samurai vs spartan

Lucien, Spartan life was revolved around war and duty to Sparta. A samurai was devoted to protecting his lord and a life of philosophy. As I stated, both were world class fighters. Spartans were taught to ignore pain and fight to the death. Samurai killed themselves if they were defeated.

Samurai did not believe in shields. They believed hiding behind a shield was dishonorable. They were wrong. The smart warrior has to be better equipped and if a Spartan and Samurai faced each other, that big 40 lbs bronze would deflect most attacks. The Yumi Bow wouldn't penetrate nor the Katana. Then the Spartan slams that shield into the Samurai's helmet stunning him. That huge Spartan spear stabs the Samurai in the throat. It has been proven that leather armor can stop bronze and steel from penetrating, so the weak point in below the helmet.

I'm not a Spartan fanboy . . . I admire both the Spartan and Samurai for their creeds, beliefs and what they stood for. But simply speaking, the Spartan is the best soldier. Period. At West Point, studying Thermopyle is required course material. The Special Forces have a program known as the "Spartan Training Program" and my friend in the Rangers described it as a "second death."

All the evidence I typed came from the National Geographical Channel and they are smarter than all of us because most have a Ph D in something so I will not dispute their expertise.

Originally posted by Darth Truculent
Lucien, Spartan life was revolved around war and duty to Sparta. A samurai was devoted to protecting his lord and a life of philosophy. As I stated, both were world class fighters. Spartans were taught to ignore pain and fight to the death. Samurai killed themselves if they were defeated.

Originally posted by Darth Truculent
Samurai did not believe in shields. They believed hiding behind a shield was dishonorable. They were wrong.

Originally posted by Darth Truculent
The smart warrior has to be better equipped and if a Spartan and Samurai faced each other, that big 40 lbs bronze would deflect most attacks. The Yumi Bow wouldn't penetrate nor the Katana. Then the Spartan slams that shield into the Samurai's helmet stunning him. That huge Spartan spear stabs the Samurai in the throat. It has been proven that leather armor can stop bronze and steel from penetrating, so the weak point in below the helmet.

Originally posted by Darth Truculent
I'm not a Spartan fanboy . . . I admire both the Spartan and Samurai for their creeds, beliefs and what they stood for. But simply speaking, the Spartan is the best soldier. Period. At West Point, studying Thermopyle is required course material. The Special Forces have a program known as the "Spartan Training Program" and my friend in the Rangers described it as a "second death."

Originally posted by Darth Truculent
All the evidence I typed came from the National Geographical Channel and they are smarter than all of us because most have a Ph D in something so I will not dispute their expertise.

You won't question someone if they went to school for a long time. You're a very clever boy.

Nice battle.
This is like Tadakatsu Honda VS Leonidas, or Musashi Miyamoto VS Achilles.

I would say 1-on-1, in a melee, Spartans would win since they are trained from a very young age to battle the fiercest opponents.
The Spartan's ruthlessness and brute strength would likely overwhelm a Samurai, except for the elite few.
Proficiency with weapons are more or less likely equal.

In an organized battle, Samurais have the edge.
One advantage Samurais have over Spartans are firearms.
They are probably better tacticians/strategists as well.

I didn't think Achilles was a Spartan.

Or real.

Bringing in the Marines and a State Trooper isn't exactly fair you know. You might as well have a Samurai face them too . . .

Replace the 300 Spartans at Thermoplye with 300 Samurai. In my personal opinion, the 300 Samurai would not be able to defeat the Persian army. In fact, they would be destroyed on the first day. Although the Spartan 300 did not emerge victorious, they're sacrifice caused Xeres to abandon his invasion. Did Samurai ever have to fight an enemy of that magnitude? No.

Most militaries of that time period were consricpts and slaves. The Persians defeated the Assyrian Empire whose army was second to none. Yet Persians overran and defeated a major powerhouse in the ancient world. Sparta had to repel an invasion from the largest empire (at the time) and successfully did twice. When did Japan's vaunted Samurai have to fight a three day engagement to protect their homeland. Never. A 'divine wind' took out the invasion force.

By the way Lucien, I went to a 4 year university and one of my professors had a Ph D in ancient cultures and I learned quite a bit from him. No one was better in warfare and fighting than the Spartans.

Originally posted by Darth Truculent
Replace the 300 Spartans at Thermoplye with 300 Samurai. In my personal opinion, the 300 Samurai would not be able to defeat the Persian army. In fact, they would be destroyed on the first day. Although the Spartan 300 did not emerge victorious, they're sacrifice caused Xeres to abandon his invasion. Did Samurai ever have to fight an enemy of that magnitude? No.

Do you realize that the film 300 wasn't an accurate portrayal of the Battle of Thermopylae, right?

There were far more than just 300 Spartans facing the Persian army and far less Persians than myths relate.

The support of the volunteer 8,000 Greeks and Athenian Navy (there were only 300 Spartans who did the bulk of the fighting on land). I'm not taking the Hollywood version of the battle because that's just for entertainment. The Athenian Navy wiped out the Persian Navy. If they hadn't, the Spartans would have been flanked and destroyed.

Originally posted by Darth Truculent
The support of the volunteer 8,000 Greeks and Athenian Navy (there were only 300 Spartans who did the bulk of the fighting on land). I'm not taking the Hollywood version of the battle because that's just for entertainment. The Athenian Navy wiped out the Persian Navy. If they hadn't, the Spartans would have been flanked and destroyed.

Not even close. There were an estimated 7-8 thousands Greeks in all who fought(on land) and blocked the pass for a few days. Just 300 couldn't have done it.

Once they realized they were being flanked, the majority of the Greek forces bailed with the exception of the remaining Spartans and a few hundred other Greek form varied states,they did this to cover the rear of their retreating countrymen.

Edit: If you want to read a great piece of fiction that is littered with historical references and correlations to the battle, read 'Gates of Fire', by Steven Pressfield.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
I didn't think Achilles was a Spartan.

Or real.

Thanks for the recommendation Robtard. I'll look it up

Originally posted by StyleTime
Correct on both counts.

We will never know if Achilles was real or not, the Greeks have a habit of taking a real person, event, ete and making it larger than life. Achilles could have been real, The Trojan War was real, so who knows.

I think spartans would win against samurais if they fought hand to hand, these greeks were real athletes, besides katanas cannot cut through their shield or armor.

lol. And how exactly would a spartan sword get through the Samurai's?

Originally posted by King Kandy
lol. And how exactly would a spartan sword get through the Samurai's?