The ancient world featured great empires and military conquests. Considering military power in this era requires considering the strategies, technologies and resources of both Western and Eastern civilizations. These differences shaped history and are still evident in military doctrine today.
Western Military Power: The Romans and Greeks
In the West most powerful military forces had been those of the Greek city states and the Roman Empire. The Greeks, especially the Hoplite phalanx, introduced infantry tactics based on disciplined formations. The phalanx consisted of heavily armed infantrymen (hoplites) moving in formation because of their shields overlapping to form a wall of spears on the enemy. This formation was effective in pitched battles and formed the basis of Greek military power.
The Roman Empire, in turn, expanded on military concepts it inherited from the Greeks and others. Roman military excellence was not based on technology alone but on organizational structure and strategic doctrine. These legions were trained and equipped with a sophisticated network of roads and fortifications that enabled rapid deployments and supply lines over long distances. Roman military engineering included the building of siege engines, forts and bridges to defend their territories and expand their empire.
Eastern Military Power: The Persians and Chinese
To the East, the Persians and the Chinese represented the highest military might. The Persian Empire, particularly under rulers like Cyrus the Great and Darius, had a multi-ethnic army made up of a notorious cavalry and units like the Immortals, a corps of soldiers which would always maintain exactly 10,000 men in strength. Persian kings used these forces together with good logistics to project power across an empire that stretched from Anatolia to the Indus Valley.
In China, the Qin and Han dynasties themselves were military innovators. The Qin dynasty under Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of a unified China, standardised weapons and deployed massive infantry formations. The Han dynasty later refined these strategies and employed cavalry to defend against nomadic invasions from the north. Chinese warfare also incorporated psychological warfare and spying according to texts like Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” that still impact the contemporary world.
Technology and Tactics
In military technology, both East and West had their own innovations. Greek fire, a flammable liquid of the Byzantine Empire (the continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire after 500 AD) was one early type of chemical warfare the West used in naval battles. On the other hand, the East developed technologies like the crossbow and early forms of gunpowder which would change warfare worldwide.
Conclusion
The military systems of the ancient Eastern and Western civilizations had strengths and weaknesses dependent on their geographic, cultural and technological contexts. The West was the best organized, disciplined and engineering, while the East had large, flexible armies and major technological advances of the time.
These differences illuminate the ancient world, and contribute to an appreciation of how historical military strategies and technologies have shaped modern military tactics and global power dynamics. Looking back again, we notice the way the history of these ancient empires resonates throughout time to remind us of the intricacy and interrelated nature of human history.
