"Bred for Battle—Understanding Ancient Sparta’s..." Topic

… Military Machine.

"SPARTA'S ENEMIES, WHEN facing the intimidating Spartan forces, would see a wall of shields, bristling with lances, inexorably bearing down on them—not to the beat of drums, but as the Greek historian Thucydides explains, "to the music of many ute-players, a standing institution in their army, which has nothing to do with religion, but is meant to make them advance evenly, stepping in time, without breaking their order."

Little remains of the ancient city of Sparta, capital of the Laconia region, situated on the Peloponnesus peninsula in modern Greece, but the impact of its unique culture is impossible to ignore. Unlike Athens to the north, Sparta was famed for its austerity—its "spartan" character—was, and is, proverbial. A state run by an inflexible military regime, whose people existed almost entirely to serve the army, the Spartans were legendary for their professionalism, intense physical and mental stamina, and absolute dedication to the defense of their land. No great philosophers would ever arise from Spartan culture the way they did from Athens…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Thanks for that link Armand, it's very interesting. It had to be intimidating facing the Spartan phalanx.

Interesting.

Editor was a bit lacking – the 'utes' in the opening are presumably the 'flutes' mentioned later in the piece. And 'lances' are a later cavalry weapon. Spears would be the appropriate term.

Happy you enjoyed it my friends!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

……not to the beat of drums, but as the Greek historian Thucydides explains, "to the music of many flute-players, a standing institution in their army, which has nothing to do with religion, but is meant to make them advance evenly, stepping in time, without breaking their order.

Goragrads observations notwithstanding, how do the sound of drums interfere with troops advancing evenly, without breaking order?

Maybe the Spartans just preferred the sound of flutes over other instruments.

Drums were used to project sound over a long distance from the leading elements in a grand formation; further than a man`s voice can be heard or perhaps a wind instrument.

As Thucydides explains, there`s many of them, so they are distrbuted amongst the formation.

Perhaps they did prefer the sound of flutes, but then, a flute is also easier to carry.