enemy’s side, tearing open the bow of the attacker. At a later date it was found that a shorter but stronger ram, involving in some cases three separate points - rather like a trident - was more effective and could be better braced into the trident’s stem and sides. (This is shown on the prow of the famous Victory of Samothrace - about 300 B.C.) Further additions to the prow of the vessel were projections above the water-line on the stem itself, as well as heavy wooden catheads projecting on either side of the bows which protected the forward oars after the ram had penetrated, as well as serving to tear away the enemy’s upperworks as the trireme swept past in a sweeping blow.
During the years after Marathon, as the Persians girded themselves for the second round, the whole of the eastern and central Mediterranean saw a phenomenal increase in shipbuilding activity. It was not only in the Levant and Greece and the Aegean islands that the impending conflict made its presence felt. In Sicily the Greek colonies were only too well aware that the threat to Greece was a threat to themselves, and that the Carthaginians were enlarging their fleet not only to protect their colonies in Sicily but to evict and destroy the Greek colonies, most of which were planted on the eastern side of the island. Carthage, the offspring of Phoenicia, was determined to assert its claim to the control of the central and western Mediterranean. The whole of the ensuing conflict united such strange bed-fellows as the far-distant Ethiopians, and the mountain men of the Persian Empire, with the seamen of the Levant, Egypt and north Africa, as far afield as the great Gulf of Tunis where Carthage dominated the waters. In the face of such apparently overwhelming might it was hardly surprising that those Greek islands and mainland city-states which had not already medised were actively considering doing so. The only hope for Greece and for the future of its people and its culture lay in those two disparate states, Athens and Sparta. Now that Themistocles had largely committed the Athenians to being the naval shield of the country, it was clear that the brunt of an attack by land should be borne by the Spartans and other allies.
8 - DISPOSITIONS
On that day in early May 48o when Xerxes watched from his marble throne the Immortals begin their crossing of the bridge over the Hellespont and the fleet exercises in the blue strait below him, the Greeks were still in a turmoil. Although they had had not months, but even years, in which to prepare themselves for the inevitable second round against the Persians they were still disunited. As always, it was the independent nature of the Greeks, coupled with the rivalries of the numerous city-states themselves, that prevented a real cohesion, even in the face of so overwhelming a threat to the freedom of all Greeks. The very individualism that they cherished was the greatest danger to their continued existence.
In the autumn of 481, after Xerxes’ heralds had made their demands for the tokens of earth and water from the Greeks, it became plain which states were prepared to accept the challenge and which had already submitted or medised. Ambassadors from the majority of the mainland states met in a congress on the Isthmus of Corinth held under the aegis of Sparta. An alliance was proclaimed between all the states attending, with Athens and Sparta universally accepted as the leaders. This, the Greek Isthmian League, was the first occasion that the Greeks had shown anything approaching a semblance of unity or of national feeling. But almost as significant as those who attended the meeting were those who abstained. It was hardly surprising that Argos, traditional enemy of Sparta in the Peloponnese and quite recently defeated by the Spartans, was in no mood to accept any secondary place under them. They made the unacceptable demand that Argos should have an equal share in the high command. This was impossible, and was
During the years after Marathon, as the Persians girded themselves for the second round, the whole of the eastern and central Mediterranean saw a phenomenal increase in shipbuilding activity. It was not only in the Levant and Greece and the Aegean islands that the impending conflict made its presence felt. In Sicily the Greek colonies were only too well aware that the threat to Greece was a threat to themselves, and that the Carthaginians were enlarging their fleet not only to protect their colonies in Sicily but to evict and destroy the Greek colonies, most of which were planted on the eastern side of the island. Carthage, the offspring of Phoenicia, was determined to assert its claim to the control of the central and western Mediterranean. The whole of the ensuing conflict united such strange bed-fellows as the far-distant Ethiopians, and the mountain men of the Persian Empire, with the seamen of the Levant, Egypt and north Africa, as far afield as the great Gulf of Tunis where Carthage dominated the waters. In the face of such apparently overwhelming might it was hardly surprising that those Greek islands and mainland city-states which had not already medised were actively considering doing so. The only hope for Greece and for the future of its people and its culture lay in those two disparate states, Athens and Sparta. Now that Themistocles had largely committed the Athenians to being the naval shield of the country, it was clear that the brunt of an attack by land should be borne by the Spartans and other allies.
8 - DISPOSITIONS
On that day in early May 48o when Xerxes watched from his marble throne the Immortals begin their crossing of the bridge over the Hellespont and the fleet exercises in the blue strait below him, the Greeks were still in a turmoil. Although they had had not months, but even years, in which to prepare themselves for the inevitable second round against the Persians they were still disunited. As always, it was the independent nature of the Greeks, coupled with the rivalries of the numerous city-states themselves, that prevented a real cohesion, even in the face of so overwhelming a threat to the freedom of all Greeks. The very individualism that they cherished was the greatest danger to their continued existence.
In the autumn of 481, after Xerxes’ heralds had made their demands for the tokens of earth and water from the Greeks, it became plain which states were prepared to accept the challenge and which had already submitted or medised. Ambassadors from the majority of the mainland states met in a congress on the Isthmus of Corinth held under the aegis of Sparta. An alliance was proclaimed between all the states attending, with Athens and Sparta universally accepted as the leaders. This, the Greek Isthmian League, was the first occasion that the Greeks had shown anything approaching a semblance of unity or of national feeling. But almost as significant as those who attended the meeting were those who abstained. It was hardly surprising that Argos, traditional enemy of Sparta in the Peloponnese and quite recently defeated by the Spartans, was in no mood to accept any secondary place under them. They made the unacceptable demand that Argos should have an equal share in the high command. This was impossible, and was
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