In Sparta, soldiers gave oaths to die before surrendering. It was shameful to come back from a battle that had been lost with your shield, even worse to have lost your shield to the enemy, but glorious to be brought back dead on your shield. Spartan mothers would say to their sons as they left for battle: "Come back with your shield - or on it!” Because Spartan soldiers had given this oath, they were especially ferocious warriors and immensely feared.

What armies looked like

The Greeks were all of the same race, so they all looked alike. So how did the soldiers know who is on their side and who was the enemy? How did they know where their commander was?

An army has a number of choices: they can wear a uniform, they can put a symbol on their shield or helmet or they can make a battle flag.

The ancient Greek armies did not use flags, or uniforms, but put symbols (which they called episema) on their shields. They used symbols such as an owl (Athens) or an eagle (Macedonians) or pictures of gods. The Spartans used the Greek letter L on their shields, which stands for Laconia, the name of the area surrounding Sparta.

The Greeks fought with javelins and swords. In battle they locked shields, with each soldier placing his shield over the soldier to his left. They lined up about eight deep. This was known as a phalanx, and it left no gap for the enemy spears.

Hoplites - the Greek shock troops

The heavily armoured soldier in the Greek army was known as a hoplite. Hoplites were citizens who were responsible for defending their city. Each hoplite had to pay for his own gear, so they used nothing fancy or expensive. A hoplite typically had a breastplate, a bronze helmet with cheekplates, as well as greaves and other armour, plus a bowl-shaped wooden shield called an aspis which was about 1 metre across. The main weapon was a spear, around 2.7 metres long. This often broke when they charged into opposing soldiers and so they also carried a smaller 60cm thrusting sword called a xiphos. The total cost of the gear was roughly equivalent to a middle-sized car in our time.

By contrast, other soldiers, for example the Persians, tended to wear relatively light armour, had shorter spears and smaller shields.

During an engagement the two armies would run into each other in the hope of breaking or encircling the enemy line. Then it was a pushing match, with the men in back trying to force the front lines through those of the enemy. Battles rarely lasted more than an hour or so. Once one of the lines broke, the troops would generally drop their equipment and flee from the field.

However, the heavy armour of the hoplites meant that they were not very mobile and as war changed they wore less armour in favour of more mobility. This was what was adopted successfully by the Roman legion at the end of Greek times.