Practice Camp

Training areas were a common feature in Greek settlements where every citizen was expected to play a part in warfare. These camps, forts and 'stratopedon' prepared citizens, professional soldiers and mercenaries for the realities of the battlefield. It taught them how to follow orders, form up, and move as a phalanx, and to defend themselves and each other as a cohesive unit. Details of training varied across the Hellenic world; Spartan warriors, by virtue of being a dedicated army supported by their helot slaves, could devote their entire lives to military training. In contrast, Athens required its citizens to spend two years learning the military arts, with 18 year-old conscripts having instruction in weapons and being drilled in tactics and siegecraft for attack and defence.