The Roman Maniple vs. XT November 15, 2004, 11:52pm #14. [1] Philip II was a hostage in Thebes for much of his youth (367-360), where he witnessed the combat tactics of the general Epaminondas, which then influenced his restructuring of the infantry. #WolfAndKaisaYou´ve never seen a Rome II battle like this!! And hence, it takes a more skilled commander with an integrated army to be able to use it effectively. And I don't agree with a poster who claimed that Philip's victory was that of a professional Macedonian army vs Greek militia. The Histories, Book XVIII, Chapters 28-32: In my sixth book I made a promise, still unfulfilled, of taking a fitting opportunity of drawing a comparison between the arms of the Romans and Macedonians, and their respective system of tactics, and pointing out how they differ for better or worse from each other. The standard Byzantine phalanx had adopted the Hellenistic system of combat called the Chiliarchy that was generally made up of 650 skutatoi and 350 toxotai. The Macedonian phalanx is an infantry formation developed by Philip II. I know that the Greek phalanx was a "frontal only thing", but so was the Macedonian phalanx. The Macedonian phalanx now was used to pin the centre of the enemy line, while cavalry and more mobile infantry struck at the foe's flanks. The Macedonian success was not due to their phalanx's superiority (with the sarissa pike). Re: greeks phalanx vs macedonian phalanx? I'm often asked questions such as this: As an adjective phalangeal is relating to a phalanx. From there, Alexander thought of creating an experimental phalanx. Must have been pretty intimidating. Shop our range of T-Shirts, Tanks, Hoodies, Dresses, and more. The Macedonian Phalanx was built to fight against the Greek Phalanx. The Macedonian pike phalanx dominated the battlefields of Greece and the Near and Middle East for over two centuries. [5] The secondary weapon was a shortsword called a xiphos. As a verb digit is to point at or point out with the finger. It was one of the most successful infantry formations of the ancient world, only rivalled by the manipular formation of the Roman legions. The weapons of the first five rows of men all projected beyond the front of the formation, so that there were more spear points than available targets at any given time. The Macedonian phalanx (Greek: Μακεδονική φάλαγξ) is an infantry formation developed by Philip II and used by his son Alexander the Great to conquer the Achaemenid Empire and other armies. [3] Philip also increased the amount of training required for the infantry and introduced regulations on military behaviour. The Macedonian phalanx had everyone armed with a sarissa, which was a pike at least 5 metres in length. Like the Greek phalanx, only those in the front ranks wore body armour, with the most common protection being a helmet for those in the rear. The formation was made up of spearmen carrying 18 to 20 ft (5.5–6 m) long spears. [2] Philip called the soldiers in the phalanx pezhetairoi, meaning "foot-companions", bolstering the importance of the phalanx to the king. Sets AG024-039 allow for the creation of a fully modular Phalanx, such as would have appeared under Alexander at the Battle of Guagamela. Reason being is phalangites were meant to hold the enemy lines in place while heavy horse circled in and smashed the rear or flanks. Instead of an aspis they had a much smaller shield. Greek Soldier; Maniple; Phalanx; What do you think? [3] During Alexander's campaign, the phalanx remained more or less the same, with the notable difference being more non-Macedonian soldiers among the ranks. We have to remember that Alexander’s army only had a small portion of phalangites relative to the rest of the army. [4] All of the armor and weaponry a phalangite would carry totaled about 40 pounds, which was close to 10 pounds less than the weight of Greek hoplite equipment. The Macedonian phalanx was not very different from the Hoplite phalanx of other Greeks states, it was better trained, armed with the sarissa enabling it to outreach its competitors and stave off enemy cavalry, and wore far lighter armor enabling longer endurance and long fast forced marches, including the ability to sprint to close and overwhelm opposing positions and archers. The Macedonian pike phalanx dominated the battlefields of Greece and the Near and Middle East for over two centuries. phalanx . [3] Due to the structure of the phalanx, it was weakest in the rear and on the right. WAB Macedonian Phalanx vs. Roman Legion. These were called sarissas.They were two-handed; the smaller shields were slung over the left shoulder. [1] The phalanx was later changed to a 16 by 16 formation, and while the date for this change is still unknown, it occurred before 331 under Philip’s rule. [2] The rest of the file was filled up by more inexperienced soldiers, often Persians during Alexanders Campaign. That is simply not true. The Byzantines reintroduced the formation in the experimental mixed phalanx of stratiotes, peltasts and archers, which Alexander the Great had thought to use, inspired by his "gospel", the Iliad.