29.03.2005, 20:09
Hier ein längerer englischer Text zur Armee der Makedonier, den es im Netzt nicht mehr gibt:
THE MACEDONIAN ARMY
For much of Classical history Macedonia was a back-water territory on the fringes of the Greek world. During the Persian Wars the Macedonian cavalry were forced to fight on the Persian side, and were defeated by the Greek’s at the battle of Plataea in 479 B.C. Little is known about Macedonian history before the time of Philip II, except for the continuous wars with various tribal enemies that surrounded them. The Macedonians were originally a Doric people who, through many generations of isolation from Greek culture tended to identify more with their tribal neighbors rather than the Greeks to the south, whom they felt were snooty and pompous. These neighbors included Paeonians, Triballians, Thracians, and Illyrians, all of these were tough barbarian tribes, difficult to contain let alone subdue.
But the more enlightened Macedonians understood that they must eventually be able to compete with the expanding Greeks, as they were the real ultimate threat. Various Kings attempted to "Hellenize" the Macedonians, but this was mostly rejected by the Macedonian people and more importantly, the army. Yet suddenly, incredibly, in the middle of the fourth century B.C. the Macedonians became rulers of Greece and immediately thereafter conquered the huge Persian Empire. All of this can be attributed to the innovations and actions of one man, Philip II, who became king of Macedon in 359 BCE. Almost single handedly he turned the "Backward" Macedonians into the most organized and efficient fighting force the world had yet seen. Only his son, Alexander the Great was able to eclipse Philip’s fame with even more amazing feats of conquest.
This army forged by Philip and Alexander was centered around Philip’s own invention- the Macedonian Phalanx; a battle formation that was to dominate Mediterranean warfare for the next one hundred and fifty years. Armies that included Macedonian Phalanx's eventually dominated vast territories- from the fringes of India, throughout the former Persian Empire, Greece, and even Egypt formed armies based on serried ranks of pikemen. Finally one by one, the pike armies were eventually destroyed by the Roman Legions, which replaced the phalanx as the dominant fighting formation of ancient warfare.
PHILIP II OF MACEDON
In 359 BCE, Macedonia was thrown into disarray when their King (Perdiccas III) was killed in a battle with their old enemies the Triballians. Because Perdiccas’ son Amyntas was an infant, his brother Philip was made regent. Philip’s position was precarious indeed. Not only were there the usual tribal enemies surging on Macedon’s frontier borders, but the Greeks were once again trying to eat away at Macedonia’s weak frontiers. Athens was playing power politics in the Chersonese peninsula in an attempt to win back some of her empire and prestige lost in the Pelopponessian War. Almost directly to the south, the Thebans, by virtue of their great victories over Sparta by the military genius Epaminondas, were the "Hegemons" of Greece and at the peak of their military power.
As if these threats were not bad enough, Philip had to deal with five other claimants to the throne. (It appears that usually the last contender standing would be rewarded with the Macedonian crown!). Philip’s energy and skills soon overpowered his rivals, and he quickly threw back the barbarians ravaging the countryside. The Macedonians were so impressed with this vigorous leadership that they acclaimed him King Philip II, dumping the young Amyntas.
South of Macedon, the ancient city of Thebes had gained control of Greece by the sheer will and presence of one man. Epaminondas of Thebes was the greatest general to come from the era of the Greek city state. He had re-invented tactics and by brilliant maneuvers and stratagems defeated even the lofty Spartans- destroying not only Sparta’s era of invincibility, but causing irreplaceable losses to her manpower. However at his crowning moment Epaminondas was killed in battle- leading his Thebans in battle at Mantinea in 362 B.C. Without Epaminondas’ savvy leadership the Thebans were not able to hold onto their gains and almost immediately Greece began to fragment once more into city state squabbling. Philip knew Epaminondas well as he was a hostage to the Theban Oligarchy when he was fifteen. Being able to learn first hand the revolutionary tactics of the Thebans was very fortunate, not having to face a general of Epaminondas’ quality was probably the key factor that allowed Philip’s run of luck, guile, and brashness that eventually allowed him to conquer and become "Hegemon" of all Greece. Ultimately this prepared the way for Philip’s son Alexander, to become the west’s most famous conqueror.
REFORMING THE ARMY
Philip II inherited a polyglot army of Royal guardsmen, tribal levies and noble cavalrymen. He had already been reorganizing the army since his return from Thebes in 364 B.C. , but shortly after consolidating his reign, he could muster 600 Cavalry and 10,000 foot. The Macedonian cavalry were notably his best troops and were called Companions. Unlike the skirmishing cavalry favored by most Greek states, the Macedonian Companions preferred to fight as shock troops and wore armor, greaves, helmets, and carried a nine foot thrusting spear called a Xyston. The Agema Companions (Royal Guard), were the Kings own bodyguard and numbered 300. Philip recruited many of these from the lesser nobility obviously as a hedge to the other "nobles". Philip’s army in many ways reflected the politics of Macedonian society and he strove to consolidate his power by re-inventing his army.
