The contribution of Philip II
Until the middle of the 4th century BC. J.-C., Macedonia does not have a great influence vis-à-vis the outside, whether in the economic, cultural or military field. The country is made up of wooded mountains and plains ideal for breeding the horses that make up the main force of the army and ridden, like Greece, by the aristocracy known as the "companions". (hetairoi).
When Philip II came to power in 359 BC, he undertook to continue and expand the reorganization of the military institution already initiated by his predecessors. These, in view of the poor results of the fighters, had in fact developed the training and formed a professional elite troop on foot called “companions on foot” ([pezhetairoi]) in order to enhance this type of fighters. The kingdom of the new monarch being threatened from within and without, he relied on the army in order to stabilize the country politically and to impose himself militarily on the outside. To do this, Philip II takes various measures as Diodorus of Sicily describes them to us:
“The king gave his troops a better organization, perfected the armaments and occupied the soldiers with continual exercises to accustom them to war. He imagines giving more thickness to the ranks and was the inventor of the Macedonian phalanx. »
(Historical Library, XVI, 3, 1-2)
Composition and formation
At the beginning of the reign of Philip II, Macedonia was not a rich country and therefore could not equip its professional soldiers with heavy and expensive armament like that of the hoplites. To form his phalanx, he made it up of lightly protected pikemen whose main weapon was the sarissa, an infantry pike six to seven meters long with bronze spikes at the ends, the one at the back, of a different shape. , being added four stops in order to plant it in the ground and support a cavalry charge. The sarissa is held with two hands and does not allow the use of the aspis koilè, the shield of the hoplite, which is replaced by a model of about 60 centimeters in diameter. The helmet is now made of iron and the most common model is conical in shape, the end of which is rounded forwards, like a Phrygian cap, the cheek protectors can be articulated thanks to hinges . The cuirass, on the other hand, is the prerogative of officers and is also made of iron.
In combat formation, the sarissa is held about 4.50 meters from its end and horizontally, each fighter about one meter apart. The next four rows, each one meter apart, hold their pike in the same way. There are therefore five lines of pikes that emerge at the front of the phalanx and which make the approach for the enemy particularly difficult. Polybius, who has an excellent knowledge of the Macedonian phalanx, explains to us the usefulness of the sarissa in the following ranks:
“Men lined up beyond the fifth rank cannot use their sarissae to deal blows to the enemy. This is why, instead of lowering them horizontally, they hold them with their points in the air, but tilting them towards the shoulders of the soldiers in front of them, in order to protect the whole troop against darts. arriving above it, because all these poles drawn up one beside the other stop the projectiles. »
(History, XVIII, 30)
For hand-to-hand combat, the armament is supplemented by an iron-bladed sword.
Besides the use of pikemen within the phalanx, Philip II takes this formation to a depth of 16 rows inspired by the Theban hoplite phalanx.
Disadvantage of the pike phalanx
These many pikes pointing to the sky pose the problem of the type of terrain on which the Macedonian phalanx must fight:just like that of the hoplites, a flat and unobstructed terrain, but above all, out of the cover of the trees in which tangles the sarissae. In addition, these long spikes hamper the curved movements of the phalanx, which may have to perform rapid maneuvers sometimes imposed by the circumstances of combat and make it very vulnerable on its flanks.
Training
Professionalized, the army of Philip II opens up new perspectives that he does not fail to exploit and even develop. The training thus goes much further than that which was permitted in the Greek city-states, even in comparison to that practiced in Sparta. The men are thus occupied with incessant exercises which allow them to acquire the automatisms necessary in the various phases of an engagement, but this is not the only interest:the control of the movements in the ground compensates for the vulnerability of the soldiers. lightly protected and these maneuvers also have a positive impact on the discipline which becomes strict. On this point, we see the advantage that the monarchy brings over other forms of government practiced in the rest of Greece, which allows better control of the troops. On the other hand, Philip II does not limit the exercises to the basic movements of any phalanx since he imagines various original maneuvers which involve feint and surprise in order to obtain a decisive advantage during battles and this, while maintaining of these movements the strictest order and unity within the troops. An example is given to us at the Battle of Chaeronea when, feigning a retreat, the Macedonian phalanx retreats in order, leaving enough space between it and the Athenian hoplite phalanx for the latter, seeking to maintain contact with the enemy, breaks up and gives the opportunity to the Macedonian cavalry to penetrate its lines.
