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Our main sources for early Hoplite warfare come from the writings of Herodotus, who was born in the Greek city of Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, in 484 bc. He was an Ionian Greek who traveled widely and lived for a while in Athens, before settling in Thurii, a Greek colony in southern Italy. He died about 424 BC. We also get information from Thucydides, an Athenian who wrote of the Pelopponnesian Wars. We can also find references in the works of several of the Greek playwrights' material on Hoplite warfare. We can find an account of...

TEHRAN (MNA) -- During the latest season of excavations of the northern gate of Takht-e Suleiman, an ancient Zoroastrian fire temple located in northwestern Iran, the stamps of two seals were discovered which indicate that objects entered Takht-e Suleiman from other regions with special tags attached to them which seem to be advertisements. They signify that an early form of advertising was being practiced during the Sassanid era (224-642 C.E.), Yusef Moradi, the head of the excavation team, said on Friday. “The team began its excavations in early August and found the stamps of two seals at the upper levels...

Secrets of an ancient Persian armada sunk off the coast of Greece 2500 years ago are being dredged up by modern archaeologists. A team from Greece, Canada and the United States has just completed a second expedition to retrieve artefacts from 300 ships of the Persian King Darius that were wrecked in a storm off the Mt Athos Peninsula, northern Greece, in 492BC or 493BC. Aucklanders will be among the first to hear the results today when three of the expedition leaders present their findings in a free public lecture at Auckland University. In two trips so far, last October...

ANGRY at being used by US President George W. Bush in a political broadcast, Iraq Olympic officials today said their athletes had been set up. Footballers from the war-torn nation reacted furiously when told their country was being used in a campaign ad, calling on Bush to stop using them to win votes. "Iraq as a team does not want Mr Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," midfielder Salih Sadir told Sports Illustrated magazine. "He can find another way to advertise himself." However, the Iraq delegation accused journalists of deliberately provoking an angry response from their players. "Our...

ATHENS – Like all the American athletes who have come here for the Olympic Games, Michael Anti has made enormous sacrifices for his country. Unlike all but a handful, though, there is a chance that one day he could be called on to make the ultimate sacrifice. As one of the 17 athletes who is also an active member of the US armed forces, Mr. Anti came to these Games with a unique perspective - and a peculiar fire. When he peers down the barrel of his rifle Sunday morning in the opening round of the 50-meter three-position competition, the...

Life's a beach at volleyball venue DAVE BARRY ATHENS -- If there are two words that, over the centuries, have become virtually synonymous with the phrase ''Olympic Games,'' those two words are ``beach volleyball.'' This exciting sport got its start in ancient Greece, when some ancient Greeks found an inflated goat bladder on a beach and had the idea of hitting it across a net. Fortunately, they realized that this would be disgusting, so they used a volleyball instead, which is why today the sport is called ''beach volleyball'' instead of ''beach goat bladder.'' (Although beach goat bladder has been...

Swin Cash sounded pretty miffed when a predominantly Greek crowd jeered the U.S. men in their upset loss Sunday to Puerto Rico. She and her teammates were in the crowd, and they heard more than a few of the invectives aimed at the Americans...It seems it is acceptable for any nation's fans to chant or sing for their team or individual at any event without being interrupted, save those of the United States. The moment a chant of "U-S-A!" breaks out, as it does in most venues where Americans compete, it is drowned out by whistles. That is the European...

A small army of cops and firefighters seeking higher pay gave Mayor Bloomberg a bon voyage protest outside his upper East Side townhouse early this morning.  Several hundred of the Finest and Bravest massed on E. 79th St. at 1:15 a.m. to chant, rant and wave placards calling for a new contract - just when the mayor was presumably resting up before his trip to the Athens Olympics today. A contingent made up largely of firefighters chanted "Strike, strike, strike!" as they marched across the street from the mayor's residence. Squads of cops in blue T-shirts proclaiming "Police Officers for...

By clicking on the above link you see the results of the current medal rankings. As of right now the USA is fourth. It is China that is number one in the totals.

The Olympics came home to Greece at the weekend but nobody was in. Three days into the 28th modern Olympiad, officials in Athens are under pressure from the International Olympic Committee to paper the city with free tickets if necessary to solve the growing crisis of low turn-outs.Broadcasters cringed as television audiences around the world saw tennis, weightlifting, hockey and gymnastics played out in half-empty stadiums. Even last night's main attraction - the clash of the two young Titans of the pool, Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps - failed to sell out as Athenians declined to buy into the rhetoric...

