The near 25,000 man strong Persian army surely experienced a plethora of feelings as they faced down a much smaller Greek army. 10,000 Greeks stood ready to defend their land at Marathon. Despite their larger army, the Persians must have felt some fear; if not of the men in front of them, then of the ruler at whose command they were about to levy a charge against strangers. They must also have felt pride in their cause and an unwavering loyalty to the commanders to whom they had been drilled into complete submission. The face of battle is full of paradoxes; loyalty and fear can appear as an odd couple.
The Battle of Marathon in 490 BC is the first classical example of a maneuver that has come to be known as flanking the enemy. It allows for encircling the foe’s troops and the subsequent destruction of their army. The key here is that the numerically outnumbered Greeks were able to strategically outwit the seemingly superior Persian army. Strategy, not for the last time, delivered the decisive blow in a battle. Strategy also plays a decisive role in a seemingly distinct sphere: sports. The similarities between war and sports are striking, especially in the NFL (National Football League) Super Bowl which just transpired. Apart from the reality of war, sports remains the true heir of the wartime spirit.
Sports and War
In another article, I pointed out the ancient connection between war and sport. Sports—or at least many of the most ancient sports—originated from war. Throwing the javelin, running, boxing, and wrestling all have martial roots. The distinction might get blurrier if we think of golf as a sport, or indeed chess which is sometimes considered a sport. Nevertheless, chess bears a striking resemblance to warfare. And so, I argue, do all sports.
The “Western Way of War,” as it has been termed by military historian Victor Davis Hanson, is exemplified by the Battle of Marathon. The Western Way of War has become the dominant form of warfare until the introduction of subversive tactics known as terrorist or guerrilla tactics. It acknowledges that war is an act of violence and that war is about directing that violence. It aims towards an end, and in the Western Way of War it has tended towards one, final, decisive battle. In this form of warfare two lines are drawn, two armies face each other down and meet in a crucial battle. The form of the armies—the phalanx, maniple, or tercio—may differ, but the essential feature of ‘us versus them’ in a traditional uniformed battle is the same.
Tribal Loyalties
Sports mirror these tribal and patriotic rivalries. Fans don the colors of their favorite team, sometimes without even having a territorial allegiance to the team they root for. In American football it is also common to see war paint under the eyes or on the faces of players. Chants are heard supporting the players who represent the team on the ground, allowing fans to to partake in the action by proxy.
I am surely not the only person in the rather peculiar situation of not knowing much about American football yet watching the Super Bowl almost every year without fail. It comforts me to know that this condition is a common one, since the American sporting event is one of the largest sports events in the world, watched by millions of spectators globally. Without ever having watched it before, without knowing the precise rules, without, perhaps, even caring much for the sport at all, onlookers tend to take a side. “I prefer the colors of the jerseys on one team.” “I like the city from which they hail.” Or “I fancy the quarterback.” Reasons may vary, but it seems a human universal to take sides and to erect an ‘us versus them’ mentality, the fullest and most extreme iteration of such loyalties being expressed in war.
Cohesion
In the 2000 film, Remember the Titans, Denzel Washington plays the role of a real life football coach named Herman Boone who took over coaching a predominantly white team. This was in 1971, yet racial tensions still prevailed in America. The story follows the team as they learn to deal with Coach Boone as their superior. Tensions are strained, but eventually the teammates accept their new coach and their new fellow students who had joined their school upon the abolition of racial segregation in public schools. The film successfully shows the other side of war—the paradox if you will—where loyalties also bring societies, cultures, and people together.
The football game begins at the line of scrimmage. Here we have direct reference to war, with the word meaning a rough fight. As the players charge at each other searching for the ball the historically oriented mind might be drawn to the Spartans charging at their foes, or the formation of Roman legions seeking to disrupt the line of defense in front of them. As the ball is thrown by the quarterback who also strategizes, encourages, and commands, it reminds one of the javelin seeking its object which is no longer the flesh of the enemy but the hand of the receiver. The comparisons may seem strained to some. Perhaps even imagined. But the parallels exist because sport is a direct inheritance from war, and is pregnant with values such as loyalty and emotions like fear.
When the Philadelphia Eagles faced the Kansas City Chiefs at the Super Bowl, they assembled the teams. Strategies were devised. The tribesmen—or fans, as we call them today—marched to the stadium. Chants were heard, and war paint was sported. The teams each listened to their commander, the coach, and on the gridiron battlefield they heeded the commands of the quarterback. Like the Persians and Greeks nearly 2,500 years ago, the NFL players psyched each other up and prepared for war. War, in its traditional form, still exists in our time and is most unlikely to ever vanish. War takes on new forms and new tactics. But sports is one avenue that has inherited, and reshaped, the phenomenon of classical combat.
