06-19-2010, 06:09 AM
Quote:Nor does the fact that they were 'unused', but in existence 3-4 years mean it took that long to train a competent 'sarissaphoroi'!
We don't know what went into this but clearly it was more than just drilling - hence my comparison of this "Macedonian education" to the agoge. Something along the lines of Heckel's "Macedonian cursus homorum".
Quote:...a standard of drill by thousands that surpasses the mere hundreds in the Brigade of Guards Queen's Birthday Trooping of the Colour!
The drill performed at Pelium was indeed that of an army "long in the saddle". That such could be performed in silence and so crisply - including frontage and formation change - speaks to much experience.
Paralus|Michael Park
Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους
Wicked men, you are sinning against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander!
Academia.edu
Ἐπὶ τοὺς πατέρας, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοὺς μετὰ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὰ ὅλα κατειργασμένους
Wicked men, you are sinning against your fathers, who conquered the whole world under Philip and Alexander!
Academia.edu
