Phalangite
Encyclopedia
Phalangite is the Greek name for
Phalangites had an advantage over other spearmen of ancient times due most notably to their massive sarissas. Under Alexander the Great the sarissas would have reached a length of 18 feet (5.5 m). They used a shield around 2 feet (61 cm) in diameter, and wore a breastplate and a helmet for armor. They also carried a dagger as a secondary weapon, but due to its length of around 10 inches (25 cm), it was rarely used in combat. Phalangites were nearly impregnable from the front because of the massive length of their spears, but they were tactically cumbersome and were vulnerable from the sides because a phalangite cannot turn fast with the giant sarissa
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- an infantryInfantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
man deployed in a phalanxPhalanx formationThe phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...
(massive rectangular (or square) closed formation ) of Classical and Hellenistic antiquity. The MacedonMacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ian so-called Sarissaphoros ("sarissa-bearer") had a tactical advantage over other phalangites because of their extremely long pikes known as a sarissaSarissaThe sarissa or sarisa was a 4 to 7 meter long spear used in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic warfare. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in the traditional Greek phalanx formation as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. The phalanxes of Philip...
. These soldiers and their sarissas were mainly developed by Philip II of MacedonPhilip II of MacedonPhilip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
and his son Alexander the Great as an expansion on and counter to the hoplites of Ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. - a Roman legionaryLegionaryThe Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign...
, trained for similar closed formations such as the testudoTestudo formationIn Ancient Roman warfare, the testudo or tortoise formation was a formation used commonly by the Roman Legions during battles, particularly sieges. Testudo is the Latin word for "tortoise"...
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Phalangites had an advantage over other spearmen of ancient times due most notably to their massive sarissas. Under Alexander the Great the sarissas would have reached a length of 18 feet (5.5 m). They used a shield around 2 feet (61 cm) in diameter, and wore a breastplate and a helmet for armor. They also carried a dagger as a secondary weapon, but due to its length of around 10 inches (25 cm), it was rarely used in combat. Phalangites were nearly impregnable from the front because of the massive length of their spears, but they were tactically cumbersome and were vulnerable from the sides because a phalangite cannot turn fast with the giant sarissa
Sarissa
The sarissa or sarisa was a 4 to 7 meter long spear used in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic warfare. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in the traditional Greek phalanx formation as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. The phalanxes of Philip...
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See also
- Macedonian phalanxMacedonian phalanxThe Macedonian phalanx is an infantry formation developed by Philip II and used by his son Alexander the Great to conquer the Persian Empire and other armies...
- HopliteHopliteA hoplite was a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Hoplites were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in a phalanx formation. The word "hoplite" derives from "hoplon" , the type of the shield used by the soldiers, although, as a word, "hopla" could also denote weapons held or even...
- Falangist, name or certain Mediterranean (notably Spanish, Lebanese) political militia etc.