Ancient warfare
The Macedonian phalanx – with hammer and anvil, Alexander created a world empire
Scene from the movie “Alexander” by Oliver Stone
© PR
The Macedonian phalanx was a super weapon of the ancient world. With it Alexander created his world empire, only the Romans knew how to defeat the Greek hammer.
The phalanx was born out of necessity. Otherwise it was hardly possible, because the deep formation achieved its effect as a collective. A caste of wealthy elite warriors would have always refused to be included in the crowd. When Philip II in 359 BC When he ascended the Macedonian throne, the country was rather dilapidated. The people were impoverished, ill-equipped and barely trained. To become a great swordsman, it took a lifetime of training. So he came up with another idea. He equipped his soldiers with light armor and gave them a four to six meter long lance, the sarissa. For a proud aristocrat, the Larissa was an unthinkable weapon, because for the lone fighter it was completely worthless. In a man-to-man fight, the opponent can bypass the unwieldy long spear and then attack the porter unhindered, who also only carried a small shield. Larissa worked in the crowd. When several rows lowered the spear and then point after point protruded forward like a steel hedgehog.
Only strong as a group
The length of the skewers meant that the opponents could not reach the Macedonians with their swords. If the Larissa was supported with the blunt end in the ground, she could absorb an attack from horsemen and even chariots. To use them effectively, strength and the ability to follow the movements of the formation with iron discipline were required.
Similar to the Roman tortoise, the phalanx was a compact formation that was set up 16 segments deep. Due to the length of the pikes, an opponent faced five points. This covered only a small front width with your troops, but at this width the phalanx looked like a hammer. Once started, the formation was unstoppable as the back tiers literally pushed the front men forward. If all went well, this formation would break up the enemy line in several places. With the breaking of the line, the battle was decided in those days.
The shortcoming of the formation was its clumsiness, but Philipp made up for that with constant drill. His soldiers were able to quickly change the direction and depth of the formation even in battle. This made it difficult to attack the phalanx in the weak points, the sides and back. They could march longer and faster than others.
Basis of a world empire
With the Macedonian phalanx, Philip’s son and successor Alexander inherited the strongest and most disciplined infantry of the time. He perfected their use in the “hammer and anvil” tactic. Part of his army attacked the enemy in phalanx form, but did not try to throw him out of position, only involved him in combat. This “anvil” tied the opposing troops, which could no longer move freely. Then Alexander himself leads his elite troop of the Hetairoi (Companions) against a weak section of the enemy. The Hetairoi fought as shock cavalry on horseback. Alexander is said to have loved his warhorse Bucephalus like a friend, and Bucephalus accompanied him in all battles until death.
The horsemen pushed through the front, which the enemy could no longer reinforce. Then the Hetairoi turned against the rest of the enemy soldiers, who were now also more strongly oppressed by Alexander’s other troops. The hammer struck, the enemy trapped between him and the anvil. Alexander’s great victories did not weaken his opponent, but rather wiped out his army.
Outmaneuvered in the end
The discipline of the Macedonians was crucial, just as important was that the opponent’s troops were less well trained on the movements in their formations. As soon as an opponent could move more coordinated on the battlefield through a flatter setup, the phalanx had to get into trouble. Their short front width necessarily led to a short line. The era of the phalanx ended when the Macedonians met the Romans. The legionaries were just as disciplined and trained as the Macedonian foot soldiers. But their generals were able to move small groups of soldiers – maniples and cohorts – around the battlefield in a targeted manner, so the phalanx was outmaneuvered.