The phalanx in Alexander's army
This example illustrates well the use which the Macedonians will make of their phalanx:contrary to the Greeks, it is not any more the body of troops on which the fate of the battle rests and it is there also an advance in the tactical field to put to the credit of Philip II. However, it remains the anchor of the army, around which evolve the light infantry and the cavalry.
The cavalry was in Macedonia the main force before the appearance of the phalanx and it plays an important role (as in Chaeronea or Issos) alongside it, allowing the break of the opposing front or quickly bringing reinforcements where the need arises. The absence of a saddle (which has not yet been invented) limits its armament. The riders also carry a sarissa, of a shorter model (four to five meters), as well as a curved saber (machaira), a cuirass and a helmet. This very mobile force was joined by other types of mounted fighters, such as archers for example, over the years and conquests.
This is indeed another characteristic of the Macedonian forces in perpetual reorganization, whether in the volume of soldiers within the units as in that of their composition:Alexander the Great, in his journey to the Indus, integrated in his army that of the defeated countries but is also inspired by them to modify the equipment of his own forces. Already Philip II had innovated when he had increased the depth of the phalanx, influence of the Thebans whom he had been able to study while he spent his youth in their city as a hostage. Alexandre will only continue the work of his father by favoring these external influences, guarantees of adaptation and success.
The defects of the phalanx
The phalanx, whatever its form, is a formation that fights in block and must remain compact in order to give its full potential. Polybius, in his account of the battle of Cynoscephali which took place in 197 BC, reveals his major weakness:
“In war, the moment and the place where the action will engage cannot be determined in advance, whereas, to allow it to give its full measure, the phalanx needs its moment and its terrain. . plain and bare, a terrain that does not intersect with any obstacle such as ditches, ravines, valleys, embankments or streams because any of these accidents is enough to paralyze or dislocate a troop thus formed. »
(History, XVIII, 31)
Another serious defect, source of many defeats, is that the hoplite phalanx is only formed to fight forwards and very vulnerable when a troop attacks it on its rear, or even on its flanks:
“As the phalanx is organized in such a way that it is impossible for the men to turn around and engage in individual combat, the Romans were able to press their attack, massacring the soldiers who were in front of them and who could not defend themselves. ...”
(XVIII, 26)
Philip II overcomes this defect thanks to the lighter equipment of his soldiers, and to intensive training (drill before the hour), allowing each syntagm to face on all sides.
Main and effective force during all the golden age of ancient Greece and instrument of its independence vis-a-vis the Persians, perfect for the type of combat which was engaged, at least until the first part of the Peloponnesian war (the battles were planned, outside the harvest season for example), the hoplite phalanx must bow in 338 BC to its better equipped and trained Macedonian form, led by strategists who make better use of each body of troops, but its organization remains nonetheless rigid, complicated to maneuver on the ground and which cannot be split into elements capable of fighting on several fronts. The tragic episode of Cynoscephales, shortly followed by that of Magnesia and then Pydna in 168 BC shows that the phalanx is at its twilight and must give way to a formation which possesses the qualities which it lacks. :the troops organized in maniples. This Samnite invention will be successfully developed in the Roman legion.
It is only from the 14th century that we see a phalanx reappear on the battlefields with the famous Swiss pikemen, articulated on two types of fighters:in the first rows take place the pikemen responsible for stopping the charge of the enemy (on foot or mounted), those in the rear, armed with axes or swords, advancing after the clash between the pikes to fight the adversary entangled in them.