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This portal is dedicated to the knowledge of ancient warfare in ancient times, focusing on the early antiquity up to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, roughly 3500 years of warfare. With the help of the best web sources, ancient authors, archaeological evidences, recreations, illustrations, maps, animations, and screenshots from the highly praized Total War video game serie, choosed by history channel (Sega(r) - Creative assembly(r))

13/01/2020: The Indo-Greeks


The Indo-Greeks. There, at the very end of the known world lies a mysterious Kingdom, later Empire stretching far and wide between the inhospitable Tarim mountains, Xiongnu and Yuezhe barbarians, the flamboyant Saka, and to the south-east the formidable Mauryan Empire of Ashoka the great. Beyond that, far away in the east was the prestigious Han Empire. The Bactrian Empire was once the farthest eastern satrapy, but became independent from the Seleucid Empire, a centruy after, this became a mighty Empire, that split up between West and East, the Indo-Greek Empire later striving under King Menander, the first Greek Buddhist ruler. Armies were very mixed, with hoplites, many archers, Indian mercenaries, Sogdian cavalry and skirmishers, Bactrian cataphracts and the Indo-Greek Yavanas.

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Ancient-battles peeks into the ancient "sea peoples" or the achaeans and minoans from the bronze age and homeric times, but also the Mauryan empire and T'sin armies, the steppe peoples, the Celts, as the early, or at the opposite, very late romans, like the western "barbarized" ones, or the Byzantine, "Hellenized" romans. What we know apart the famous "triplex acies" of pre-marian times, triarii, principes, hastati, equites, and velites?
Before was a very early roman army composed of aristocratic cavalry or Celeres, derived from the Etruscan nobility, and a heavy phalanx composed mainly on spearmen by classes, and a reformed army by Dictator and general Marcus Furius Camilius, with six Censes classes, with rorarii, leves and accensii...
And what we know about the greek classic armies at this time, with hoplites and meprised psiloi and hippiko, and their opponents, the persians, and beyond the sparabara, takabara, kardaka and other troops ? -The greek-city states age became, with the Macedonian rise, the Hellenistic era, which created terms like "phalangitai, hypaspistai, chalkaspidai, argyraspidai, Leucaspidai, akontistai, peltastai, thureophoroi, toxotai, sphendonetai, thorakitai, hetairoi, prodromoi" were known and became a model for all combined army from the Herakles columns to the Indus river... A true encyclopedia of ancient warfare.



Agris helmet

Splendid example of cross-culture in the IVth Century BC, the Agris ceremonial helmet of the era, widely decorated in Greek and Celtic patterns.

Previous entries

Samnite warfare Judaean Warfare Chalkaspidai Indian warfare Etruscan warfare Numidian warfare Devotio Warrior Ancient Chinese warfare Scythian Horse archer The Ambactos Iberian warfare Illyrian warriors Germanic spearmen Carthaginian Hoplite Corsico-Sardinians Thracian Peltast Caetrati Ensiferi Hippakontistai Hastati Gaesatae Cretan Archer Thorakitai Soldurii Iphikrates Kardaka The thureophoroi

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