Soldier
Graphic Source: GreenStreet CD

How does one judge who were the greatest group of warriors? Do they consider what the warriors accomplished, will this show us who were the greatest? Should we consider what nation lasted the longest and infer that they couldn't have done that if they did have the greatest warriors? Maybe we should factor in both, but not necessarily indicate that the best warriors came from the oldest nations since other factors may have come into play. What if a nation was constantly beset by enemies and managed to only exist for a few hundred years, does this mean that they were any the less capable at fighting? Maybe they were so overwhelmed by the numbers they faced that no race could have done better or maybe even as good.

First lets look at some of the oldest countries around today. We have China, Iran, India, Egypt and Iraq. Yes some were called by other names in the past but all are ancient. If we look at Egypt, we see that it was a country about 1,000 years before China and is considered the oldest country in the world, slightly older than India by about 100 years. Does this mean that the best warriors in the world were the Egyptians. In ancient Egypt they were considered very powerful and one has to remember that Egypt became a country in 3100 B.C. so they flexed their muscles for quite some time. Ancient Egypt was certainly one of the most power countries in the world for a long time, but they didn't always win their battles. It is hard to imagine being the first country in the world. Egypt was around before 3100 B.C. but it was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt and it took Pharaoh Narmer to create one country out of the two pieces.

Ancient Greece didn't come along as a nation for about 2,800 more years. If one is considering who the greatest warriors were, than one must consider some of the Ancient Greek states. Macedonia produced Alexander the Great and his men and Sparta produced an incredibly efficient army that almost all others were in total fear of. Alexander was born in 356 B.C. and died in 323 B.C. As we all know, during this period Alexander had managed to conquer the entire known world and build many cities. Though badly outnumbered, Alexander conquered every army he faced. Truly Alexander and his army have to be contenders for the greatest warriors. When Alexander's army fought the Persians it only totaled about 35,000 men. The Spartans were brought up as soldiers from an early age. They were the best trained army in the world and believed in simple living to keep them strong. It is also said that they were the best equipped army in the world. In 480 B.C. King Leonidas took his personal guard numbering about 300 men, men that all had sons to carry on their blood line if they were killed, and 4,000 other friendly soldiers to guard a pass at Themopylae against the army of King Xerxes of Persia. The Spartans had to gain time so that the combined Greek Army and Navy could respond to the invasion. There was only one problem, Xerxes had hundreds of thousands of troops. History concedes that Leonidas and his men knew they were all going to their death. For two days the Spartans repulsed the attacks of the Persians. The Spartans killed thousands of Persians. The Persian army must have been in shock. The Persians. finally found a trail that led behind the Spartans and their allies and managed to surround the small force which fought to the last man except for the Thebans who surrendered.

The Romans have to be considered in any discussion of this type. Their army was superior and victorious most of the time, but there were times when they were almost defeated by the most unexpected means such as the slave revolt led by Spartacus, a former gladiator. There had been more than one slave revolt in Rome and the first one was led by Eunus and Kleon and it lasted from 135 B.C. to 132 B.C., but was put down as soon as the slow acting Roman Senate decided to send in the army. A second slave revolt led by Salvius and Athenion that lasted from 104 B.C. to 100 B.C. suffered a similar fate as the first. It was the third revolt, the one led by Spartacus in 73 B.C. that lasted until 71 B.C. that terrified the Roman Army and its leaders. Unlike the first two revolts that only lasted so long because the government was slow to send in the troops, the third revolt and Spartacus were sounding defeating all the Roman Legions that were thrown at them. Spartacus actually made it to the Italian border but decided to turn around and not leave as he planned and this was his downfall. He got chased to the boot of Italy where the ships he paid to meet him never showed up. It was all over at that point. Still and all, the Roman Army was the best equipped army in its time and it had many advanced things in its favor such as the best medical treatment of the time and standard weapons, so if a man lost his weapon, he could pick up one he was familiar with off the battlefield. The Roman army also had the best engineers. This army had conquered most of the world at one point.

Genghis Khan was the leader of the Mongols. The Mongols were a race of nomads that had been brought together by their emperor. They were probably the best cavalry in the world at that time. They used a very special bow made from horn and sinew that was so powerful that the arrows could penetrate armor easily. Genghis Khan was a gifted leader and the Mongols were feared fighters. He captured parts of what is now China and became overlord. The battles between the Mongols and China lasted over ten years. The Mongols also invaded Europe. Genghis Khan's grandson led the troops. The Hungarian and Polish armies were quickly destroyed. The rest of Europe might have fallen, but the planner of these attacks, who was named Subutai, was recalled and then died. It is said that Austria and the German States were next on his list. Most historians today believe that western europe would have been unable to withstand a Mongol invasion. The Polish army that had been so easily defeated had included the Knights Templar, Knights of the Hospital and the Teutonic Knights. These were the best fighting men europe had to offer. When Genghis Khan died many of the Mongols left and the Mongol hordes would never be as powerful again. In their hay day the Mongols have to be considered for best warriors.

Here is a question for you, do we consider sailors as warriors? The Norsemen, better known as Vikings were sailors and fierce fighters, but I can't consider them in this discussion because they only represented small groups and not the armed force of a state or country. Many people may take umbrage at this, but I decided that this was the best course. On the other hand, the British navy ruled the seas for hundreds of years, had Marines on many of their ships and had an army, a good army. The British navy boasted well built ships with standardized ammo so that you could load the ammo from one cannon into another cannon of the same size. This may not seem important to you, but this was a failing of the Spanish Armada that tried to invade England. The cannon balls were of all different sizes and if you ran out of one size, nothing else might fit the gun you were firing. The British colonized (conquered) much of the world, but their failure to conquer the American colonies put a blemish on their record.

At this point I have to ask another question. What makes an army or navy great. Is it their fighting spirit or their equipment or both? Today it seems to depend more on equipment than anything else. It seems to me that with today's technology one can push a button and wipe out thousands of his enemy. If nuclear weapons are used he might even be able to wipe out a million or more, depending where the H Bomb is exploded. While there may be good armies in the world, I think that in the general sense, the days of the warrior, strictly speaking, are over.

Getting back to the original question, what nation or state had the best warriors, I think I would have to say it was Alexander and his army from Macedonia. They accomplished more than any army ever had before them and if you consider that they conquered the known world, they accomplished more than any army after them. Sure the Egyptians, Spartans, Indians, Romans, Mongols were all powerful and the Romans might have to be considered a close second, but I think Alexander wins the prize.