Page 112 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

112 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

Joint warfare across time; case studies from the Hellenic
ancient history

Dr Efpraxia S. PASCHALIDOU

aving today’s priorities as our motive, we can light up new aspects of known events
H in military history. The objective of the paper is to integrate events of the past into
broader historical forms, using the joint warfare criterion as the framework to illustrate
them. On the basis of the geomorphology of Greece and especially in the Aegean region,
the implementation of joint warfare is imposed almost unconsciously, as a physical and
necessary strategic choice. Initially, looking back in mythology, the legend of the Argo
expedition underlies the existence of an actual geostrategic policy aiming to unite the
broader space of the Aegean. The expedition against Troy is the first historical case of an
amphibious mission, as we would classify it in today terms, involving the landing of a
force comprising thousands of men, against an enemy that was prepared to fight accord-
ing to an established tactical process. Furthermore, it is the first historical conflict between
the Greek civilization - that was structured on the sea power - and the Asian civilization,
which was built on the land force. The paper intends to be a chronicle of some paradigms,
where the most characteristic fact has been the confrontation of a continental force striv-
ing to achieve its exit to the sea, against a naval force that seeks to maintain under its
control all the vital points of the coast and the islands, so as to monopolize the sea routes.

The Persian Wars
During the Persian wars the joint warfare conception that prevailed in the conduct of
operations is clearly demonstrated in the parallel battles of Thermopylae and sea battle of
Artemision (480 BC), as well as in the landing operations in Salamis (480 BC) and finally,
in Mycale (479 BC) where the sea battle was converted into an infantry one . The victori-
1
ous battle of Marathon was only the first episode of a great struggle; the collaboration of a
dual hegemony, Sparta possessing a superior army, and Athens, the dominant naval power,
rescued Greece during the Persian campaign (of 480/479 BC).

The Battle at Thermopylae and the Sea Battle at Artemision : According to the Great
2
King’s plan the Persian army would advance along the coastal routes while the navy would

1 “...if, frightened by the coming Persian threat, the Athenians surrendered themselves to Xerxes, no one would
stand against the King at the sea. Even if the Peloponnesians had raised several levels of fortifications the
allies would abandon them… because their cities would be captured one after the other by the naval army
of the barbarians… I cannot see the walls having any benefit, were the King to be allowed to rule the sea.”
Herodotus, Herodotus Historiae, VII, 119, ed. Zacharopoulos, Athens [s.a.]
2 “They sent infantry to Thessaly by the sea to guard against the invasion…”, Ibid., VII, 172.