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Dr Owen Rees Profile picture
@reeshistory
Sep 3, 2020 • 6 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
If you enjoyed the 4 day tweet-a-thon with myself and @Roelkonijn then see all of them here in this thread of threads looking at the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium, the Spartan mirage, and common myths about the Persians:
This may be of interest to those of you who teach the Persian Wars in Classical Civilisations or similar @ClassCivAncHist @ClassicsNorth @classicsforall @JACTClassics @lsaclassics @Classics_Shrews @ocrexams @TheIrisProject @MsCBristow #TeachAncient #TeachClassics

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More from @reeshistory

Dr Owen Rees Profile picture
Jan 8, 2021
Watching the recent scenes in the U.S.A. we saw the Spartan iconography once again. So, if you are wondering what a Spartan may have made of such an event, let's take a look 1/10 molon labe flagSpartan-style helmet and cloak
First things first, #molonlabe is not a thing. Leonidas did not say it, and Spartans did not agree with citizens or anyone else bearing arms around the city . . . what if the helots got hold of them! 2/10

badancient.com/claims/molon-l…
Next, Sparta was not a democracy - you did not really get a say on who was to be the figure head of the sate (the two kings). If you did challenge it, you better be a great military commander like Lysander, AND have a good oracle proclamation to back it up! 3/10
Read 12 tweets
Dr Owen Rees Profile picture
Sep 24, 2020
2,499 years ago, approximately #OTD, the straits between the Greek mainland and the island of Salamis became the site of one of the most famous naval battles in history.

Have you ever wondered what actually happened? Follow @Roelkonijn and I for yet another thread 1/lots Image
As you know from previous threads, the Persian forces had taken Themopylai and their navy had survived the battle at Artemision.

Xerxes’ forces moved south, through Boiotia and into Attika. Here they burned Athens and prepared to deal with the fleet moored at Salamis.
2/ Image
So, what did that Greek resistance look like?

For what is the most famous battle in Athenian history (on par only with Marathon), we must have some reliable information surely? Surely?!

NOPE!
3/
Read 25 tweets
Dr Owen Rees Profile picture
Sep 1, 2020
The myths around Thermopylai often rely on broader misconceptions about ancient Sparta.

Well, we can't have that can we?! Come along with @Roelkonijn and me, for another thread looking at 12 key myths about the Spartan culture, and their army 1/16
Myth #1: Spartans were professional soldiers.

The big one! This comes from Xenophon's description of Lykurgus banning Spartiates from having a job.

He doesn't actually say anything about them soldiering which, you know, is a job! Seem more like 'professional citizens'
2/ Image
*CW: Infanticide*

Myth #2: Spartans killed imperfect babies by throwing them off a mountain.

This is very iffy: the literature is suspect and the archaeology does not support it. See this #badancient write up here: badancient.com/claims/spartan…
3/
Read 16 tweets
Dr Owen Rees Profile picture
Aug 31, 2020
2,499 years ago, approximately #OTD, a more interesting battle took place off the coast of Thermopylai - the naval battle of Artemision. Unlike Thermopylai, this one actually mattered.

It is not a well-known battle, so why not follow @Roelkonijn and I for yet another thread 1/18 Image
Was this a united Greek fleet, in support of Leonidas' troops on land, standing against the Persian enemy: West vs East, good vs bad, freedom vs oppression?

No, not really
2/
The Greek fleet was made up of just under 300 ships, half were from Athens alone.

In total, only 14 city-states were present. 14!!! Out of what, about 1000?
3/ Image
Read 18 tweets
Dr Owen Rees Profile picture
Jul 27, 2020
Interesting blog, Athenian armies don't often get this kind of attention! Although, the mass levy (pandemei) raises more questions. We cannot assume that they maintained the equal tribal sizes. If all men were called, then the deme of Archanae had 3,000 hoplites to join up
If we assume they joined their tribe, so two other demes, we potentially have ca. 4,000 in one tribe which is almost 1/3 of Athens' hoplite strength at the beginning of Pelop. War. The pandemei was a system for emergency or quick planning, used to override the very slow
system of katalogoi. It was usually used for raiding plans, or emergency defences. Delium is a little unusual in this instance, but not I dare say an anomaly. What made the system easier to handle was the tribal basis, so people always knew who to follow, who was leading.
Read 4 tweets
Dr Owen Rees Profile picture
Jul 24, 2020
More #badancient Spartans. A review of new book by Dr Andrew Bayliss of @theBRIHC The reviewer seems to ignore Bayliss's opening section all about the Spartan mirage: dailymail.co.uk/home/books/art… /1
No, 300 Spartans did not fight at Thermopylae. Bayliss explicitly mentions helots and other greeks being there. Also: badancient.com/claims/did-300… /2
And as for molon labe (it had to be mentioned didnt it!). Bayliss says outright this was a later embellishment - Herodotus loved a good story, he would have kept this in. We have covered this phrase here: badancient.com/claims/molon-l… /3
Read 5 tweets

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