The Macedonian infantry force was another matter. Aside for the Hypaspists (shield bearers), the territorial levies of infantry originally were somewhat unreliable troops. For the most part it is known that they sometimes fought in Greek style phalanxes but were most comfortable and useful as peltasts and favored "hunting" style tactics and equipment . The Agema Hypaspists were more seasoned and reliable troops. These became Philip’s "Royal" bodyguards and they were constantly kept mustered, unlike the rest of the Macedonian foot troops. The new Macedonian King knew that his task of consolidating his position in Macedon would one day lead to conflict with Athens, Thebes, and even Sparta, thus he would need a force of infantry that could match the discipline and drill of the Hoplites that these City States could field. Philip set about to reorganize the drill and training of his army, this "momentous innovation" was unheard of at the time. He forced all of his army to learn complex tactical maneuvers, he ordered them to go on 35 mile marches with full packs and provisions, and he outlawed baggage carts that would slow down his army. The number of slaves and retainers was reduced to the bare minimum to keep this new army lean on the march. He delivered inspiring speeches to his weary and tired troops. All in all his efforts were similar to putting his whole army through boot camp!
Philip, like the Romans later on, had a knack for copying things from others and then improving upon them and creating a revolutionary new style of warfare. As a hostage of Thebes he was exposed to the innovations of Epaminondas’ and grasped how the "oblique order" of Thebans tactics was the key factor in their defeats of Spartan Hoplite armies. (the historian and general Xenophon preferred to blame Spartan drunkenness on their disasters!). Not only did these "tactics" confound the foe but the Thebans also preferred to fight in phalanxes of much greater depth than the usual Greek battle line. This allowed the less fighting skilled, and trained Thebans to put enormous pressure on one spot of the enemy line, and in fact allowed them to break through even the Spartan Guards and then roll up the Spartan phalanx from the flank. This knowledge obviously had an impact upon him as he changed the Macedonian tactics to mirror this oblique order, only instead of leading from the left as the Thebans did, the Macedonians would punch from the right flank and drive a wedge into the enemy lines with their Companion cavalry. Not only did Philip copy Theban tactics, but he increased the depth of his infantry formations to give them added punch and moral stamina. Philip was also well versed with "Thessalian tactics" which was a well known ruse used by disciplined troops to feign flight and then turn upon a straggling pursuing force (the Spartans used this ruse famously at the battle of Thermopylae).
The other innovation that completed this brilliant "New-Model" army was the lengthening of the infantryman’s spear to 12-15 foot length. This idea was copied from the famous Greek Mercenary General Iphicrates who had created a body of specialized troops of lightly armored, but well drilled pikemen that were trained to fight in a looser formation than traditional Hoplites. These "Iphicrataean" Hoplites were most famous for being involved in the destruction of a Spartan Mora (regiment) of 600 Hoplites at the battle of Coronaea in 300 B.C. The combination of these two changes in armament not only gave the Macedonian footmen a reach advantage over their spear armed Hoplite foes, but also greater depth in the Macedonian phalanx gave them the morale boost needed to stand up to and defeat the barbarian tribesmen currently threatening Macedon, and later the Greek Hoplites themselves. Because of Philip’s innovations the pike phalanx became a dominant style of warfare, one that would be copied and used by many ancient armies for the next two hundred years.
Organization of the Macedonian Phalanx
The Macedonian army Philip inherited seemed to be based on the common Doric and barbarian division by ten man files. Sometime during or shortly after Philip’s reign almost all units in his army were restructured on a more "Greek-like" 8 man file. Officers fought to the front and brought up the rear of each file. Eventually the base unit of the Pezhetairoi (foot Companions as they became known) evolved into the 256 man Syntagma formation that most ancient sources describe. A Syntagma was formed 16 ranks wide by 16 ranks deep for most situations. Two of these composed a 512 man Lochos. By Alexander’s time three Lochoi would form a Taxeis or battalion of nominally 1536 men and officers. The Taxi was led by a "Taxiarch" and some of these became Alexander’s best known officers.
