1. The Olympics and Warfare
LO: How did some city states use the Olympics to prepare for war?

2. Preparations for warfare
All Olympic sports were originally intended to prepare for war! Can you explain how each of these sports might help in war?
Running
Long Jump
Javelin
Discus
Wrestling
pankration
Boxing

3. Preparations for warfare
Find a source that supports the idea that the Olympic Games were used to train for warfare. Write a few sentences about this.

4. Hoplites Hoplites were heavily-armed Greek infantrymen
20 min task
Hoplites were heavily-armed Greek infantrymen
They fought in rows across the battlefield, with the shield protecting the right side of the next man in line. They used the shields to push and the long spears to stab the enemy.
Use your sources to write a paragraph about the Hoplite race.
Include as many sources as possible.

5. Hoplitodromia, Attic red-figured neck-amphora by the Berlin Painter, ca. 480–70 BC, Louvre Museum (CA 214).
How useful is this source to an historian studying warfare in the ancient Olympics?

6. Training in which sports would have helped these troops?
• Greek armies also contained lightly armed troops with throwing spears, slings and bows who played an important role in harassing the enemy.
Training in which sports would have helped these troops?

7. TASK
Choose two other sports that helped the Greeks to prepare for war.
Write a paragraph on each
Where possible, try to say if the sources support or contradict each other