Poll: The Spartan ratio

[DefunctTheory]

They couldn't lose their shields in combat as that would have been considered cowardly (tossed shield at enemy and ran).

True, and size that up against the words of a famous Greek poet (Archilochus) on the matter of shields.

"And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again?"

And yet, it's sad that things like "valor" and "glory" are still alive and kicking in modern day warfare.

Valor has virtually nothing to do with with recklessly attacking and refusing to retreat in the face of certain death.

And glory is a thing for officers far removed from death. The modern soldier wants nothing to do with it (Beyond using the word to troll for sweet delicious booty).

 

[Realitycrash]

They couldn't lose their shields in combat as that would have been considered cowardly (tossed shield at enemy and ran).

True, and size that up against the words of a famous Greek poet (Archilochus) on the matter of shields.

"And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again?"

And yet, it's sad that things like "valor" and "glory" are still alive and kicking in modern day warfare.

Valor has virtually nothing to do with with recklessly attacking and refusing to retreat in the face of certain death.

Funny, I'v met several guys who would disagree.

 

[crudus]

Individually? 1-1. In formation? I don't know. I can't imagine it being higher than 1-5.

Didnt some other Greeks kick thier ass, began with a T or something.

So yeah depends who they fight.

That would be the battle with Thebes. If you mean the battle where that started Sparta's decline.

Captcha: Argis 4000. I don't know what that is but I want it.

 

[Vryyk]

You can inspire people to die for your country by appealing to different emotions and concepts. I'm talking about the "I'm big, manly, killing is awesome and I take shit from noone" part of valor. Sorry, guess I should have made that clear.
When someone quotes "Death before dishonor", my mind instantly goes to "idiot".

I don't disagree with you; who do you think invented the concepts like "death before dishonor"? It certainly wasn't the soldiers... I was just saying that the easiest way to get people to go die for their country is to tell them they will be valorous heroes for doing so. What prize you dangle in front of them matters less than what they are willing to do to earn it.

 

[DefunctTheory]

They couldn't lose their shields in combat as that would have been considered cowardly (tossed shield at enemy and ran).

True, and size that up against the words of a famous Greek poet (Archilochus) on the matter of shields.

"And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again?"

And yet, it's sad that things like "valor" and "glory" are still alive and kicking in modern day warfare.

Valor has virtually nothing to do with with recklessly attacking and refusing to retreat in the face of certain death.

Funny, I'v met several guys who would disagree.

Valor: strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness : personal bravery.

Valor is the ability to dangerous things under horrible circumstance. Sometimes, this results in death.

A far cry from stupid risk and a strong headed belief that retreat is the ultimate cowardice, no matter what.

 

[RAMBO22]

1-5

When you say average, I'm inclined to think on their own.
And they would be shit on their own.

This.

A Spartan warrior was a very talented individual warrior, indeed, but where a Spartan warrior (and all Greek warriors of the classical world, for that matter) thrived was in position, shield in left hand, spear in right hand and ready to strike among his fellow citizenry in the ranks of the phalanx.

If one is forced to face a Spartan phalanx at it's face, he's going to lose....badly and fairly quickly.

The superior training, composure, and cohesiveness of a Spartan phalanx (they began training at 'effin five years old!) ensured that an enemy charging a Spartan phalanx face up would lose.

 

[Toaster Hunter]

Xerxes, before the battle of Thermopylae asked this same question to a Greek defector. The defector said that one to one, a Spartan was little better than any other Greek soldier. In a group, however, they were worth several times their number. It was their discipline and unit cohesion that was their strength, not individual ability.

 

[Tetranitrophenol]

never seen one in action so I wouldn't know enough to make such an assumption >___>

 

[ultimateownage]

Against whom, I might ask. A kill death ratio can't just be pulled out of your arse, this isn't Deadliest Warrior.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

Didnt some other Greeks kick thier ass, began with a T or something.

So yeah depends who they fight.

EVERYONE kicked their ass.

Sparta had a long history of picking fights they weren't gonna win.

Take Thermopylae, that most famous of battles. The reason that around 300 spartans were there against an entire army was that THEY COULDN'T SPARE ANYONE ELSE. Sparta was a state maintaining itself through slave labor and the reason they lived in such a heavy military state is to prevent slave uprising. 300 was all they could offer the war effort, and when they lost at Thermopylae (the only accurate part in 300), sparta pulled out of the war with persia entirely and let the significantly less gay "boy-lovers" of Athens and all the other city-states fight the persian army themselves. And they won.

Really, the only impressive thing about sparta was the immense discipline under which they lived.
Sort of like how we are all terrified of Spetznaz, but only now that they don't exist and the free flow of information from russia to america is how we average citizens know about them.

Have a good day, gents, I'm off to have swordfights

 

[DefunctTheory]

Well If they arent from space we could introduce them to mr.noob tube

For christ sake, its a 40mm grenade launcher. Everything in life is not Modern Warfare.

NOTE: Images posted because I'm bored and like things that go boom.

 

[dragdev]

Spartans fought in a Phalanx a single Spartan could only kill 5 men the Phalanx changes everything by making the enemy run into your spear however the Macedonian phalanx they had longer spears making them more effective. So if the Spartans had Macedonian spears there would be a higher kd ratio

 

[shreedder]

ok clearly this needs some clarification. the fact that the spartan was a warrior was implied. and lets say there are 299.5 (one is a midget) warriors against an endless stream of crazy guys with swords.

what is the terran? The only reasons the spartans help as well as they did in the battle of thermopoly was because they picked the correct fighting terran.

Also how heavily armed/armored are these crazy people with swords? Hannible was less equiped than the Roman army, but with good battle tactics manged to slaughter it over and over.

 

[Vryyk]

Didnt some other Greeks kick thier ass, began with a T or something.

So yeah depends who they fight.

Some bunch of homosexuals defeated them. Read that on cracked. In an article about love. I'm too tired/lazy to link it.

Where I read it. Also spartans were gay too.

And at 12 years old during the Spartan agoge (training) they were expected to enter into a sexual relationship with a veteran soldier who would also train them.

 

[warprincenataku]

They say samurai could kill ten men and that ninjas could kill ten samurai. So a Spartan, in my opinion is at least as good as a Samurai.