Ancient Macedonian military - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Army

An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

of the Ancient kingdom of Macedonia was among the greatest military forces of the ancient world. It became formidable under King Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...

and his son, Alexander the Great.

The latest innovations in weapons and tactics, along with unique combination of military elements introduced by Philip II, came together into the army that won an intercontinental empire. By introducing the military as a full-time occupation, Philip was able to drill his men regularly, ensuring unity and cohesion in his ranks. In a remarkably short time, this led to one of the finest military machines that Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

or Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

had ever seen.

Tactical innovations included the latest tactics applied on the traditional Greek phalanx

Phalanx formation

The phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...

by men such as Epaminondas

Epaminondas

Epaminondas , or Epameinondas, was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics...

of Thebes (who twice defeated the Spartans), as well as coordinated attacks (early combined arms

Combined arms

Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different branches of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects...

) between the various arms of his army—phalanx, cavalry, missile troops, and (under Alexander III) siege engines. Weapons introduced included the sarissa

Sarissa

The sarissa or sarisa was a 4 to 7 meter long spear used in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic warfare. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in the traditional Greek phalanx formation as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. The phalanxes of Philip...

, a type of counter-weighted (like all Greek spears) long pike

Pike (weapon)

A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...

, which gave its wielder many advantages, both offensively and defensively.

The new Macedonian army was an amalgamation of different forces. Macedonians and other Greeks (especially Thessalian cavalry) and a wide range of mercenaries from across the Aegean

Aegean Islands

The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...

were employed by Phillip. By 338 BC, more than a half of the army for his planned invasion of Persia came from outside the borders of Macedon

Macedon

Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....

--from all over the Greek world and the nearby barbarian tribes.

Macedonian cavalry

The Companion Cavalry (Greek: 'Εταίροι)

The Companion cavalry, or Hetairoi, were the elite arm of the Macedonian army, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world. Along with Thessalian cavalry contingents, the Companions—raised from landed nobility—made up the bulk of the Macedonian heavy cavalry.

The Companion cavalry (hetairoi, mounted noble 'companions'; like philoi (basilikoi) '(royal) friends', the term became an aulic title in the diadochi

Diadochi

The Diadochi were the rival generals, family and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for the control of Alexander's empire after his death in 323 BC...

period) was divided into eight squadrons called ile, each 200 men strong, except for the Royal Squadron, which numbered 400. Each squadron seemed to have been raised from a particular area of Macedon. In Arrian for instance, we hear of squadrons from Bottiaea, Amphipolis, Apollonia and Anthemus. However, between 330 BC and 328 BC the Companions were reformed in to regiments (hipparchies) of 2-3 squadrons. In conjunction with this each squadron was divided into two lochoi. This was probably undertaken to allow for the increasing of size of each squadron as reinforcements and amalgamtions meant the Companion cavalry grew in size.

Each Companion was equipped with a 3 meter double ended spear/lance called the xyston
Xyston
Not to be confused with XystosThe xyston |javelin]]; pointed stick, goad") was a type of a long thrusting lance in ancient Greece. It measured about long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands, although the depiction of Alexander the Great's xyston on the Alexander Mosaic in...

, and a variety of body armor including the Boeotian helmet. The double end meant that should the xyston break during a battle the rider need only turn his xyston around to re-arm himself. During the reign of Alexander the Great, cavalrymen carried no shields. However, the Companion cavalry of the Antigonid dynasty

Antigonid dynasty

The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Hellenistic kings descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus .-History:...

did carry large, round bossed shields of Thracian origin.

The Companion cavalry was usually deployed in wedges, a formation that facilitated both maneuverability and the shock of the charge. This formation, the Macedonians copied from the Thracians, who in turn took it from the Scythians. Although the Companion cavalry is largely believed to be the first real shock cavalry of antiquity, it seems that Alexander was very wary with its use against infantry, as attested by Arrian in his account of the battle against the Malli, an Indian tribe he faced after Hydaspes. There, Alexander did not dare assault the dense infantry formation with his cavalry, but rather waited for his infantry to arrive, while he and his cavalry harassed their flanks. It is a common mistake to portray the Companion cavalry as a force able to burst through compact infantry lines. The Companions that accompanied Alexander to Asia numbered 1,800 men. This number steadily grew as the campaign progressed with reinforcements arrving from Macedon. They were usually arrayed on the right flank (this being the position of honour in Hellenic armies, where the best troops would be positioned), and typically carried out the decisive maneuver/assault of the battle under Alexander's direct leadership.

