish a harmost when ever they felt like it, in the guise of maintaining the peace. Many cities hated the harmosts and their garrisons like Athens, who was the first to experience the Spartans’ regime changing practices. For the most part even though the city-states hated Sparta no one tried to rise up and oppose them, each time a attempt was made to break Spartan hegemony it failed miserably upon the spears of the Spartan battle line.

Battle of Magnesia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The battle of Magnesia was a battle of the 2nd Century BC. Fought between the Seleucid Empire and the Roman Republic this battle demonstrated that the age of phalanx warfare was over.

The battle was long in coming. By the dawn of the 2nd Century the power of the Roman Republic, which had since defeatedCarthage and stalemated Makedon, could no longer be denied. In the Second Macedonian War the Romans decisively defeatedMakedon, shocking the Hellenic world. With the entry of this previously belittled power (the defeat of Pyrrhos notwithstanding) intoHellas proper it was clear that times had changed. However even though the Macedonian king, Philippos V, was defeated, there were still others among the Successors to challenge Roman supremacy. The greatest of these was Antiochos III of the Seleucid Empire, also called Antiochos the Great for his military triumphs. The threat of Antiochos was readily apparent to the Roman forces in Hellas, who were constantly on their guard.

Battle of River Arius

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Battle of the River Arius (Greek: Areios) today known as the Hari, was one of the battles fought by the Seleucid king Antiochos III the Great (Greek: Megas Antiochos) in his wars to re-unify the Seleucid realm.

The once powerful empire had fallen. By the time that Antiochos III had ascended the throne in 223 BC the Seleucid Empire had begun to disintegrate into several different bickering kingdoms with no sense of unity or loyalty to the throne. Antiochos III was determined to change all that. By 220 the worst of the rebellions, that of Media and Persis, had been put down and the corrupt minister Hermeias was executed. Though revolts still plagued the empire Antiochos felt confident enough to challenge Ptolemaic Egyptin 217, but was defeated at the Battle of Raphia. Unable to expand southwards the young king went north into Asia Minor. There he put down the rebellion of his cousin and former general, Achaios, who held out for four years against government forces before falling in 213.