Besides re-arming and re-structuring the infantry force, Philip’s insisted on drilling his troops to a degree unheard of in Greece (except maybe in Sparta). This was most effective for him since in 356 B.C. he had secured the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus which gave him a huge revenue of 1000 talents per year which allowed him to keep his army on constant operations. Except in Sparta where their warrior society was slowly attempting to rebuild their numbers of diminished Spartiates, the Greek armies were at best militia forces brought together for a campaign then disbanded in winter to tend their crops and businesses. The Greeks abhorred the expense of training their troops, and keeping them in the field for year long operations was rare, one reason why Greek sieges were usually failures. Philip changed this forever by paying his troops. He could keep them mustered and the trained cadre of his formations were always under arms to indoctrinate the new recruits. Although not the first professional army in history, the Macedonians again would prove that trained, highly drilled veterans would prove to be more than a match for their unprepared foes.
It appears that the pike armed, 16 man deep formation was quite maneuverable when compared with the Greek Phalanx. The self contained Syntagmas were able to face to the rear, or face to any flank reasonably quickly by counter marching. In emergencies the phalanx could about face, but this is undesirable as it would leave the officers at the rear. Phalangites gripped their Sarissas (pikes) in two hands and raised them when marching or maneuvering. Because of this they carried a smaller shield than the Greek Hoplite’s Hoplon. This shield was bronze faced but didnt have the broad rim that could rest on the shoulder, instead it had straps that slung it over their backs and around their necks. The Pezhetairoi would carry their shield on their backs when not in use but could swing them around quickly when close to action.
The Phalangite wore a helmet, most commonly of the Thracian style popular at the time, the two foot bronze faced shield, and the Sarissa. The front rankers possibly wore heavy armor, either composite style Hoplite cuirasses, or Muscle cuirasses of bronze. Other ranks may have been unarmored as Arrian many times relates that Alexander took "the lightest armed of the Phalanx" on many of his fast marches. After being repulsed at the Persian Gates, Alexander threatened to only replace the Phalangites lost armor with half-corselets covering only the front- so they would be less likely to turn their backs next time! Many would have worn bronze greaves on their legs, although most wouldn’t be able to afford the form fitted kind, but cheaper models secured by straps. Much of the armor was made of iron, and some armor was silvered. When the army received new armor in preparation for the invasion of India the old cuirasses were burned, implying they were composite linen panoplies. It is speculated that the Phalangites wore red tunics. Helmets were often painted blue, red or silvered. Sometimes designs or wreaths were painted on. Stars bursts and crescents seemed to be the favored shield designs of infantrymen. It is very possible that helmets displayed battalion colors.
THE MACEDONIAN ARMY
For much of Classical history Macedonia was a back-water territory on the fringes of the Greek world. During the Persian Wars the Macedonian cavalry were forced to fight on the Persian side, and were defeated by the Greek’s at the battle of Plataea in 479 B.C. Little is known about Macedonian history before the time of Philip II, except for the continuous wars with various tribal enemies that surrounded them. The Macedonians were originally a Doric people who, through many generations of isolation from Greek culture tended to identify more with their tribal neighbors rather than the Greeks to the south, whom they felt were snooty and pompous. These neighbors included Paeonians, Triballians, Thracians, and Illyrians, all of these were tough barbarian tribes, difficult to contain let alone subdue.
But the more enlightened Macedonians understood that they must eventually be able to compete with the expanding Greeks, as they were the real ultimate threat. Various Kings attempted to "Hellenize" the Macedonians, but this was mostly rejected by the Macedonian people and more importantly, the army. Yet suddenly, incredibly, in the middle of the fourth century B.C. the Macedonians became rulers of Greece and immediately thereafter conquered the huge Persian Empire. All of this can be attributed to the innovations and actions of one man, Philip II, who became king of Macedon in 359 BCE. Almost single handedly he turned the "Backward" Macedonians into the most organized and efficient fighting force the world had yet seen. Only his son, Alexander the Great was able to eclipse Philip’s fame with even more amazing feats of conquest.
This army forged by Philip and Alexander was centered around Philip’s own invention- the Macedonian Phalanx; a battle formation that was to dominate Mediterranean warfare for the next one hundred and fifty years. Armies that included Macedonian Phalanx's eventually dominated vast territories- from the fringes of India, throughout the former Persian Empire, Greece, and even Egypt formed armies based on serried ranks of pikemen. Finally one by one, the pike armies were eventually destroyed by the Roman Legions, which replaced the phalanx as the dominant fighting formation of ancient warfare.