Thessalian Cavalry

The famous Thessalian cavalry accompanied Alexander the first half of his Asian campaign and was at times employed by the Macedonians as allies throughout the later years until Macedon

Macedon

's final demise under the Roman gladius. Its organization and weaponry were similar to the Companion Cavalry. However, shorter spears and javelins were wielded in conjunction with the xyston

Xyston

Not to be confused with XystosThe xyston |javelin]]; pointed stick, goad") was a type of a long thrusting lance in ancient Greece. It measured about long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands, although the depiction of Alexander the Great's xyston on the Alexander Mosaic in...

and rhomboid formations

Rhombus formation

A rhombus is a cavalry formation in which troops are arrayed to form a rhombus-shaped body.-The Rhombus in antiquity:Cavalry in rhombus formation has superior maneuverability, being able to rapidly change its direction by alternating leaders posted at its four points.It is the customary formation...

were employed. This formation was very efficient for manoeuvring as it allowed the formation to change direction at speed while still retaining cohesion. The numbers given for Alexander's invasion of the Persian Empire included 1,800 such men. This number would have risen no higher than 2,000. They were typically entrusted with the defensive role of guarding the left flank from enemy cavalry allowing the decisive attack to be launched on the right. They often faced tremendous opposition when in this role. At Issus

Issus

Issus may refer to:* Issus , an ancient settlement in the modern Turkish province of Hatay** Battle of Issus, in 333 BC, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III* Issus , a river near the town and battle site...

and Gaugamela we see the Thessalians standing against far larger Persian formations.

At Ecbatana the Thessalians with Alexander's army were mustered out and sent home. Some remained with the army as mercenaries yet these too were sent home a year later when the army reached the Oxus River.

Light Cavalry and Allies

Of light cavalry, the prodromoi secured the wings of the army during battle and went on reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

missions. They are sometimes referred to as sarissophoroi, which means pike-bearers, which leads to the conclusion that they sometimes were armed with an uncommonly long xyston, though certainly not an infantry pike.

Apart from these, several hundred allied horsemen, raised from a variety of places, filling various tactical roles and wielding different equipment, rounded out the cavalry. Alexander used Greek cavalry in Asia which would have been armed with javelins and round shields as well as Paeonians. By the time he returned from India, the cavalry had been drastically reformed, and included thousands of horse-archers from Bedouin tribes, other mounted missile troops, and Asiatic heavy cavalry.

Development

The Macedonian foot soldiers were formed into an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

formation

Formation

Formation may refer to:* Formation flying, aerobatics performed with several aircraft* Formation , a high-level military organization* Tactical formation, the physical deployment of military forces-Sports:...

developed by Philip II

Philip II of Macedon

and used by his son Alexander the Great to conquer the Persian Empire and other armies. These infantrymen were called Pezhetairoi

Pezhetairoi

The pezhetairoi were the backbone of the Macedonian army and Diadochi kingdoms. They were literally "foot companions" .The Macedonian phalanxes were made up almost entirely of pezhetairoi...

--the Foot Companions—and made up the dreaded Macedonian Phalanx.

Philip II spent much of his youth as a hostage at Thebes

Thebes, Greece

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...

, where he studied under the renowned general Epaminondas

Epaminondas

, whose reforms were the basis for a good part of Phillip's tactics. The Foot Companions were levied from the peasantry of Macedon. Once levied they became professional soldiers. Discharge could only be granted by the King. Under Philip the Foot Companions received no regular pay. This seems to have changed by Alexander's time as during the mutiny at Opis in 324 BC the men were chastised by Alexander for having run up debts despite earning "good pay". Through extensive drilling and training the Foot Companions were able to execute complex maneuvers well beyond the reach of most contempary armies.

Phalanx

The size of the phalanx fielded by Macedon and its various successor states varied greatly. Alexander the Great, for example, fielded 9,000 Foot Companions throughout much of his campaign. These were divided into 1,500-man battalions, each raised from a separate district of Macedon. Phillip V fielded 16,000 phalangites at Cynoscephalae, and Perseus reputedly fielded over 20,000 at Pydna.

These soldiers fought in close-ranked rectangular or square formations, of which the smallest tactical unit was the 256 men strong syntagma or speira (also known as 'lochoi'). This formation typically fought eight or sixteen men deep and in a frontage of thirty-two or sixteen men accordingly. Each file of 16 men included two junior officers (one at the head and one at the rear) and a tertiary leader (at the middle of the file). Their role would have been to steady the ranks and maintain the cohesion of the formation, similar to modern day NCOs

NCOS

NCOS was the graphical user interface-based operating system developed for use in Oracle's Network Computers. It was adapted by Acorn Computers from its own , which was originally developed for their range of Archimedes desktop computers...

