Who Greatest Army In History?

Question

Judging by what they achieved in their own age. Some suggestions: Hittite, Egyptian armies of 13C BC, Akkadians 23rd C BC, Assyrians 8th & 7th C BC, Macedon under Alexander, Roman, Mongols, Huns, Carthage, British under Wellington, Napoleons French etc etc.

Answer 1

Personally I'd say Roman - the stratagy they employed was unlike anything else of the era, and was truly remarkable.

Answer 2

While many of you mention the romans as the greatest army in history you don't really give the reasons in a valid point. The army was never as large as 150,000 soldiers as many sources especially Plutarch and Livy state figures of around 50 thousand at the most. What made the romans such a big force in the mediterranean and in later years of the roman empire was not their strategic excellence or the sheer size of their army in later years but it was their aggression and ability to gain strength and power from their defeats, especially during the attacks by King Pyrrhus of Macedon. Many of you claim the startegic brilliance of the generals but with the roman army the army was controlled by the consuls of which a new one was elected every 2 years and so much of their canpaigning was done under a new commander every 2 years, this can only be looked at in a way as to look at the army in having more of a role in the victories than the general.

Hope this helps
Ste

Answer 3

I think its Mongols.....conquored the and from china to the fringes of Europe and the Holy Roman Empire. Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, the Mongols created the second largest empire in world history, ruling thirty-five million square kilometres (13.8 million square miles) and more than 100 million people, nearly equal to the British Empire in land area. At its height, the Mongol Empire extended from Manchuria in the east to Hungary in the west, and from Russia in the north to Java island in Indonesia in the south, and it included most of the lands in between, such as Afghanistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Persia, Pakistan, China, and much of the Middle East.
Mongol terror and atrocity was notable even for the 13th century. They employed a deliberate policy of terror. It was not unusual for them to round up the civilian population of a city or area and drive the hapless victims forward against an opponent as a human herd, forcing the opponent to make the anguished choice of firing upon or killing its own people. Long before Imperial Japan used the phrase, Mongol operations in many areas could indeed be classified as a "Three All" policy- "burn all, kill all, destroy all."
Even though By 1913, the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million people, approximately one-quarter of the world's population, i think as an army the mongols did it faster and under one leader.... Good question by the way.

Answer 4

The Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of Robert E Lee, fighting for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. Constantly outnumbered, with limited food, second rate guns and virtually no reinforcements they fought the Union armies to a standstill time and time again. Indeed, they invaded northern territory twice and almost won the Civil War on behalf of the South.

They would march for 30 miles and go straight into battle *and* win. When they ran out of ammunition they threw rocks, because that was all they had, and they still didn't surrender. One Confederate wrote in his diary 'It is Christmas Day and I don't have any shoes' and they still fought barefoot.

Time and time again they fought against the odds, yet their bravery, courage and determination kept them going when they should have been beaten years before.

Answer 5

That would have to be the British , having once captured two thirds of the world and kept them subject for hundreds of years . Something even the Romans or Mongols were unable to achieve . But if i was to look in perspective at the best well trained and lead army i would have to say the Spartans , nothing in history compairs to them as regards to Training and dedication to duty , pity that they were lead by religious fanatics .What would or could have stopped them in there own age, The Macedonians only beat them because of the spartan leaders fanatical abeyance to the past, and refusal to try new tactics

Answer 6

The Hittites were beaten by the Egyptian armies.
Egypt by far had the best military and their stradegy was phenominal for that period, they also were fantastic in the 18 and 19th dynasty with Horemheb as their general. Alexander of course conquered Egypt but more over fell in love with Egypt and became an ally. Only to regroup and Egypt once again had enormous strength. Julius Caesar vini vini vicci, he came he saw and he conquered. Prior to that there was an Egyptian army with unbeatable strength and stradegy. Horemheb 18th and 19th dynasty read about him. Egypt ruled for many centuries and won more. King Saul,won against the Philistines with David's help at the age of 12, and King David of Jeruselum was tremendous in military strength not to mention his son Solomon. Lineage it seems in history is the key factor here, if you notice the Egyptian were all a big family as were the Hebrews, and Rome fell from internal strife for lack of lineage, and the strength of honor disapated from deceipt as do all civilizations that are built with bullies and no meaning to their madness in war. The Greek civilization fell for the same reason . Persia was a great strength as well, they helped Julius conquer Egypt but without Persia and Greece he would have lost. Britain has been a great conquerer and with many allies to help from other countries. Being adopted by Rome in the first place gave them a power they would not have had otherwise, for they are a very small population at best they would not even have conquered Ireland without the soldiers of Rome. Huns were a barbaria tribe that had perserverence but were too barbaric and wild to form a stradegic effort to beat Rome. But the mongols were ruthless and saw no bounds they bludgened their way and made a blood bath of their conquests. Napoleon studied Caesar and learned at least a few things of military and showed strength in number and won only to lose where he new already not to go, he was defeated by his own ego.
Personally I think the American military of WW11 with Mac Carther and Patton were the most energetic. Patton was brilliant he studied all the great military battles and if and knew evey move like a chess board. This is why he engaged in battle in Africa against Romel' s Army and defeated him. Read Mac Carther and Patton. However I would say over all stradegies in history the 6 day war in Israel by far beat 21 Arab countries hands down in the 1970's and hardly any lives were lost. And they did it all in six days.

Answer 7

Alexander the Great had the most successful army, establishing the largest empire ever in the Western world. The Romans certainly had a formidable army, most notably because it was for most of Roman times made up of citizens and not mercenaries.

Answer 8

It is of course impossible to state definitively that any one historical military force is the greatest. However, were I to suggest any single one to be considered (among other suggestions by other people) for the title, then my choice would be the Roman army. One of the central reasons the ancient Roman civilisation reached such heights is simply because they were excellent warriors, through necessity and the progressive evolution of their army. There are numerous books, documentaries and of course websites dealing with this fascinating subject.

Answer 9

They might not be the first army to spring to mind but I really like the New Model Army under Cromwell - they were well-organised, well-fed and indoctrinated into thinking God was on their side - something that was supported by the fact that their victories were so glorious. I know they're probably not the most interesting but I thought they were very successful.

Answer 10

Mongols under Genghis Khan.

Answer 11

a victory is only counted by the amount of dead on the battle field. i would say the red army was the greatest. they suffered the most losses of the allies and still took berlin. without them the allies wouldnt have "won" the second world war.