[39] Foot Companions were levied from the peasantry of Macedon. It should be stressed that the archaeological discoveries show that the phalangites also used the two-edged sword (xiphos) as well as the traditional Greek hoplite spear (doru/δόρυ), which was much shorter than the sarissa. Properly nice figures sculpted by Steve Saleh and Nick Collier with Mark Copplestone, they paint up a treat, pics below are armoured phalanx prior to adding the shields and basing effects. The basic structure of the army inherited by Philip II was the division of the companion cavalry (hetairoi) from the foot companions (pezhetairoi), augmented by various allied troops, foreign levied soldiers, and mercenaries. [42], Each phalangite carried as his primary weapon a sarissa, which was a type of pike. At the Battle of Hydaspes, the massed fire of the horse archers was effective at disordering the Indian cavalry and helped to neutralise the Indian chariots. The army of the Kingdom of Macedon was among the greatest military forces of the ancient world. AMA1 . They had reached a showdown. It was the birth of the citizen-warrior. [40] Through extensive drilling and training, the Foot Companions were able to execute complex manoeuvres in absolute silence, an ability that was fascinating and unnerving to enemies. Considered semi-barbarous by some metropolitan Greeks, the Macedonians were a martial people; they drank deeply of unwatered wine (the very mark of a barbarian) and no youth was considered to be fit to sit with the men at table until he had killed, on foot with a spear, a wild boar. The Hypaspists were of privileged Macedonian blood and their senior chiliarchy (χιλιαρχία) formed the Agema[49] foot bodyguard of Alexander III. [36] However, the introduction of the sarissa pike in conjunction with a smaller shield seem to have been innovations devised by Philip himself, or at the very least he produced the definitive synthesis of earlier developments. 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) so as to enhance their stamina and mobility. The oblique advance with the left refused, the careful manoeuvring to create disruption in the enemy formation and the knock out charge of the strong right wing, spearheaded by the Companion cavalry, became standard Macedonian practice. Since 2005, it is a fully professional defense force compatible with NATO standards. As had been anticipated, the Illyrians stretched their formation in order to bring the Macedonian left wing into action. rank, and less well paid, than Leonnatus, the Bodyguard, just mentioned. They had for the first time conducted successful sieges against strongly held and fortified positions. This did not include camp followers. These cavalrymen would have been equipped very similarly to the Thessalians and Companions, but they deployed in a square formation eight deep and sixteen abreast. Once levied they became professional soldiers. [13] Along with Thessalian cavalry contingents, the Companions — raised from landed nobility — made up the bulk of the Macedonian heavy cavalry. Offensive weapons were a pike (sarissa), and a short sword (machaira). Torsion machines used skeins of sinew or hair rope, which were wound around a frame and twisted so as to power two bow arms; these could develop much greater force than earlier forms (such as the gastraphetes) reliant on the elastic properties of a bow-stave. Although it did not succeed in every battle, the army of Philip II was able to successfully adopt the military tactics of its enemies, such as the embolon (i.e. Most authorities regard the prodromoi as being raised from Macedonians, which would parallel the Athenian prodromoi, who were raised from the Thetes, the lowest census class of Athenian citizens. In appearance, they would have been almost identical to the hypaspists. Finally the big guns of the Macedonians, partial led by King Phillip II and after his death by his son Alexander the Great. [58] However, in discussing the discrepancies among ancient historians about the size of Alexander the Great's army, N.G.L. Alexander usually launched the Companions at the enemy after a gap had opened up between their units or disorder had already disrupted their ranks. The Iphicratean peltast was not a skirmisher but a form of light hoplite, characterised by using a longer spear and smaller shield. In the primary sources, Arrian mentions that Aretes commanded the prodromoi; in the same context Curtius says that Aretes commanded the sarissophoroi. The military forces of this successor state, the Antigonid Macedonian army, retained many features of the armies of Philip and Alexander. 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. [73], Philip II's phalangite infantry were equipped with a 'proto-Telamon shield' that already diverged from the hoplon style shield featured in sculpted artwork of a Katerini tomb, dated perhaps to the reign of Amyntas III of Macedon. The pay was not the best for the time but could be remedied by advance in rank, loot from wars, and additional pay from emperors. The Macedonian Army – Meet the Elite Ancient Soldiers Who Made Alexander ‘Great’ by MilitaryHistoryNow.com • 12 October, 2020 • 0 Comments Alexander the Great’s wild successes were as much the result of his father Phillip II’s military reforms as … And so I started my journey into the ancient world. For the task of breaching the walled fortifications of cities, Philip II hired engineers such as Polyidus of Thessaly and Diades of Pella, who were capable of building state of the art siege engines and artillery firing large bolts. 