[8]. Every soldier held a 16 cubit spear. For the record, by Greek phalanx I mean hoplites equipped with an aspis, a dory, a xiphos, a bronze cuirass and a Corinthian helmet, and by Macedonian phalanx I mean phalangites equipped with a sarissa, a small shield and … Macedonian Phalanx. [2] Philip's military reforms were a new approach to the current hoplite warfare which focused on their shield, the hoplon; his focus was on a new weapon, the sarissa. check out the. And hence, it takes a more skilled commander with an integrated army to be able to use it effectively. Macedonian phalanx vs. Greek phalanx. The hypaspists, elite infantrymen who served as the king's bodyguard,[7] were stationed on the immediate right of the phalanx wielding hoplite sized spears and shields. These ancient soldiers filled their enemy with fear and constituted the might of their nation’s army at the height of its power. It was one of the most successful infantry formations of the ancient world, only rivaled by the manipular formation of the Roman legions. The Macedonian phalanx unlike the traditional Greek Hoplite phalanx was not engineered to defeat its enemy all by itself. Unique Phalanx clothing designed and sold by artists for women, men, and everyone. Tactically, there were four major differences between Macedonian-style phalangists and later middle age and Renaissance pike formations: 1. His army was never a phalanx army armed with the sarissa. Three great battles—Mantinea (418 BCE), Leuctra (371 BCE), and Gaugamela (331 BCE)—demonstrate the development of Greek and Macedonian warfare from the simple hoplite phalanx employed by Greek farmers defending their fields, into the powerful, tactically flexible army which allowed Alexander the Great to conquer the Persian Empire. Die Makedonische Phalanx war eine schwere Infanterieformation von hoher militärgeschichtlicher Bedeutung für die Staaten der antiken hellenistischen Epoche. show more show less. If this is your first visit, be sure to [4] Men in rows behind the initial five angled their spears at a 45 degree angle in an attempt to ward off arrows or other projectiles. [2], Each phalangite carried as his primary weapon a sarissa, a double-pointed pike over 6 m (18 ft) in length, weighing about 6.6kg (14.5 pounds). The Macedonian phalanx is an infantry formation developed by Philip II.It was used by his son Alexander the Great to conquer the Persian Empire.The formation was made up of spearmen carrying 18 to 20 ft (5.5–6 m) long spears. The sarissae were carried in two pieces before a battle and then slid together when they were being used. Discover (and save!) Macedonian phalanx was more powerful but more specialized troops. The Macedonian Empire of King Philip II, prior to his victory at Chaeronea in 338 BC. The Macedonian phalanx wins easily and its not even close regardless of the knight’s equipment, formation, leadership or tactics. It also allowed a higher proportion of the soldiers to be actively engage… The phalanx used the "oblique line with refused left" arrangement, designed to force enemies to engage with soldiers on the furthest right end, increasing the risk of opening a gap in their lines for the cavalry to break through. The skutatoi formed a line of 15-20 ranks deep, in close order shoulder to shoulder. Besides classical hoplites Hellenistic nations began to field two new types of hoplites, the Thureophoroi and the Thorakitai. The Macedonian phalanx continued to be used from Germany to Egypt and did prove to be effective. The hoplites would lock their shields together, and the first few ranks of soldiers would project their spears out over the first rank of shields. Macedonian phalanx was more powerful but more specialized troops. The phalanx was much more rigid, but overwhelmingly powerful in a frontal assault. 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