# Macedonian phalanx
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{{Short description|Ancient infantry formation}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
The '''Macedonian phalanx''' ({{langx|el|Μακεδονική φάλαγξ}}) was an [infantry](/source/infantry) [formation](/source/formation_(military)) developed by [Philip II](/source/Philip_II_of_Macedon) from the classical Greek [hoplite](/source/hoplite) [phalanx](/source/phalanx), of which the main innovation was the use of the [sarissa](/source/sarissa), a 6-metre pike. It was famously commanded by him during the [rise of Macedon](/source/Rise_of_Macedon) between 359 and 336 BC, and by his son [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great) during his conquest of the [Achaemenid Empire](/source/Achaemenid_Empire) and [campaigns](/source/Wars_of_Alexander_the_Great) between 336 and 323 BC.
thumb|upright=1.5|Drawing of a full 256-man phalanx formation
The Macedonian phalanx model then spread throughout the [Hellenistic world](/source/Hellenistic_period), where it became the standard battle formation for pitched battles. During the [Second Macedonian War](/source/Second_Macedonian_War) (200–197 BC), [Roman-Seleucid War](/source/Roman-Seleucid_War) (191–188 BC) and [Third Macedonian War](/source/Third_Macedonian_War) (171–168 BC) against the [Roman Republic](/source/Roman_Republic), the [Hellenistic phalanx](/source/Hellenistic_armies), both the [Antigonid phalanx](/source/Antigonid_Macedonian_army) and the [Seleucid phalanx](/source/Seleucid_army), appeared less adaptable to changing conditions on the battlefield against the more flexible [Roman legion](/source/Roman_legion)s.
== Development ==
thumb|330x330px|General Macedonian battle formation
In 359 BC, following the Macedonian defeat by the [Illyrians](/source/Illyrians), which killed the majority of [Macedonia](/source/Macedonia_(ancient_kingdom))'s [army](/source/ancient_Macedonian_army) and King [Perdiccas III of Macedon](/source/Perdiccas_III_of_Macedon), Perdiccas' brother [Philip II](/source/Philip_II_of_Macedon) took the throne.[{{cite book|last=Gabriel |first=Richard A.|author-link=Richard A. Gabriel|year=2010|title=Philip II of Macedonia: Greater Than Alexander|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Potomac Books|pages=62–72|isbn=978-1-59797-568-1}}] Philip II was a hostage in [Thebes](/source/Thebes%2C_Greece) for much of his youth (367–360), where he witnessed the combat tactics of the general [Epaminondas](/source/Epaminondas), which then influenced his restructuring of the infantry.[{{cite book|last=Connolly|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Connolly (classical scholar)|year=1998|orig-date=1981|title=Greece and Rome at War|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781853673030|url-access=limited|edition=Revised|location=London |publisher=Greenhill Books|isbn=1-85367-303-X}}{{pages needed|date=January 2023}}] Philip's military reforms were a new approach to the current [hoplite](/source/hoplite) warfare which focused on their shield, the ''[aspis](/source/aspis)''; his focus was on a new weapon, the ''[sarissa](/source/sarissa)''.[{{cite book|editor-last=Brice|editor-first=Lee L.|year=2012|title=Greek Warfare from the Battle of Marathon to the Conquests of Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/greekwarfarefrom0000unse/page/145/mode/2up |url-access=limited|location=Santa Barbara, California|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=145–150|isbn=978-1-61069-070-6}}] Philip also increased the amount of training required for the infantry and introduced regulations on military behaviour.[{{cite journal |last=Connelly |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Connelly |date=2002 |title=Experiments with the sarissa – the Macedonian pike and cavalry lance – a functional view |journal=[Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies](/source/Journal_of_Roman_Military_Equipment_Studies) |volume=11 2000 |pages=109–112 |ISSN=0961-3684}}] At close range such large weapons were of little use, but an intact phalanx could easily keep its enemies at a distance. The weapons of the first five rows of men all projected beyond the front of the formation, so that there were more spear points than available targets at any given time.[{{cite journal |last=Markle |first=Minor M. III |author-link=Minor M. Markle III |date=Summer 1977 |title=The Macedonian Sarissa, Spear, and Related Armor |journal=[American Journal of Archaeology](/source/American_Journal_of_Archaeology) |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=323–339 |doi=10.2307/503007 |jstor=503007 |s2cid=192966553}}] Men in rows behind the initial five angled their spears at a 45-degree angle in an attempt to ward off arrows or other projectiles.[{{cite book|author=Polybius|author-link=Polybius|title=The Histories|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/polybius-maniple.asp|at=Chapters 28–32|access-date=14 September 2014}}] The secondary weapon was a shortsword called a ''[xiphos](/source/xiphos)''.[{{cite book |last=Connolly|first=Peter|year=1979|orig-date=1977|chapter=The Macedonian Phalanx|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/greekarmies0000conn/page/58/mode/2up|chapter-url-access=limited|title=The Greek Armies|location=Morristown, New Jersey|publisher=Silver Burdett Co.|pages=58–59|isbn=0-382-06308-2}}]
Each file was led and commanded by a ''dekadarch'' who were the most experienced Macedonian soldiers and received about triple pay.[{{cite book|author=Arrian|author-link=Arrian|year=2015 |title=The Campaigns of Alexander|location=Brookfield, Wisconsin|publisher=First Rate Publishers|isbn=978-1-5077-6741-2|oclc=1004422169}}{{page needed|date=January 2023}}] were always stationed on the immediate right of the phalanx wielding hoplite sized spears and shields in order to protect its flanks.