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". Ashley, pp. These structures, which were wheeled and several stories high, were covered with wet hide or metal sheathing to protect from missile fire, especially incendiaries, and the largest might be equipped with artillery. There is some ambiguity concerning the use of the term prodromoi by the sources; it may have been used to describe any cavalry undertaking a scouting, skirmishing or screening mission, or it may have denoted a single unit, or indeed both. A figure from the lid of a bronze dinos or cauldron of Etruscan origin excavated at Santa Maria di Capua Vetere, sixth century B.C.E. In conjunction with this, each squadron was divided into two lochoi. Parthian Shot. 2. The conquests of Alexander would have been impossible without the army his father created. [107][108], Light infantry javelineers would have used a version of the pelte (Ancient Greek: πέλτη) shield, from whence their name, peltast, derived. Junior officers, one at the rear and one in the centre, were in place to steady the ranks and maintain the cohesion of the formation, similar to modern-day NCOs. The Macedonian Army - Alexander the Great 1. Given the sometimes confusing accounts from ancient writers, historians can only deduce that the Somatophylakes or Bodyguards probably comprised a separate unit within the ancient Macedonian army. Ranks in the Army of Republic of Macedonia, Ministry of defence of Republic of Macedonia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_ranks_of_North_Macedonia&oldid=964567549, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 June 2020, at 08:35. [26] The numbers given for Alexander's invasion of the Persian Empire included 1,800 such men. The rank was introduced in the Greek military in 1946. and the insignia later in the same year. This was probably undertaken to allow for the increase in size of each squadron, as reinforcements and amalgamations meant that the Companion cavalry grew in size. There were no ranks in the modern sense of a hierarchy of titles, although the army was organized into a hierarchical command. While Macedonian cavalry of the 4th century BC had fought without shields, the use of shields by cavalry was adopted from the Celtic invaders of the 270s BC who settled in … The sources also indicate that the phalangites were on occasion armed with javelins. (28) Later, in the final reorganization of the army, in 323, Arrian refers to the basic infantry file (decad) as made up of a Macedonian decadarch, with a dimoirites next in rank, and then a 'ten stater' NCO, 'earning less than the dimoirites, but more than the rank and file', with twelve Persian rank and file soldiers, (29) and another 'ten stater' Macedonian in the rear (Anab. This variety of armaments made them an extremely versatile force. 14.49). Manoeuvres and drills were made into competitive events, and the truculent Macedonians vied with each other to excel. These helmets were worn by the heavy infantry. The Macedonian army was one of the first military forces to use 'combined arms tactics', using a variety of specialised troops to fulfill specific battlefield roles in order to form a greater whole. ... Macedonian Phalanx. Subcategories . The prodromoi, are sometimes referred to as sarissophoroi, "pikemen" or "lancers", which leads to the conclusion that they sometimes were armed with an uncommonly long xyston (believed to be 14 ft long), though certainly not an infantry pike. The Macedonian army perfected the co-ordination of different troop types, an early example of combined arms tactics — the heavy infantry phalanx, skirmish infantry, archers, light cavalry and heavy cavalry, and siege engines were all deployed in battle; each troop type being used to its own particular advantage and creating a synergy of mutual support. However, it was the reforms in organisation, drill and tactics introduced by Philip II that transform… Certainly, cavalry, including Alexander himself, fought on foot during sieges and assaults on fortified settlements, phalangites are described using javelins and some infantrymen were trained to ride horses. Although a Spartan boy learned enough to be literate, more importantly, he learned how to endure … If there were any Pezetairoi already in Asia that joined the army before the battle, so that there were more than 12000 Macedonian foot present, the theory falls apart entirely, since then there would be then more than 1500 men per unit. The rank and file (volunteers as well as conscripts) were issued their kit gratis… [102], Archaeological remains exist for only one type of limb armour: bronze greaves, which protected the lower leg. 34-35 (light cavalry weaponry), 45 (javelins), 47-48 (bows/archery). [115], Following the fragmentation of the empire of Alexander, Macedon became an independent kingdom once again. Especially numerous were the Thracians; the Thracian peltasts performed the same function in battle as the Agrianians, but for the left wing of the army. Its actual length is unknown, but apparently it was twice as long as the dory. [115], The battle fought in 358 BC near Lake Ohrid was intended to free Macedon of the threat from Illyria and recover some western areas of Macedon from Illyrian control. The sarissa was the pike used by the ancient Macedonian army. By the time of Xenophon, the Spartan army’s lochos consisted of 144 men. [89] The royal burial in the Vergina Tomb contained a helmet which was a variation on the Thracian/Phrygian type, exceptionally made of iron, this would support its use by cavalry. [64][65], Philip II was also able to field archers, including mercenary Cretan archers and perhaps some native Macedonians. The rank and file (volunteers as well as conscripts) were issued their kit gratis from government-operated … Prior to any outbreak in fighting between the two Macedonian armies, Cynane and Alcetas met in … Discharge could only be granted by the King. Late versions of the Chalcidian helmet were still in use; this helmet was a lightened form developed from the Corinthian helmet, it had a nasal protection and modest-sized cheek pieces. The rank insignia for enlisted personnel for the army and air force respectively. If Philip II had not been the father of Alexander the Great, he would be more widely known as a first-rate military innovator, tactician and