The commander of this unit theoretically fought at the head of the extreme far-right file. According to Aelian, a syntagma was accompanied by five additional individuals to the rear: a herald (to act as a messenger), a trumpeter (to sound out commands), an ensign (to hold the unit's standard), an additional officer (called ouragos), and a servant. This array of both audial and visual communication methods helped to make sure that even in the dust and din of battle orders could still be received and given.

Each phalangite carried as his primary weapon a sarissa

Sarissa

, a pike

Pike (weapon)

over 6 m (18 ft) in length, with a counterweight and spiked end at the rear called a sauroter. The length of these pikes was such that they had to be wielded with two hands in battle. At close range such large weapons were of little use, but an intact phalanx could easily keep its enemies at a distance; the weapons of the first five rows of men all projected beyond the front of the formation, so that there were more spearpoints than available targets at any given time. The men of the rear ranks raised their sarissas so as to provide protection from aerial missiles. A phalangite also carried a sword as a secondary weapon for close quarter fighting should the phalanx disintergrate. The phalanx however, was extremely vulnerable in the flanks and rear.

The armament of the Phalangites is described in the Military Decree of Amphipolis

Military Decree of Amphipolis

The Military Decree of Amphipolis is a Macedonian Greek inscription of two marble blocks, that originally contain at least three columns of text...

. It lists the fines imposed upon the soldiers who fail to maintain their armament or produce it upon demand. Listed defensive equipment include a type of armour (kotthybos

Kotthybos

Kotthybos was a type of Macedonian armour. The Macedonian soldier prepared also his own food in his metal dixie, the kotthybos. The term is not found elsewhere, and appears to be a variant form of Kossymbos, Kosymbe, which are explained by Hesychius as perizoma aigyption, "Egyptian girdle" ,...

), a konos (helmet)

Konos (helmet)

Konos was a conical Macedonian helmet. According to the Military Decree of Amphipolis ..those not bearing the weapons appropriate to them are to be fined: two obols for the kotthybos, the same amount for the konos, three obols for the sarissa.....

, a shield (aspis

Aspis

"Aspis" is the generic term for the word shield. The aspis, which is carried by Greek infantry of various periods, is often referred to as a hoplon .According to Diodorus Siculus:-Construction:...

) and greaves knemides; offensive weapons were a pike (sarissa

Sarissa

) and a short sword (machaira). The officers wore heavier armour(thorax) or half-armour (hemithorakion

Hemithorakion

Hemithorakion was an ancient Greek half-armour equipment. The inventor is believed to be the Thessalian king Jason of Pherae. It was an equipment of the officers, not of common soldiers...

/ἡμιθωράκιον). It should be stressed that the archaeological discoveries show that the phalangites could also use the two-edged sword (xiphos/ξίφος) as well as the traditional Greek hoplite

Hoplite

A hoplite was a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Hoplites were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in a phalanx formation. The word "hoplite" derives from "hoplon" , the type of the shield used by the soldiers, although, as a word, "hopla" could also denote weapons held or even...

spear (doru

Dory (spear)

The dory or doru - ie not pronounced like the fish - is a spear that was the chief armament of hoplites in Ancient Greece. The word "dory" is first attested in Homer with the meanings of "wood" and "spear". Homeric heroes hold two dorys...

/δόρυ), which was much shorter than the sarissa. What is not known is whether the above indicates standardized equipment or the minimum expected for each soldier.

Alexander did not actually use the phalanx as the decisive arm of his battles, but instead used it to pin and demoralize the enemy while his heavy cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

would charge selected opponents or exposed enemy unit flanks, most usually after driving the enemy horse they engaged from the field. An example of this is the Battle of Gaugamela

Battle of Gaugamela

The Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. The battle, which is also called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the ancient Macedonians and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.-Location:Darius chose a flat, open plain...

, where, after maneuvering to the right to prevent a double envelopment from the Persian army and making Darius command his cavalry on his left flank to check the oblique movement of the Greeks by attacking their cavalry, Companion cavalry

Companion cavalry

The Companions were the elite cavalry of the Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon and reached the most prestige under Alexander the Great, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world and the first shock cavalry...

charged the weakened enemy center where Darius was posted and were followed by the hypaspists and the phalanx proper.

Other forces — skirmisher

Skirmisher

Skirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to harass the enemy.-Pre-modern:...

s, missile troops, reserves of allied hoplites, Cretan archers

Archery

Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

, and artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

— were also employed. The phalanx carried with it a fairly minimal baggage train, with only one servant for every ten men

Man

The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...

