Name of work of art: Greek god Triton

What media was used to create it: colored tiles?

Artist (if known): Unknown
Where is was created: Sparta
Date: Second Century BC
Where it is now: Sparta Archaeological Museum, Sparta, Greece
Where I found the image: http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z34.2.html
Why I chose it: I find it strange that the ancient Spartans would have been interested in a sea
deity, despite the fact that the ancient Spartans were primarily a land power. Their rivals, the
ancient Athenians, had a stronger navy. In the subsequent conflict between the two city
states, known as the Peloponnesian War, neither power could beat the other since neither
side had the capacity to neutralize their adversarys strength. The Athenians could not
decisively beat the Spartan military, so they had to rely on holding out against Spartan sieges.
The Athenians would then respond by using their fleet to project their land forces in raids
against the Spartan rear areas (1). Triton was considered a messenger god for aquatic
environments. He was a son of Poseidon. Perhaps the ancient Spartans were interested in this
gods blessings as a way of being warned against Athenian amphibious raids.
(1) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext
%3A1999.04.0009%3Achapter%3D12

Name of work of art: Greek Warrior, either wounded on knocked down

What media was used to create it: stone/marble
Artist (if known): Unknown
Where is was created: temple of Aphaia on the Greek island of Aigina
Date: 5th century BC
Where it is now: temple of Aphaia on the Greek island of Aigina
Where I found it: http://gadling.com/2012/01/30/new-series-our-past-in-peril-greektourism-faces-the-economic/
Why chosen: As a military historian, I couldnt help taking note of this statue. I noted the
complete lack of body armor, and a very large shield. I get the impression that a soldier at the
time used their shield as their primary means of protection against enemy blows. This could
have been for several reasons. First, armor was not cheap to make, and it had to be made for
several body types. One cannot assume that ancient Greek warriors were as toned as depicted
in the statues. Ancient Greek states probably did not have the military mass production
capabilities needed to make mass issue of body armor feasible. Also, the fact that the soldier
is naked is also remarkable. There are not even any light variations or armor. This could be for
two reasons. First, Greek tactics, or at least those used by the city state army this soldier
belonged to, emphasized speed and agility, something that would be hindered by body armor.
Also, Greece is a very hilly country, and long marches in this type of terrain would not be
practical wearing heavy body armor. Later on, the Greeks would develop mass formations
called phalanxes, which would be a Greek military trend following the Theban victory over
Spartans at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC (1). What is surprising is that this later became the
primary military trend of the ancient Greek Army, perfected by Alexander the Great, despite
poor terrain support for the phalanx on the Greek Peninsula. The ancient Roman formation,
known as the legion, with its checkerboard distribution (and later perfected by Julius Caesar

in the Gallic wars), was much more effective in hilly terrain (2). The Romans would
ultimately teach the Greeks a lesson they forgot, using a military tactical formation best
suited by the terrain, when the Romans finally conquered the Greeks in 146 BC (3)

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leuctra
(2) https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/legion-vs-phalanx-powerhouseformation-better.html
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corinth_(146_BC)

Name of work of art: Greek helmet with rams head extension, rams head ear flares
What media was used to create it: bronze
Artist (if known): Unknown
Where is was created: Greek colony of southern Italy (before Romans)
Date: 525-500 BC
Where it is now: St. Louis art museum
Where I found it: https://ancientpeoples.tumblr.com/post/62075034019/helmet-greeksouth-italian-525-500-bc-this

Why chosen: when I saw this helmet, I realized that this could not have been used for
combat. First, too much effort was put into making it for it to just end up getting banged
up in battle. Secondly, it is not practical to wear this helmet, as it would make you stick
out from the rest of the formation and thus an easier target to spot. It turns out that the
blog (link on previous page) covering this artifact confirmed my suspicions. The article
states that it was most likely a parade helmet used for celebration purposes. If this was
the case, the helmet could have been used to celebrate the advent of spring, which is
astrologically represented by the Ram (Constellation Aires) and whose time fell between
March 21 to April 20 of our modern calendar. The fact that this was molded from a single
piece of bronze, and not two parts welded together, is impressive. Was it fashioned with a
mold of some kind?