The term Ancient, or Archaic, Greece refers to the years B. Archaic Greece saw advances in art, poetry and technology, but is known as the age in which the polis, or city-state, was The warrior Achilles is one of the great heroes of Greek mythology. The Battle of Marathon in B. The battle was fought on the Marathon plain of northeastern Attica and marked the first blows of the Greco-Persian War.
With the Persians closing in on the Greek capitol, Athenian general Leonidas c. Although Leonidas lost the battle, his death at Thermopylae was seen as a heroic sacrifice because he sent most How will it end?
Who was the first man? Where do souls go after death? One of the greatest ancient historians, Thucydides c. The amazing works of art and architecture known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World serve as a testament to the ingenuity, imagination and sheer hard work of which human beings are capable.
They are also, however, reminders of the human capacity for disagreement, Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Wealthy cities such as Troy as well as Mycenae and Tiryns in Greece were destroyed and abandoned.
These events were so significant that the memory lasted for centuries. In Greek mythology, the tale of the fall of Troy was recorded in two epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, traditionally attributed to Homer and written about years after these events.
More than a century of archaeological and historical research in the eastern Mediterranean basin appears to confirm that there was a war on Troy when Homer says there was. His account centres around the affair between Paris and the Spartan queen Helen, that is said to have triggered the conflict. But contemporary sources from the Hittite archives in Hattusha tell a different story. Greek kingdoms conducted a number of military campaigns in western Turkey. Hittite records mention raids and mass kidnapping of people to be sold as slaves.
There is a record of a peace treaty between Greeks and Hittites over the city of Troy. The location of Troy, at the crossroad between the East and the West, is not only a centre of challenge embodied by the Troyan war , but also of dialogue. The 13th century BC is a period of rapid change in arms and armour and, therefore, warfare in the Aegean and Middle East.
Types of armour and weapons from Central Europe and the Balkans are starting to replace the earlier styles that we know most about from Late Bronze Age Aegean art and which most people will think of when imagining this period. The Iliad itself reflects a mix of cultural assumptions from earlier and later oral traditions.
We see what seem to be Bronze Age styles of helmets and shields mentioned while some of the equipment seem more like the Iron Age. In Troy: Fall of a City , we sometimes mix older and later in the same way, as Homer did, but the primary inspiration is the Late Bronze Age.
Despite the world changing rapidly, in Greece and elsewhere, everything, even society itself, is still based around the chariot and chariot warriors. Horses were only just beginning to be ridden more widely, and at this time the first horsemen, scouts mainly, are known in battle, but hard stirrups and saddles were unknown and most mounted warriors rode in chariots.
Charioteers could dismount to fight before this period, in certain circumstances, but this is what Homer assumes is natural in battle. It was less common in the Middle East, but it did occur, especially at sieges, and chariot crew are usually shown fully equipped for both roles: infantry and mounted warrior, heavily armoured, with shields carried in the chariots or by special shield bearers. Combats are a mix of both. Later, it was a single spear alone for close fighting. Siege warfare, not well developed in Greece, was highly advanced In the Middle East with its many strongly-fortified towns.
Large siege engines designed to batter the walls, or pry away bricks or stones, were in the Iron Age often designed to look like powerful animals: elephants, boar, crocodiles. The ploy of the Trojan Horse can be understood this way, perhaps misunderstood, perhaps playfully re-invented, as well as simply a cunning trick. Historically, the world of the late 13th century BC was in crisis and on the brink of collapse. Within a generation, the great empires of the of Hittites, Egypt and the Middle East would be swept away or brought to the point of collapse.
Test your knowledge with Nigel Tallis' quick quiz. Historian Bettany Hughes writes about the myth of Helen and her continuing relevance. Meet the characters featured in Troy: Fall of a City. Home Episodes Clips Characters.
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