Who were the best fighting units in history?

Question

Templars? I read that 20 fully armoured and mounted Templars could defeat hundreds. Spartans and their phalanx? Roman legionaries? Ottoman Janisseries?

Who would you consider the best?

Answer 1

It's all relative. Each of the above listed would have been the best in their own specific time frame.

But where do you draw the end line of history? Prior to WW II? WW I?

The Spartans had the best land army of their time. So did the Roman legionaries. None of the illustrious fighters of the past, would stand a chance against the mechanized armies of WW II; nor certainly against any army that could be fielded today.

And of all the examples you cited, there were no naval units listed.

What of the Athenians naval battle that defeated the Persian navy, and paved the way for Alexander the Greats ultimate victory over them?

Or what of the Barbary pirates that terrorized the Mediterranean countries during thee 19th century? Or the fleets of the Phoenicians much earlier? The English fleet against Spain's great armada? Cortez's and Pissaro's conquistadors?

Each of these that I listed, were during their era the best fighting units of their time.

So that, any one can only be chosen best, with respect to the time in which they lived.

Wotan

Answer 2

This is a very subjective question...and the answers you receive will vary based mostly on the opinions of those answering.

Further, you need to define "best." Is this described solely as killing more enemy soldiers than casualties taken? Or facing the longest odds and winning? Then that would take the famed Spartans out of the running because they lost at Thermopylae. The Greeks won the war, but that battle was lost. If you're talking about courage, then it's nearly impossible to categorize and separate any number of nominees, from the American Civil War's Iron and Stonewall Brigades to the British troops who rushed over the top at the Somme.

Answer 3

Chiricahua and Mescelaro Apache warriors were most formidable along with the Blackfoot, Lakota, and Cheyenne. Moving eastward the Iroquois Confederacy, and in particular, the Seneca Nation.

The Russian Cossacks and their counterparts, the Comanche of Texas