Episode 8.1 - Ancient Greek Military Strategy

<p>Episode 8.1 -  Ancient Greek Military Strategy</p><p><br></p><p>Hi, my name is Clayton Mills.  Welcome to ‘A Short Walk through our Long History’ - a podcast where we look at the events of history, and try to see how those events shaped our modern world. </p><p><br></p><p>Welcome to Episode 8.1 -  A side trip to look at ancient Greek military strategy and weapons.  Specifically hoplites and triremes.  I’ve mentioned that ancient Greece wasn’t that large of a place, and they weren’t as populous as some of the other larger empires that they fought against, but they were still somehow able to defeat many of their enemies.  Eventually, under Alexander the Great, they will conquer the largest area of land, and create the largest empire, that the world had ever seen, to that point, but we’re not there yet. </p><p><br></p><p>Today, I want to take a look at the technology, training, culture, and tactics that allowed Greece to be so successful militarily.  </p><p><br></p><p>Different countries throughout history have had different advantages over their neighbors, and it’s often these advantages that determine which country ends up being the strongest.  For example, Ancient Egypt had the advantage of a steady supply of water and good fertile soil, because of the Nile river.  This meant that they usually had plenty of food and water, which meant they could develop a pretty large population.  Food and population stability also creates wealth, so the Egyptians could afford a large army.  </p><p><br></p><p>It often gets overlooked in history just how expensive it is to have an army.  Navies are even more costly.  And now there’s air forces, and space forces, and man, it’s really expensive!  The US budget for just defense spending last year (2021) was over $750 Billion.  With $750 billion in cash, you could buy ALL the real estate in Greece.  The US spent that in one year on just the military.  Unfortunately, none of that was used to destroy our federal government, which really seems to be the biggest threat that th