ATHENS, Aug. 15 -- The Olympic crowd tried to roar with approval as the world's best female gymnasts did cartwheels and backflips inside the shiny-new Olympic Indoor Hall. But the cheers kept dying out, smothered by thousands of vacant seats in an arena that was at least three-quarters empty. The Summer Olympics entered their second full day of competition Sunday, but already attendance has been so far below expectations and sellouts so infrequent that ticket scalpers are losing their shirts. Passes for the most popular sports -- gymnastics, swimming, tennis -- are widely available. The non-stop television coverage is struggling...

Looking for ruins? Pick a Tipiyokti and start climbing DAVE BARRY ATHENS -- Greece today is a modern nation, defined as ''a nation where pretty much everybody is talking on a cellular telephone.'' But there are ghosts of another Greece here: the ancient civilization that gave the world such precious gifts as democracy, philosophy, water, television, Greek salad and the Pythagorean theorem, without which -- incredible as it seems -- we would not have the hypotenuse today. The most visible symbol of the glory that was ancient Greece is the Acropolis, a great big rocky hill that looms above downtown...

The Sunday schedule: Iraq continues its miracle run through the Olympic soccer/football tournament after its upset of #17 world ranked Portugal with a match against Costa Rica. LIVE Broadcast Telemundo channel 1:30 Eastern Swimming legend 31 year old Jenny Thompson attempts to tie the all time US record of 9 golds in the 100 meter butterfly finals against Norwegian machine Inge de Brujin. Finals at 12:25 ET NBC (potentially live)Relay madness in the pool where in the 4x100 relay Michael Phelps will get his first look in these games head to head against the Austrialian 'Thorpedo' Ian Thorpe. Finals 1:34...

Athens, Greece, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Poland delivered an instant upset in the men's Olympic volleyball tournament Sunday, beating defending champion Serbia-Montenegro in straight sets. Poland recorded a 25-21, 25-17, 25-16 victory in the first match of the tourney. The Poles are ranked 10th in the world while Serbia-Montenegro came into the Games as the decided favorite to repeat as gold medalist.

THE chief organiser of the Athens Olympics and her husband are being investigated by Greek prosecutors over a claim that they misappropriated more than £250m, including £16m allegedly used for Greece’s bid to stage the Games.Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, 49, who has been credited with ensuring the Olympic venues were completed in time, and her 61- year-old husband, Theodore Angelopoulos, a shipping tycoon, are to appear before prosecutors to answer charges in a lawsuit filed by Theodore’s brother Constantine, 59. The suit, which follows a prolonged family feud, accuses the couple of fraud, embezzlement and money laundering and says they should be...

Greece promised to make Athens 2004 the greenest Olympics ever, but environmental groups have already given the Athens Olympic Organizing Committee (ATHOC) failing grades when it comes to protecting nature. Athens won't be winning any green medals for its performance at the Olympics, according to the non-governmental organization (NGO) Greenpeace. Its report called "How Green are the Games" states that "green energy is the most striking failure for the Athens Olympics." "For a country that markets itself as a country of endless sunshine, solar energy for the Games shouldn't be so difficult. But green energy at the Games is close...

For Immediate Release August 14, 2004 President's Radio Address Portland, Oregon      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This past week, the Games of the 28th Olympiad began in Athens. Athletes from more than 200 nations gathered at the opening ceremony to watch the lighting of the Olympic torch, and to begin two weeks of world-class competition. America is proud of our Olympians. The talented men and women of Team USA represent almost every state and every background, and range from 15 to 52 years of age. They are carrying on our nation's proud Olympic tradition, which extends back to the...

ON WHAT was meant to be a day of huge national celebration for the opening of the Olympic Games in its capital city, Greece woke instead yesterday to newspaper headlines shaming two of its most adored athletic stars.Gloomy-faced Athenians, who were largely spending the national holiday sitting around tables at outdoor cafés, shook their heads as the Greek media reacted with acute embarrassment to the revelation that Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou had missed a mandatory drugs test on Thursday. As they pored over their newspapers, readers spread their hands in the classic Greek gesture of exasperation as the country’s...

August 13 Opening Ceremonies of the 28th Olympiad Athens Greece NBC at 8:00pm ET/PT For those that can receive the Canadian CBC the ceremonies will be shown live starting at 1:00pm ET

Greek athletics stars Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were injured in a motorcycle accident last night shortly after missing a drugs test at the Games Village.Kenteris and Thanou, whose missed tests are the subject of an International Olympic Committee hearing in Athens this morning, were kept in the KAT Hospital in Athens overnight as a precaution although neither was seriously hurt. The accident happened near Glyfada, a southern Athens suburb where the Greek team has its training headquarters. "They have been involved in an accident involving a motorcycle. They have been taken to hospital," said Greek Olympic team spokesman George...