strategist, and as a consummate politician. It lacked prosperous farmers willing to serve when required – men who provided their own equipment and were proficient in its use. [9], Philip's first achievement was to unify Macedon through his army. unit of a few hundred horsemen) of companion cavalry composed entirely of ethnic Persians. The Companion cavalry, or Hetairoi ( Ἑταῖροι ), were the elite arm of the Macedonian army, and have been regarded as the finest quality cavalry in the ancient world. [74] As evidenced by the Alexander Sarcophagus, troops serving Alexander the Great were also armoured in the hoplite fashion. By the time Alexander campaigned in India, and subsequently, the cavalry had been drastically reformed and included thousands of horse-archers from Iranian peoples such as the Dahae (prominent at the Battle of Hydaspes). Six syntagmata formed a taxis of 1,500 men commanded by a strategos, a variable number of taxeis formed a phalanx under a phalangiarch. [34], Suitable men from the Macedonian peasantry were recruited into an infantry formation, called the phalanx. The ranks are divided into four main groups, depending on the position and function: Generals, Officers, NC officers and Soldiers. This had begun around 400 BC in Syracuse under Dionysius I. On his Asian campaign, Alexander, had a phalanx of 6 veteran taxeis, numbering 9,000 men. Together, Alexander and his father would create an army unlike anything the ancient world had even seen. The army of the Kingdom of Macedon was among the greatest military forces of the ancient world. THE ANCIENT IRANIAN ARMY. Philip took pains to keep them always under arms and either fighting or drilling. The Army Rangers of Ancient Egypt were known as the Medjay. [6] An early 4th-century BC stone-carved relief from Pella shows a Macedonian hoplite infantryman wearing a pilos helmet and wielding a short sword showing a pronounced Spartan influence on the Macedonian army before Philip II. [63], Peltasts were armed with a number of javelins and a sword, carried a light shield but wore no armour, though they sometimes had helmets; they were adept at skirmishing and were often used to guard the flanks of more heavily equipped infantry. The rank insignia for commissioned officers for the army and air force respectively. The ranks are divided into four main groups, depending on the position and function: Generals, Officers, NC officers and Soldiers. This was a light shield made of leather-faced wicker. By introducing military service as a full-time occupation, Philip was able to drill his men regularly, ensuring unity and cohesion in his ranks. The largest lithoboloi could fire stones up to 80 kg in weight. Some members of the Corinthian League sent soldiers to fight against the Persians - in addition to infantry, some states sent small numbers of horsemen to join the Macedonian army. Pages in category "Military ranks of ancient Macedon" The following 9 pages are in this category, out of 9 total. A charming Amazon warrior woman delivering a Parthian shot. To the right of these pezhetairoi were the far more mobile hypaspists also called shield-bearers. [75] However, Errington argues that breastplates were not worn by the phalanx pikemen of either Philip II or Philip V's reign periods (during which sufficient evidence exists). They were, however, quite vulnerable to shock-capable cavalry and often operated to particular advantage on broken ground where cavalry was useless and heavy infantry found it difficult to maintain formation. 'flying wedge') formation of the Scythians. [98] It is to be doubted that this type of armour was worn by persons other than of royal or very exalted rank. 7.23.3-4). The 'phalangites' were armed with a much longer spear, the sarissa, and less heavily armoured. [72] Alexander's reaction was to make plans to rule Asia with a locally recruited army, but his death intervened before he could carry out this plan. They were prominent in accounts of Alexander's siege assaults in close proximity to Alexander himself. Macedonian Army ranks are divided into four main groups, depending on the position and function: Generals, Officers, NC officers and Soldiers. The deployment of differing types of armour and weapons was dependent solely on the requirements of a particular tactical situation. Arising at some point toward the end of the Dark Ages (approximately 800 BCE to 600 … Its organization and weaponry were similar to the Companion Cavalry, though the earlier Thessalian way of fighting emphasised the use of javelins. Central Macedonia was good horse-rearing country and cavalry was prominent in Macedonian armies from early times. Cleitus, an officer of the Companions, saved Alexander the Great's life at the Granicus by cutting off an enemy horseman's arm with his sword. The linothorax could be reinforced with plate bronze or bronze scale elements. Ancient Macedonian army. At Gaugamela, the Thracians fielded four ilai and were about 500 strong. There has been considerable debate as to when Alexander first used Orientals on active service with the army. [22], The original 1,800 Companions who accompanied Alexander to Asia were augmented by 300 reinforcements arriving from Macedon after the first year of campaigning. [12], The Companion cavalry, or Hetairoi (Ἑταῖροι), were the elite arm of the Macedonian army, and were the offensive force that made the decisive attack in most of the battles of Alexander the Great. [25] The Thessalian cavalry was famed for its use of rhomboid formations, said to have been developed by the Thessalian Tagos (head of the Thessalian League) Jason of Pherae. It would appear that the same unit of cavalry was known by both names. After Philip's death, his successor, Alexander the Great, used the army to conquer the Achaemenid Empire. [68], According to Arrian, Alexander used Arachosian, Bactrian, Parapamisadaean, Sogdian, Indian, and Scythian troops. 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