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• In ancient times, Greece wasn't a single country like it is today.

• It was made up of lots of smaller states.

• These states were always squabbling and often went to war.

• Their biggest enemy were the Persians, who came from an area around modern day Iran.

• The Persian kings tried to conquer Greece a few times but the Greeks managed to fight them off.

• The Greeks led by Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire in the 330s.

• The Greek foot soldier was called a hoplite.
• He fought with a long spear and used a large round shield for protection.

• In battle, hoplites fought as a team.
• They lined up and locked their shields together with just their spears pointing over the top.
• This formation was known as a phalanx.

• Enemy soldiers saw only a wall of spears and shields moving towards them.

• It was tough to break through once a phalanx started marching forward.

• The Greeks had archers and cavalry too.

• The Spartans were expert soldiers and believed that a tough upbringing made the best soldiers.

• Boys left their families at seven to begin their 23-year-long training to become a soldier.

• It was a hard life. A boy was only allowed one tunic and had to walk everywhere barefoot, even in cold weather.

• Girls weren't allowed to be soldiers, but they did compete against the boys at sport.

• Spartan women also had more freedom than other Greek women. For example, they could run the family farm.

• Greek warships had oars as well as sails. The largest Greek warships had three banks of oars and were called triremes.

• A trireme needed 170 men to row it - one man to each oar. Fixed to the front of the trireme was a sharp metal ram.

• In battle, the triremes tried to get close to the enemy ships, and if possible crash into them.

• The trireme's soldiers sometimes jumped onto a damaged ship to capture it.

Click on the hoplite to find out about his weapons and armour.

Click on each of the scenes to find out about some famous ancient Greek battles.

Argo the dog is missing! He was last spotted on a Greek battlefield.

Play the game to train with the Spartans and learn how to fight in the phalanx formation.