Sorry but I couldn't resist. I think that we must view the global opinion of the forum members for that interesting question.
Sorry but I couldn't resist. I think that we must view the global opinion of the forum members for that interesting question.
O xein aggelein Lakedemoniois oti tade efi kimetha tois koinon rimasi poi8omenoi
...you gonna have to face it, you're addicted to poll...
CHIEF HISTORIAN
True. It is my bane because I hate statistics. Damn it
O xein aggelein Lakedemoniois oti tade efi kimetha tois koinon rimasi poi8omenoi
lol... that was the hardest poll ive had to vote in.. eventually i had to put the celts.. only because thier entire life revolved arround warfare.
they defeated the romans, greeks, and a tonn of other races.. and there is just something special about them... maybe if they were united they could have built the largest empire.... who knows
Llew Cadeyrn/Alrowan - Chieftain of Clan Raven
Alrowan
When did the Celts defeat the Greeks? Only once they went down the southern Balkans (from the area of todays Yugoslavia were they resided, before moving eastwards and settling finaly in Galatia, in todays Turkey) and they got their arses handed to them in quite a definite manner.
CHIEF HISTORIAN
the celts sacked delphi in abou 300bc i think it was, considering that delphi was the center of greek religeon then its a big thing, after that the greeks used them as mercenaries in thier various campagins, then the let some settle in asia minor, in what was called gallatia
Llew Cadeyrn/Alrowan - Chieftain of Clan Raven
Err... nope, that is completely incorrect. They did sacked Delphi, during a campaign they led in southern balkans in the late fourth century. The campaign was succesful at the beginning, since they defeated the Macedonian army and then tried to moved southwards, then bypassed Thermopyles with their secondary army and send them to loot some Greek cities. Eventually, though, they got surrounded, cut off and annihilated to the last man (the expedition force, not the whole Celtic lot in the Balkans).
A few years after that incident, the Celts moved into Asia Minor, in the area named Galatia ("land of Gauls", in Greek - they called all Celts "Gauls"), where they settled for good. Later on, the first emperors of the (Eastern) Roman empire used the offspring of those Celts as mercenaries - they didn't lose their bite after all those years.
I can give you specific sources, dates, names etc. tommorow, I've read a great article about the Celtic "invasion" in Greece recently. I'll dig it up and expect me to post details tommorow.
CHIEF HISTORIAN
umm.. ive just been reading a book on this.. perhaps i got a few things mixed up, but the fact that they did sack delphi at least show thier competence against the greeks
Llew Cadeyrn/Alrowan - Chieftain of Clan Raven
i thought the greeks called them keltoi and the romans called them gauls?
"That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there."
-Eric "George Orwell" Blair
"If the policy of the government, upon vital questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court...the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned the government into the hands of that eminent tribunal."
(Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, 1861).
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
They weren't all that flash - the Romans defeated them twicein 189BC using primarily light infantry and it wasn't a hard fight either time.Originally Posted by [b
Later on a couple of imitation legions were raised from among them but they weer roughly handled by Mithridates and Pharnaces and considered to be inferior troops.
The remnants of the 2 legions were incorporated into hte Roman army when Galatia was finally annexed late in the 1st century BC I think.
Quite frankly none of the people in this list strike me as being outstanding.
all of them were very competent in their time and way, but that's pretty much the same as can be said of any ancient peoples who survived any length of time.
Since the poll asked for finest "warriors" I had to go with the Celts.
To me, "warrior" connotes individual prowess and warriorness in battle (yes, I've just made up the word Warriorness). Maybe its the fact that they ran stark naked into battle, with their hair spiked straight up in the air. You've got to be brave to just have your junk hanging out there....
As for Greeks and Celts:
-Celts' sorties into Greece in 279 B.C.
http://www.celtica.wales.com/hanesfa...nnod3/p19.html
-Celts visit Macedonia and Greece
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~marion01/page43.html
//blackwatch
// Black
// "Did we win?"
Spartans for me, seriously 'ard bastards. However i'm much happier to live a nice comfy life than live out any fantasy of going back a few thousand years to find out for myself. Celts ran in a close second for me, generally due to my lack of any real knowledge on the subject and lack of time to read your links. Sorry guys.
Although running naked into battle may well make you very scary, it does hint at the eating of one or two too many mushrooms before battle.
Every year the first order on the agenda was to renew the war status with the Helots...gotta be Sparta.
All we are saying....is give peas a chance - Jolly Green Giant
Finnest Warriors???
Is that the warriors who come from Finland?
Or is it some kind of half dolphin half human warrior??
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.
No its a warrior from a Fin's nest.
Celts did sacked Delphi but the war was eventually lost. They never were victorious against the Greek Phalanx. Only against the Greek peasants and civilians.
O xein aggelein Lakedemoniois oti tade efi kimetha tois koinon rimasi poi8omenoi
aren`t the English, the Germans and the Israelis missing in the poll? (and a lot of others, of course)
I can understand the Germans, but when did the rest where concidered as the best warriors? The English where famous for having the best navy during 17th-20th ct, and the best special force, SAS, but never where they feared for being the best war mascine.
