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Spartan army Vs illyrian army - Hoplitesmores - 05-06-2007
Bardylis The Great, of the Dardanoi, united the tribes of Illyria under his rule. He then conquered most of Macedon. Around 387 BC, Bardylis led the Illyrians further into Greece, conquering Epirus.
During his Tenure as Lord of Epirus, he gained appreciation of hoplite tactics, and more importantly, thousands of sets of hoplite armour, which he began training his armies to use. Next, he defeated King Ptolemy of Macedon, who attempted to throw off tribute. After that, he defeated Ptolemy's successor, King Perdiccas, even killing him. Perdiccas was the father of Philip The Great.
Bardylis was eventually driven out of Epirus by Sparta.
How did the Spartans do it? Does anyone know anything about the battles that occured between Illyria and Sparta?We never see numbers of troops, battle details or dates mentioned, who had asked for Spartan help and why did the Spartans accepted the challenge.
Re: Spartan army Vs illyrian army - Hoplitesmores - 05-06-2007
A)Dodona was sacred and the invaders were commiting sacrilege as the Persians were.
B)Spartan religious commitment can't be ignored as it affected the battle of marathon ,thermopylae and Agesilaus expedition into asia as he asked both oracles on his course of action(though he did this for another reason Dodona was of Zeus and thus was more important in their eyes).
C)Requests from the Greek states of Macedon and Epirus
Perhaps a mix of the above