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The Greeks at war
There were many wars in ancient Greece. The people in different cities fought each other. The Greeks also fought the people from a neighbouring country. They were the Persians. One mighty battle against the Persians was called the Battle of Marathon (see pages 2 and 3).
A Greek soldier was called a hoplite.
He wore a helmet and had armour to cover his chest and his legs. When he charged he held a spear that was 3 m long. If the spear broke he fought with a sword 60 cm long. He had a shield 1 m across to protect himself.
The Greek soldiers all looked alike in their armour except for one thing. The soldiers from each city had a special sign on their shields. This stopped them fighting their own side when they got mixed up with enemy soldiers. The soldiers from the city of Sparta had a Greek L (L) on their shields and the soldiers from Athens had an owl.
This picture shows the end of the wars between Sparta and Athens. Here the Spartans (who have the Greek letter L on their shields) have reached the Acropolis in Athens and have beaten the Athenians.
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