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The style of fighting with sword and shield varied little through out Europe and consisted mostly of cutting at the foe from behind the shield. With the sword drawn back it could be held out of sight of an opponent behind the shield so they could not see where a cut was coming from. This type of deception is why the quickest and most aggressive usually won an encounter- you had little warning where to move your shield to block a blow. It s...

Sparta HelotsOf all the Greek states it was Sparta that stood out in their fanatical beliefs about battle and war. They were the only city-state that had a full time army consisting of the entire male population. The one thing that made this possible was the helot. The helots were subjugated tribes that the Spartans held in slavery to perform all domestic trade and agriculture duties, thus freeing the citizen males to dedicat...

Slave revolt was always an undercurrent in this type of system. One way it was combated was through the activity of the secret service. This elite and covert organization consisted of warriors under the age of 30. They were charged with keeping any revolt talk or action in check through whatever means necessary. This special op group would serve for two years. They frequently roamed at night and killed any helot found out of doors. They could eve...