Hand of fate soldiers on leave5/16/2023 ![]() ![]() The Companion Cavalry was the more important division and was commanded at first by Philotas and later by Cleitus and Hephaestion. There were two divisions of the cavalry - the Companion and the prodromoi - the latter was the more flexible and versatile Balkan cavalry which was used primarily as scouts. The cavalry was the army's main strike force and would make the decisive breakthrough of the enemy lines - this was evident at the battles of Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela. On both the right and left flanks were the cavalry. A special band of veterans within the hypaspists would become known as the Silver Shields. There were three distinct classes of hypaspists - the “royal” who served as the bodyguards of the king as well as guards at banquets and official events, an elite force known as the argyraspids, and finally the actual hypaspists corp. They were mostly from the peasantry of Macedon and, thereby, had no tribal or regional affiliation meaning they loyal only to the king himself. They were recruited for their skill and physique, requiring a special level of training. ![]() Although not as heavily armed - carrying only a shorter spear or javelin - they served a special role in both Philip and Alexander's army. Besides the sarissa, each man possessed a smaller double-edge sword or xiphos for close-in-hand fighting.Īs indicated earlier, to the right of these pezhetairoi were the far more mobile hypaspists also called shield-bearers. Like his predecessor, he, too, carried a shield or aspis - similar to the hoplon, but due to the size of the sarissa (one had to use both hands) it was carried by a sling over the shoulder. The hoplite now became a pezhetairoi or foot companion. Obviously, the length of the sarissa made it difficult to handle, demanding both strength and dexterity. Next, Philip changed the principal weaponry from the hoplite spear to the sarissa - an 18-20 feet pike it had the advantage of reaching over the much shorter spears of the opposition. Each man occupied only two cubits of space until actual battle, when he used only one cubit. 32 dekas (a line of ten men – later sixteen) made up each lochoi. A taxis was composed of three lochoi (each commanded by a lochagos) or 512 men apiece. Every taxis was broken into distinct subdivisions. The fundamental fighting unit became the taxes which usually comprised 1,540 men and commanded by a taxiarch. The first order of business was the reorganization of the phalanx, providing each individual unit with its own commander - thereby allowing for better communication. Later, Alexander would use these siege towers with devastating effect at Tyre (6,000 would be killed and 30,000 enslaved). In addition, he created a corp of engineers to develop siege weaponry such as towers and catapults. To begin with, he increased the size of the army from 10,000 to 24,000, and enlarged the cavalry from 600 to 3,500 this was no longer an army of citizen-warriors. Most historians believed Philip developed his ideas while a hostage in Thebes, observing their notorious Sacred Band. Philip took a poorly disciplined group of men and turned them into a formidable army. Previous wars such as the Persian and Peloponnesian War had demonstrated that the old ways were no longer dependable. Together, Alexander and his father would create an army unlike anything the ancient world had even seen. He immediately initiated a series of military reforms. ![]() When Philip II became king of Macedonia in 359 BCE, he inherited an army that was relatively ineffective. Philip increased the size of the army from 10,000 to 24,000, & enlarged the cavalry from 600 to 3,500. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |