How did small armies compensate for their size in the ancient era, when posed against a larger army?

Question

I have been watching a lot of ancient history shows on youtube about army tactics, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why a smaller army would every beat a larger army. To me, the larger army would square up against the opponents, and then simply flank the enemy, which would usually result in routing. How would an ancient era deal with the problem of getting flanked? Did it simply just all come down to terrain?

Edit: Thank you so much for your answers! I love learning about this kind of stuff, so this has been a lot of fun. Maybe I’m still confused about how an army would engage and disengage an army to remain mobile to avoid flanks, could anyone provide some insights into this?

In: Other

Answer 1

There’s no simple answer, since we are covering a wide range of scenarios here, but here are some factors that woudl help:

* Terrain, as you identify: the best example is the Battle of Thermopylae Pass, where relatively few Spartans and their allies could hold off a much larger army because it was channeled through a narrow pass. If you’re not on an open field or otherwise circumventable, the enemy can’t bring all of their numbers to bear.
* Technology: If you have horses and your enemy doesn’t, or if you have long-range archery and your enemy doesn’t, the effective numbers are not as extreme as actual soldier counts. You can disable a lot of enemies from afar while they can’t touch you. Armor falls into this category, too.
* Tactics: the Greek (corrected) phalanx, for example, was a good defensive formation for the era. If you’re more effective at protecting your men, they will remain in battle longer.
* Skill: Not all soldiers across time were fully trained standing warriors. Many were recruited or forced into service. Going in with inexperienced or reluctant troops against a well-trained standing army is a disadvantage, even if you have more of them.

Add to this some randomness and some strategic mistakes – not every general will just say “hey, there’s more of us, surround them” – and you get a lot of upsets.