PHILIP II OF MACEDON
In 359 BCE, Macedonia was thrown into disarray when their King (Perdiccas III) was killed in a battle with their old enemies the Triballians. Because Perdiccas’ son Amyntas was an infant, his brother Philip was made regent. Philip’s position was precarious indeed. Not only were there the usual tribal enemies surging on Macedon’s frontier borders, but the Greeks were once again trying to eat away at Macedonia’s weak frontiers. Athens was playing power politics in the Chersonese peninsula in an attempt to win back some of her empire and prestige lost in the Pelopponessian War. Almost directly to the south, the Thebans, by virtue of their great victories over Sparta by the military genius Epaminondas, were the "Hegemons" of Greece and at the peak of their military power.
As if these threats were not bad enough, Philip had to deal with five other claimants to the throne. (It appears that usually the last contender standing would be rewarded with the Macedonian crown!). Philip’s energy and skills soon overpowered his rivals, and he quickly threw back the barbarians ravaging the countryside. The Macedonians were so impressed with this vigorous leadership that they acclaimed him King Philip II, dumping the young Amyntas.
South of Macedon, the ancient city of Thebes had gained control of Greece by the sheer will and presence of one man. Epaminondas of Thebes was the greatest general to come from the era of the Greek city state. He had re-invented tactics and by brilliant maneuvers and stratagems defeated even the lofty Spartans- destroying not only Sparta’s era of invincibility, but causing irreplaceable losses to her manpower. However at his crowning moment Epaminondas was killed in battle- leading his Thebans in battle at Mantinea in 362 B.C. Without Epaminondas’ savvy leadership the Thebans were not able to hold onto their gains and almost immediately Greece began to fragment once more into city state squabbling. Philip knew Epaminondas well as he was a hostage to the Theban Oligarchy when he was fifteen. Being able to learn first hand the revolutionary tactics of the Thebans was very fortunate, not having to face a general of Epaminondas’ quality was probably the key factor that allowed Philip’s run of luck, guile, and brashness that eventually allowed him to conquer and become "Hegemon" of all Greece. Ultimately this prepared the way for Philip’s son Alexander, to become the west’s most famous conqueror.
REFORMING THE ARMY
Philip II inherited a polyglot army of Royal guardsmen, tribal levies and noble cavalrymen. He had already been reorganizing the army since his return from Thebes in 364 B.C. , but shortly after consolidating his reign, he could muster 600 Cavalry and 10,000 foot. The Macedonian cavalry were notably his best troops and were called Companions. Unlike the skirmishing cavalry favored by most Greek states, the Macedonian Companions preferred to fight as shock troops and wore armor, greaves, helmets, and carried a nine foot thrusting spear called a Xyston. The Agema Companions (Royal Guard), were the Kings own bodyguard and numbered 300. Philip recruited many of these from the lesser nobility obviously as a hedge to the other "nobles". Philip’s army in many ways reflected the politics of Macedonian society and he strove to consolidate his power by re-inventing his army.
The Macedonian infantry force was another matter. Aside for the Hypaspists (shield bearers), the territorial levies of infantry originally were somewhat unreliable troops. For the most part it is known that they sometimes fought in Greek style phalanxes but were most comfortable and useful as peltasts and favored "hunting" style tactics and equipment . The Agema Hypaspists were more seasoned and reliable troops. These became Philip’s "Royal" bodyguards and they were constantly kept mustered, unlike the rest of the Macedonian foot troops. The new Macedonian King knew that his task of consolidating his position in Macedon would one day lead to conflict with Athens, Thebes, and even Sparta, thus he would need a force of infantry that could match the discipline and drill of the Hoplites that these City States could field. Philip set about to reorganize the drill and training of his army, this "momentous innovation" was unheard of at the time. He forced all of his army to learn complex tactical maneuvers, he ordered them to go on 35 mile marches with full packs and provisions, and he outlawed baggage carts that would slow down his army. The number of slaves and retainers was reduced to the bare minimum to keep this new army lean on the march. He delivered inspiring speeches to his weary and tired troops. All in all his efforts were similar to putting his whole army through boot camp!
Philip, like the Romans later on, had a knack for copying things from others and then improving upon them and creating a revolutionary new style of warfare. As a hostage of Thebes he was exposed to the innovations of Epaminondas’ and grasped how the "oblique order" of Thebans tactics was the key factor in their defeats of Spartan Hoplite armies. (the historian and general Xenophon preferred to blame Spartan drunkenness on their disasters!). Not only did these "tactics" confound the foe but the Thebans also preferred to fight in phalanxes of much greater depth than the usual Greek battle line. This allowed the less fighting skilled, and trained Thebans to put enormous pressure on one spot of the enemy line, and in fact allowed them to break through even the Spartan Guards and then roll up the Spartan phalanx from the flank. This knowledge obviously had an impact upon him as he changed the Macedonian tactics to mirror this oblique order, only instead of leading from the left as the Thebans did, the Macedonians would punch from the right flank and drive a wedge into the enemy lines with their Companion cavalry. Not only did Philip copy Theban tactics, but he increased the depth of his infantry formations to give them added punch and moral stamina. Philip was also well versed with "Thessalian tactics" which was a well known ruse used by disciplined troops to feign flight and then turn upon a straggling pursuing force (the Spartans used this ruse famously at the battle of Thermopylae).