. This gave it a marching

Marching

See also: Loaded marchMarching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady and rhythmic walking forward, usually associated with military troops.Marching is often performed to march music, and often associated with military parades....

speed

Speed

In kinematics, the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity ; it is thus a scalar quantity. The average speed of an object in an interval of time is the distance traveled by the object divided by the duration of the interval; the instantaneous speed is the limit of the average speed as...

that contemporary armies

Army

could not hope to match — on occasion forces surrendered to Alexander simply because they were not expecting him to show up for several more days. This was made possible thanks to the training Phillip instilled in his army, which included regular forced marches.

The Macedonian phalanx itself was thus not very different from the hoplite phalanx of other Greek states as a formation. As an evolution of the hoplite phalanx, it featured improved equipment, training, and tactics. In Phillip's and Alexander's time, the Macedonian phalanx had clear technical superiority.

Macedonian shield

Usually and in the military equipment of Macedonian soldiers the helmet

Helmet

A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...

and the shield

Shield

A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....

served for a basic defense purpose. About the helmet it is known that it was of a form of a Phrygian cap

Phrygian cap

The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In the western provinces of the Roman Empire it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, perhaps through a confusion with the pileus,...

, and especially about shield dimensions, there are different interpretations.

The most used motive of decoration of the different presentations of shield (coin, relieves, stele, megarian glass and other monuments) is the system of solar symbols. Meanwhile, some scientist noticed that Asclepiodotus

Asclepiodotus

Julius Asclepiodotus was a Roman praetorian prefect who served under Aurelian, Probus and Diocletian and was consul in 292. In 296 he assisted the western Caesar Constantius Chlorus in re-establishing Roman rule in Britain following the illegal rules of Carausius and Allectus.Allectus, having...

had defined the Macedonian shield as different one compared to the other by its form, dimensions and material of production, and not because of the motives, which have decorated its upper side. According to the descriptions of the Antique sources, relief presentations as well and by the several findings, it is known that the diameter of the Macedonian shield varies from 62 cm up to 74 cm. Ancient Macedonian Shields were more recently also excavated in the village of Bonche, Prilep in the Republic of Macedonia.

Macedonian shield had slightly arched central part and upper side of thin bronze or iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

sheet. The inside side was wooden or multilayer leather construction with handle fixed on. Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

noticed that the phalanx

Phalanx formation

The phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...

soldiers carried a small shield on their shoulders-plate, while it is seems probably that the elite members of the infantry

Infantry

of the King's personal guard wore a shield of bigger dimensions-aspis (ἀσπίς). The style of shield used by the cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

is less clear.

Hypaspists

The Hypaspists

Hypaspists

A hypaspist is a squire, man at arms, or "shield carrier". In Homer, Deiphobos advances "ὑπασπίδια" or under cover of his shield. By the time of Herodotus the word had come to mean a high status soldier as is strongly suggested by Herodotus in one of the earliest known uses:"Now the horse which...

(Hypaspistai) were the elite

Elite

Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...

arm of the Macedonian infantry. The word 'hypaspists' translates into English as 'shield-bearers'. During a pitched engagement such as Gaugamela they acted as guard for the right flank of the phalanx and were used for a variety of irregular missions by Alexander, often in conjunction with the Agrianians (elite skirmishers), the Companions and select units of phalangites. We often see them at the forefront of Alexander's siege assaults in close proximity to Alexander himself. The Hypaspists were of privileged Macedonian blood and formed the foot bodyguard of Alexander III.

The Hypaspist regiment was divided into battalions (chilarchies) of 1,000 men which were then further sub-divided in a manner similar to the Foot Companions. Each battalion would be commanded by a chiliarch with the regiment as a whole under the command of an archihypaspist.

In terms of weaponry they were probably equipped in the style of a traditional Greek hoplite

Hoplite

with a short spear or dory

Dory

The dory is a small, shallow-draft boat, about long. It is a lightweight and versatile boat with high sides, a flat bottom and sharp bows. They are easy to build because of their simple lines. For centuries, dories have been used as traditional fishing boats, both in coastal waters and in the...

and a large round shield (hoplon). As well as this they would have carried a sword, either a xiphos or a kopis

Kopis

The kopis was a sword with a forward-curving blade, primarily used as a tool for cutting meat, for slaughter and animal sacrifice, but also as a weapon....

. This would have made them far better suited to engagements where the fighting once formations and cohesion had broken down, making them well suited to siege assaults and special missions. Their armour appears to have varied depending on the type of mission they were conducting. When taking part in rapid forced marches or combat in broken terrain, so common in the eastern Persian Empire, it appears that they wore little more than a helmet and a cloak (exomis

Exomis

The exomis was a Greek tunic used by workers and light infantry. The tunic largely replaced the older chitoniskos as the main tunic of the hoplites during the later 5th century BC...

