expand their empires. The Ancient city state of Sparta in Greece is a clear example of this. Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which configured their entire society to maximise military proficiency at all costs, and completely focused on military training and excellence. Their hoplites the Spartans were well known for their battle prowess and strategy. They used the tactic the phalanx to their advantage which allowed them to conquer and plunder. It composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, three metre long pikes, and similar weapons. They stood in a lines, containing multiple rows of Spartans with their pikes facing forwards, the second row would face their pikes on an upward angle to prevent anyone from jumping over the front row of pikes. Alexander the Great used the strategy a lot allowing him to conquer much of Asia and northwest Africa. The phalanx could also be used for defence as for a while the formation was almost impenetrable. It could not be charged by infantry or cavalry, and the hoplites had large shields and heavy armour to protect from projectiles. It wasn’t until the Roman conquest of Greece that the phalanx was finally bested by Roman legionaries with their mobility and advanced technology. Moving ahead into the Middle Ages with the English longbow. The English longbow was a powerful medieval type of longbow about 1.8 m long used by the English and Welsh for hunting and as a weapon in medieval warfare. English use of longbows was effective against the French during the Hundred Years’ War, most famously at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The Englishmen using the longbow were able to stand a long distance from the French forces where they could shoot powerful volleys of arrows at the advancing enemies. This is what happened at the battle of Agincourt, the English army was 80% longbow men who were able to decimate French cavalry and infantry before they even reached their soldiers allowing them to win the battle of Agincourt. The victory saw the increasing dominance of ranged weapons on the battlefield and the decline of cavalry.