O xein aggelein Lakedemoniois oti tade efi kimetha tois koinon rimasi poi8omenoi
Cromwell's republican New Model Army was courted by all the major powers of Europe so they could have it on their side. However, I think it saw only one major continental action at the Battle of the Dunes on the north coast of France, mid 17th-c. In the course of the battle a single regiment stormed a massive dune occupied by Spanish tercios outnumbering the English some 3 to 1. It was difficult to get a footing and the troops had to pull each other up in the face of massed Spanish musket fire and pikes, absorbing high casualties in the process. The Spanish were still considered to be the finest infantry in Europe at the time......but no longer. The main British strength since that time has been 'corporate', the large number of regiments with an intrinsically high morale factor. It is this deeply entrenched and widespread esprit de corps that has served the British Army so well, more so than having the best trained troops, though it is usually to be reckoned with on that score as well.
But, apart from that, I'd say it has never been the British ethos to say we are the best, we just get on with it. We don't want to be a "war machine", we leave that for more militaristic societies.
Dum spiro spero
A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.
- William James
Good grief, speaking about militarist societies, we all forgot about the German Landsknechts.
Professional fighting forces, sold to the higher bidder, with their unique pros and cons, and the most prominent warriors of their respective age. The were also the first to introduce a great number of Arquebuziers in their regiments (one out of 4, IIRC, was an arquebuzier, fighting in skirmish formation) and the first who trashed the Spanish Tercios so badly, they rendered them obsolete overnight.
The slaughter of the Venecian army, the grand battle of Padia, the establishment of the Great France, all those are feats of the Landsknechts (strangely enough, Ze Germans worked to make France big... go figure
Anyone remember the "Schwarze Legion"? Fearsome guys all over... got slaughtered to the last man by their fellow countrymen (the "regular" Landsknechts) in a battle in Italy (I think...)
CHIEF HISTORIAN
The Mongols, hands down. Look at the amount of land they conquered
Sparta? Sorry, but that's just a tad Greek-centric. They never even got out of Greece and were eviscerated by their war with Athens, then humiliated by the Thebans.
Just an old-fashioned cowboy.
about the Celts : Running naked in the battle is supposed to be intimidating to the enemy? Well...i somehow dun think it is...especially if it is COLD
I believe that the Spartans were better warriors that the Celts because all of their society was built around their military. The celts were warlike but they didnt have to go to the army at 7. Moreover i dun think a bunch of naked people shouting would have any chance against a tight spartan phalanx.
However my vote doesnt go to the spartans. For most part of their history the spartans were just infantry fighting in tight formations. You cannot take over the world this way. For me the best warriors were the Macedonians at the time of Alexander , their phalanx was a huge breakthrough at this time that no other infantry managed to resist against , and their strong , fast and brave cavalry made sure the phalanx would face any surprise attacks while bulldozing its way through the persian empire.
Αξιζει φιλε να πεθανεις για ενα ονειρο, κι ας ειναι η φωτια του να σε καψει.
http://grumpygreekguy.tumblr.com/
Tell that to the French at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.
Jesus...I can't believe nobody has mentioned Samurai. And on this board too.
Anyways, IMO, they were among the greatest in the world (if not the best).
It's pay day tomorrow. Gonna buy me some bootlaces...and green beans.
Well, now I recon that I forgot someone indeed. Vietnam. They beat the French too. Do you measure how good a warrior is from what his nation has conquered? Does that mean that Vietnamese or Zulus, or ... Spartans where not fine warriors?
Agreed , I should include Samurai.
For the rest there is an "Other" option.
O xein aggelein Lakedemoniois oti tade efi kimetha tois koinon rimasi poi8omenoi
Viet-Kong were far from being the best. The won just doe to their highly superior numbers. In the war against America, they lost 10 or 20 times as many as the US
I'm sorry but thats b*ll*cks.
They won due to their resourcefulness and jungle skills.
They knew the lay of the land and were fighting for their country in a war that should never have happened and that America should never have been involved in.
The US goverment lacked the politcal backbone to commit to the war and eventually called an end to the 'conflict'
I'm pretty sure that each Vietcong casualty cost America around $400,000 or something ridiculous.
Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our homes and live in them for a fortnight every year. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English — and that's who you are playing this afternoon Phil Bennett's pre 1977 Rugby match speech
$400,000.00 a casualty?
Man- they could of bought all the Viet Cong soldiers a Villa in the South of France for that much...
Then there would have been no bloodshed. The enemy would be in their vacation homes and the winners would... well, the winners would wish they had vacation homes, too.
// Black
// "Did we win?"
I think its around that much- its something huge due to the cost of the technology that America used.
the fact was they were throwing firepower at an unseen enemy and hit very little for their 'money's worth'
Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our homes and live in them for a fortnight every year. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English — and that's who you are playing this afternoon Phil Bennett's pre 1977 Rugby match speech
The 'buy them all a villa in the South of France' idea has the nicest touch of irony considering it all started as a French collonial issue.
Picture the scene, "Yo dudes in the black pajamas. If you throw down your weapons we'll let you live in France."
Answer comes back, "We're prepared to offer you similar terms Monsieur Oppresive Military Power San."
10 kb max.
'An you must surf somwhere else now stoopid greedy whiteman Aint no surf he-re '
Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our homes and live in them for a fortnight every year. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English — and that's who you are playing this afternoon Phil Bennett's pre 1977 Rugby match speech
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