) so as to enhance their stamina and mobility. However, when engaging in heavy hand to hand fighting, for instance during a siege or pitched battle, they would have worn body armour of either linen or bronze. This variety of armaments made them an extremely versatile force.

In the last years of Alexander's reign the Hypaspists were renamed and became the Argyraspides

Argyraspides

The Argyraspides , were a division of the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great, who were so called because they carried silver-plated shields. They were picked men, were commanded by Nicanor, the son of Parmenion, and were held in high honour by Alexander. They were hypaspists, having changed...

, or Silver Shields.

Other Infantry Troops

Philip's control over the mines of northern Greece gave him access to unprecedented (for his part of the world) wealth in gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

and silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, and enabled him to build his famous army. Philip and Alexander hired thousands of mercenaries from various nations to round-out their armies. Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...

, a Greek historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, records troops as varied as archers from Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

, heavy cavalry from Thessaly

Thessaly

Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

(a confederate state of Macedon), spearmen from Pontus

Pontus

Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...

and Phrygia

Phrygia

In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...

n peltasts. These mixed troops provided added strength and flexibility throughout Alexander's conquests.

Siege warfare

See Polyidus of Thessaly

Polyidus of Thessaly

Polyidus of Thessaly was an ancient Greek military engineer of Philip, who made improvements in the covered battering-ram during Philip's siege of Byzantium in 340 BC...

, Diades of Pella

Diades of Pella

Diades of Pella , , was a Thessalian inventor of many siege engines, student of Philip II's military engineer Polyidus of Thessaly....

The Macedonians had developed their siege tactics under Philip. They had for the first time conducted successful sieges against strongly held and fortified positions. This was a dramatic shift from earlier warfare where Greek armies had lacked the ability to conduct an effective assault. The Spartans

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

for instance, during the Peloponnesian War

Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...

were never able to take Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

itself despite easily conquering her surrounding territory.

This dramatic change owed much to the development of effective artillery. This had begun around 400 BC in Syracuse under Dionysius I. By Alexander’s time the Macedonians had developed torsion and possessed a variety of stone throwing catapults and ballista

Ballista

The ballista , plural ballistae, was an ancient missile weapon which launched a large projectile at a distant target....

like large crossbows. These weapons were constructed in a composite fashion from wood, sinew and horn which gave them tremendous power. This allowed them shower the defenders of the city with missiles and create a breach in the walls themselves.

In conjunction with this the Macedonians possessed an effective array of siege towers. These allowed men to approach and assault the enemy walls without being exposed to potentially withering missile fire. Equally they meant more men could put on the walls in a shorter period of time, as when using ladder the men were restricted to moving up in single file making the task of defending the walls far easier.

Combined Tactics

The Macedonian army was one of the first military forces to use tactics taking into account combined, varied forces, using a variety of troops to fulfill specific roles and form a greater whole.

The tactics used by the Macedonian armies throughout the eras of course varied.There were comparatively simplistic tactics, which form the most enduring image of this force: cavalry stationed on either wing of the army, or both, waiting for the phalanx to pin the enemy before charging the foes' flank or rear to devastating effect. There were also very elaborate tactics: at Gaugamela, Alexander used careful maneuver to overextend enemy lines, a variety of forces to pin his foes striking elements, and mobile elements to make a decisive attack in the weak point he had forced his foe to create.

Decline

The armies of the Diadochi

Diadochi

The Diadochi were the rival generals, family and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for the control of Alexander's empire after his death in 323 BC...

period were equipped and fought mainly in the same style as Alexander's. Towards the end, however, there was a general slide away from the combined arms

Combined arms

Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different branches of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects...

approach, and the phalanx once more became the arm of decision, much like in the days of the earlier hoplites. So long as everyone was using the same tactics these weaknesses were not immediately apparent, but against a varied force and complex tactics, the Hellenistic-era phalanx fell prey to its foes. The Phalanx finally met its end in the Ancient world when the more flexible Roman Hastati and Principi contributed to the end of Macedon in the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.

External links

Twilight of the Polis and the rise of Macedon (Philip, Demosthenes and the Fall of the Polis). Yale University courses, Lecture 24. (Introduction to Ancient Greek History)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Macedonian cavalry

The Companion Cavalry (Greek: 'Εταίροι)

Thessalian Cavalry

Light Cavalry and Allies

Development

Phalanx

Macedonian shield

Hypaspists

Other Infantry Troops

Siege warfare

Combined Tactics

Decline

Further reading

External links