Temper the Titans
“They crashed into the Persian army with tremendous force,” illustration by Walter Crane in Mary Macgregor’s The Story of Greece Told to Boys and Girls, London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1914.
The near 25,000 man strong Persian army surely experienced a plethora of feelings as they faced down a much smaller Greek army. 10,000 Greeks stood ready to defend their land at Marathon. Despite their larger army, the Persians must have felt some fear; if not of the men in front of them, then of the ruler at whose command they were about to levy a charge against strangers. They must also have felt pride in their cause and an unwavering loyalty to the commanders to whom they had been drilled into complete submission. The face of battle is full of paradoxes; loyalty and fear can appear as an odd couple.
The Battle of Marathon in 490 BC is the first classical example of a maneuver that has come to be known as flanking the enemy. It allows for encircling the foe’s troops and the subsequent destruction of their army. The key here is that the numerically outnumbered Greeks were able to strategically outwit the seemingly superior Persian army. Strategy, not for the last time, delivered the decisive blow in a battle. Strategy also plays a decisive role in a seemingly distinct sphere: sports. The similarities between war and sports are striking, especially in the NFL (National Football League) Super Bowl which just transpired. Apart from the reality of war, sports remains the true heir of the wartime spirit.
Sports and War
In another article, I pointed out the ancient connection between war and sport. Sports—or at least many of the most ancient sports—originated from war. Throwing the javelin, running, boxing, and wrestling all have martial roots. The distinction might get blurrier if we think of golf as a sport, or indeed chess which is sometimes considered a sport. Nevertheless, chess bears a striking resemblance to warfare. And so, I argue, do all sports.
The “Western Way of War,” as it has been termed by military historian Victor Davis Hanson, is exemplified by the Battle of Marathon. The Western Way of War has become the dominant form of warfare until the introduction of subversive tactics known as terrorist or guerrilla tactics. It acknowledges that war is an act of violence and that war is about directing that violence. It aims towards an end, and in the Western Way of War it has tended towards one, final, decisive battle. In this form of warfare two lines are drawn, two armies face each other down and meet in a crucial battle. The form of the armies—the phalanx, maniple, or tercio—may differ, but the essential feature of ‘us versus them’ in a traditional uniformed battle is the same.
Tribal Loyalties
Sports mirror these tribal and patriotic rivalries. Fans don the colors of their favorite team, sometimes without even having a territorial allegiance to the team they root for. In American football it is also common to see war paint under the eyes or on the faces of players. Chants are heard supporting the players who represent the team on the ground, allowing fans to to partake in the action by proxy.
I am surely not the only person in the rather peculiar situation of not knowing much about American football yet watching the Super Bowl almost every year without fail. It comforts me to know that this condition is a common one, since the American sporting event is one of the largest sports events in the world, watched by millions of spectators globally. Without ever having watched it before, without knowing the precise rules, without, perhaps, even caring much for the sport at all, onlookers tend to take a side. “I prefer the colors of the jerseys on one team.” “I like the city from which they hail.” Or “I fancy the quarterback.” Reasons may vary, but it seems a human universal to take sides and to erect an ‘us versus them’ mentality, the fullest and most extreme iteration of such loyalties being expressed in war.
Cohesion
In the 2000 film, Remember the Titans, Denzel Washington plays the role of a real life football coach named Herman Boone who took over coaching a predominantly white team. This was in 1971, yet racial tensions still prevailed in America. The story follows the team as they learn to deal with Coach Boone as their superior. Tensions are strained, but eventually the teammates accept their new coach and their new fellow students who had joined their school upon the abolition of racial segregation in public schools. The film successfully shows the other side of war—the paradox if you will—where loyalties also bring societies, cultures, and people together.
The football game begins at the line of scrimmage. Here we have direct reference to war, with the word meaning a rough fight. As the players charge at each other searching for the ball the historically oriented mind might be drawn to the Spartans charging at their foes, or the formation of Roman legions seeking to disrupt the line of defense in front of them. As the ball is thrown by the quarterback who also strategizes, encourages, and commands, it reminds one of the javelin seeking its object which is no longer the flesh of the enemy but the hand of the receiver. The comparisons may seem strained to some. Perhaps even imagined. But the parallels exist because sport is a direct inheritance from war, and is pregnant with values such as loyalty and emotions like fear.
When the Philadelphia Eagles faced the Kansas City Chiefs at the Super Bowl, they assembled the teams. Strategies were devised. The tribesmen—or fans, as we call them today—marched to the stadium. Chants were heard, and war paint was sported. The teams each listened to their commander, the coach, and on the gridiron battlefield they heeded the commands of the quarterback. Like the Persians and Greeks nearly 2,500 years ago, the NFL players psyched each other up and prepared for war. War, in its traditional form, still exists in our time and is most unlikely to ever vanish. War takes on new forms and new tactics. But sports is one avenue that has inherited, and reshaped, the phenomenon of classical combat.
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