December 1958 School Magazine

BrisbanE:• Girls' Grammar School Magazine

December, 1958

Brisbane Girls.. Grammar School Mag.azine

DecE!mber, 1958

Spartan hemlines are down this season-could it be that birth control restrictions have eased, producing a generation of knock-kneed Spartans? But enough of fashion ta lk-! shall have no Spartan readers . The two armies draw up on the battle field, in g lorious array; aged, infirm Athenians no longer capable of engaging in battle 'watch from the side lines (possibly the long walls) while the Spartan horde (which is at least healthy because of excessive hours spent in the gymnasium and on the athletics ground) waits with glee to watch the efforts of the Athenians, whom they consider ill-trained and arrogant. At first there is little open conflict; the Spartans execute their waves skilfully and quickly, but the Athenians keep abreast of them, mainly because of their outstanding leader and one or two good Generals. As in all good wars between Athens and Sparta, a truce is soon called; the Athenians retire till the next campaigning season, and mop up and rearrange their graceful garments; the Spartans train energetically and plan new tactics. After the truce (which is never kept for long) the war gathers pace; the Athenians resources are noticeably flagging while the Spartans attack from every quarter. They have succeeded in capturing several Athenian outposts, where the defence is decidedly weak, but fail to break the core of Athenian spirit. By the time the campaigning season ends, the Athenians. are slightly victorious, owing to several breeches of war eti- quette and the inexhaustability of their leader. Peace is declared-beauty, nobility, Hteracy, democracy, etc., has triumphed over the reverse of beauty, nobility, etc., etc., and all retire to afternoon tea. Here I feel I must apologise to, or disagree with, our authority on Ancient History, Breasted, who seems to think that the Spartans were victorious. He states that the Athenians lost the war because their , extremely capable leader died in the middle of the war. Every good Grammar girl knows that this is not the case and that, perhaps because he hopes for a better opposition in the next war; the Athenian leader is now busily training little Spartans to become good soldiers (or is he merely learning more Spartan tactics?)

ATHENS V. SPARTA or (for those who know no Ancient History)

STAFF v. IliA Before reading a descrip- tion of this historic battle, it is necessary to notice one or two minor details about each army. The Athenian army, repre- senting all that is beautiful and noble, and literate and demo- cratic, is led by an extremely capable strategos, who is well trained in the arts of warfare and who has some foreknow- ledge of the opposition's tactics (perhaps he is a descendant of Miltiades, who was able to beat the Persians on the Plains of Marathon because he cheated and knew what the Persians were going to do next) . The rest of the Athenian army is a rather loose combina- tion of partly trained men; they wear a revolutionary type of footgear, probably introduced by

J. Gellie, VA.

MANOEUVRES Tall Athenians advance on diminutive Hoplites.

some younger troops, who have obviously been influenced b y the Sophists and are thinking of their own appearance before the safety of the State. The Spartan army, on the other hand, appears (or doesn't appear, according to the size of the individual hoplite-some are exceedingly small and in constant fear of being stood on by large Athenians) to have no real leader; in fact there could possibly have been open conflict as to which king (at the present there are seven) would lead the army. They are all well trained, however, and because Spartans care little for the beauties of life , are clad in a perfectly ghastly, but very respectable and utilitarian uniform. It is most noticeable that, contrary to modern fashion dictates, 34

-S. Pechey, VA. (a dabbler in Ancient History),

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