The other innovation that completed this brilliant "New-Model" army was the lengthening of the infantryman’s spear to 12-15 foot length. This idea was copied from the famous Greek Mercenary General Iphicrates who had created a body of specialized troops of lightly armored, but well drilled pikemen that were trained to fight in a looser formation than traditional Hoplites. These "Iphicrataean" Hoplites were most famous for being involved in the destruction of a Spartan Mora (regiment) of 600 Hoplites at the battle of Coronaea in 300 B.C. The combination of these two changes in armament not only gave the Macedonian footmen a reach advantage over their spear armed Hoplite foes, but also greater depth in the Macedonian phalanx gave them the morale boost needed to stand up to and defeat the barbarian tribesmen currently threatening Macedon, and later the Greek Hoplites themselves. Because of Philip’s innovations the pike phalanx became a dominant style of warfare, one that would be copied and used by many ancient armies for the next two hundred years.
Organization of the Macedonian Phalanx
The Macedonian army Philip inherited seemed to be based on the common Doric and barbarian division by ten man files. Sometime during or shortly after Philip’s reign almost all units in his army were restructured on a more "Greek-like" 8 man file. Officers fought to the front and brought up the rear of each file. Eventually the base unit of the Pezhetairoi (foot Companions as they became known) evolved into the 256 man Syntagma formation that most ancient sources describe. A Syntagma was formed 16 ranks wide by 16 ranks deep for most situations. Two of these composed a 512 man Lochos. By Alexander’s time three Lochoi would form a Taxeis or battalion of nominally 1536 men and officers. The Taxi was led by a "Taxiarch" and some of these became Alexander’s best known officers.
Besides re-arming and re-structuring the infantry force, Philip’s insisted on drilling his troops to a degree unheard of in Greece (except maybe in Sparta). This was most effective for him since in 356 B.C. he had secured the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus which gave him a huge revenue of 1000 talents per year which allowed him to keep his army on constant operations. Except in Sparta where their warrior society was slowly attempting to rebuild their numbers of diminished Spartiates, the Greek armies were at best militia forces brought together for a campaign then disbanded in winter to tend their crops and businesses. The Greeks abhorred the expense of training their troops, and keeping them in the field for year long operations was rare, one reason why Greek sieges were usually failures. Philip changed this forever by paying his troops. He could keep them mustered and the trained cadre of his formations were always under arms to indoctrinate the new recruits. Although not the first professional army in history, the Macedonians again would prove that trained, highly drilled veterans would prove to be more than a match for their unprepared foes.
It appears that the pike armed, 16 man deep formation was quite maneuverable when compared with the Greek Phalanx. The self contained Syntagmas were able to face to the rear, or face to any flank reasonably quickly by counter marching. In emergencies the phalanx could about face, but this is undesirable as it would leave the officers at the rear. Phalangites gripped their Sarissas (pikes) in two hands and raised them when marching or maneuvering. Because of this they carried a smaller shield than the Greek Hoplite’s Hoplon. This shield was bronze faced but didnt have the broad rim that could rest on the shoulder, instead it had straps that slung it over their backs and around their necks. The Pezhetairoi would carry their shield on their backs when not in use but could swing them around quickly when close to action.
The Phalangite wore a helmet, most commonly of the Thracian style popular at the time, the two foot bronze faced shield, and the Sarissa. The front rankers possibly wore heavy armor, either composite style Hoplite cuirasses, or Muscle cuirasses of bronze. Other ranks may have been unarmored as Arrian many times relates that Alexander took "the lightest armed of the Phalanx" on many of his fast marches. After being repulsed at the Persian Gates, Alexander threatened to only replace the Phalangites lost armor with half-corselets covering only the front- so they would be less likely to turn their backs next time! Many would have worn bronze greaves on their legs, although most wouldn’t be able to afford the form fitted kind, but cheaper models secured by straps. Much of the armor was made of iron, and some armor was silvered. When the army received new armor in preparation for the invasion of India the old cuirasses were burned, implying they were composite linen panoplies. It is speculated that the Phalangites wore red tunics. Helmets were often painted blue, red or silvered. Sometimes designs or wreaths were painted on. Stars bursts and crescents seemed to be the favored shield designs of infantrymen. It is very possible that helmets displayed battalion colors.