06-23-2010, 12:05 AM
I've been out of action for a few days and just came back on line to find a heck of a lot of discussion on this thread to catch up on. I don't want to break the flow, but , as requsted by Paul, here are literature references for the 4th century B.C. Macedonian vs Greek phalanx battles:
Macedonian victories = Pherae I 357/356 (Diod. 16.14.1-2), Pherae II 354 (Diod. 16.35.1-2), Crocus Plain 353 (Diod. 16.35.3-6), Olynthus III 348 (Diod. 16.53.2), Olynthus IV 348 (16.53.2), Chaeronea 338 (Diod. 16.85.5-86; Polyaenus 4.2), Megalopolis 331 (Diod. 17.62.6-63; Curtius 6.1.1-16), Upper Satrapies (Diod. 18.7), and Crannon 322 (Diod. 18.16.4-17.5). Greek victories = Pherae III 354 (Diod. 16.35.3-4), Crescent Hills 354 (Diod. 16.35.4-6; Polyaenus 36.3), Peloponnese 331 (Aeschines: Ctesiphon 165), Thermopylae II 323 (Diod. 18.12.2-4), Rhamnus 322 (Plut.: Phocion 25.1-2), and Lamia 322 (Diod. 18.15.1-4; Plut.: Phocion 25.3). (As noted, the heavy infantry manpower estimates related to these actions are speculative, drawn both directly from the literature as well as reconstructed from logical extension of other data.)
Also, I can add one stray obervation to Craig/Astiryu1's question about mixing arms. Nicholas Sekunda in his Hellenistic Infantry Reforms in the 160s BC (2006) has an excellent appendix (A, p. 117-124) on "Evidence for Roman Influence on Hellenistic Armies before the Third Macedonian War" which discusses the idea of mixing arms in blocks of troops along the phalanx (i.e. alternating sarissa-armed units along the front with spear-armed units or some other more mobile troop type) to create an 'articulating phalanx'. This is a tactic that he attributes to Pyrrhus in his Italian campaign of the early 3rd century, with later usage of much the same approach by Antigonus Doson at Sellasia (222), Philopoemen at Mantinea (207), and Antiochus the Great at Magnesia (190). I believe that Hannibal Barca, who rated Pyrrhus as the greatest general of all time, probably employed a similar arrangement against the legions in the Second Punic War. It's not really Craig's alternating ranks, but does seem to be a documented tactic at least rougly along the same general lines (i.e. a more versatile phalanx with mixed arms). - Fred
Macedonian victories = Pherae I 357/356 (Diod. 16.14.1-2), Pherae II 354 (Diod. 16.35.1-2), Crocus Plain 353 (Diod. 16.35.3-6), Olynthus III 348 (Diod. 16.53.2), Olynthus IV 348 (16.53.2), Chaeronea 338 (Diod. 16.85.5-86; Polyaenus 4.2), Megalopolis 331 (Diod. 17.62.6-63; Curtius 6.1.1-16), Upper Satrapies (Diod. 18.7), and Crannon 322 (Diod. 18.16.4-17.5). Greek victories = Pherae III 354 (Diod. 16.35.3-4), Crescent Hills 354 (Diod. 16.35.4-6; Polyaenus 36.3), Peloponnese 331 (Aeschines: Ctesiphon 165), Thermopylae II 323 (Diod. 18.12.2-4), Rhamnus 322 (Plut.: Phocion 25.1-2), and Lamia 322 (Diod. 18.15.1-4; Plut.: Phocion 25.3). (As noted, the heavy infantry manpower estimates related to these actions are speculative, drawn both directly from the literature as well as reconstructed from logical extension of other data.)
Also, I can add one stray obervation to Craig/Astiryu1's question about mixing arms. Nicholas Sekunda in his Hellenistic Infantry Reforms in the 160s BC (2006) has an excellent appendix (A, p. 117-124) on "Evidence for Roman Influence on Hellenistic Armies before the Third Macedonian War" which discusses the idea of mixing arms in blocks of troops along the phalanx (i.e. alternating sarissa-armed units along the front with spear-armed units or some other more mobile troop type) to create an 'articulating phalanx'. This is a tactic that he attributes to Pyrrhus in his Italian campaign of the early 3rd century, with later usage of much the same approach by Antigonus Doson at Sellasia (222), Philopoemen at Mantinea (207), and Antiochus the Great at Magnesia (190). I believe that Hannibal Barca, who rated Pyrrhus as the greatest general of all time, probably employed a similar arrangement against the legions in the Second Punic War. It's not really Craig's alternating ranks, but does seem to be a documented tactic at least rougly along the same general lines (i.e. a more versatile phalanx with mixed arms). - Fred
It\'s only by appreciating accurate accounts of real combat past and present that we can begin to approach the Greek hoplite\'s hard-won awareness of war\'s potential merits and ultimate limitations.
- Fred Eugene Ray (aka "Old Husker")
- Fred Eugene Ray (aka "Old Husker")
