Chapter 6 The Macedonian Heavy Infantry of Philip II and Alexander the Great

In: Brill's Companion to the Campaigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great
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Graham C. L. Wrightson
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Abstract

The Macedonian infantry was the bedrock of the armies of both Philip II and Alexander the Great. The successes of these soldiers began an era of military dominance for a hundred and fifty years that ended only with the arrival of the Roman legions in Greece in the early second century. Though the sarissa phalanx was the infamous strength of Macedonian and Macedonian style armies from Philip II to Mithridates VI of Pontus, Macedonian infantry included numerous other types of soldier from Royal Hypaspist hamippoi through to light infantry. This chapter will go in turn through the main two units of Macedonian heavy infantry in the armies of Philip II and Alexander, the phalanx, including the Asthetairoi under Alexander, and the hypaspists, which was the elite veteran unit under Alexander known as the pezhetairoi under Philip. It will examine each unit’s armament and battle roles, training, command structure, and recruitment. The chapter will demonstrate the professionalism of the Macedonian infantry and why it was so important both to the conquering armies of Philip and Alexander and to all the armies that followed for the next two hundred and fifty years.

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