The "Fred thread": the Argead Macedonian Army

[Old Husker]

Yes, indeed, there was no way a peltast was going to stand his ground against hetairoi horsemen once they got near enough to stick you with a lance. The problem was getting that close without having good health or mount eliminated by a flying missile. I actually don't think that these hardy tribesmen were nearly as panic-prone as our pro-Alexandrian source would paint, certainly not enough to stop chucking javelins until either having expended their supply (down to that last one for close defense) or the cavalry was nearly on top of them. It was vital, therefore, for supporting light foot to thin them out and exhaust their supply of darts before the cavalry went into action. Even then, had the tribesmen formed a standard Thracian-style battle array, there would likely have been at least a modest force of men with spear and pelte to address such a cavalry threat from posts at the formation rear. This is where the phalanx came into play, advancing to scatter the enemy's main body of infantry, which would have beat a very hasty retreat long before the deadly spears and sarissai could ever contact their poorly shielded bodies. They might stand up to lightly protected riders and their extremely vulnerable, unarmored horses, but were quite defenseless against heavy infantry. In fact, I believe that variations on this three-part sequential exercise of combined arms (light foot screening first and then a cavalry charge on the flanks, followed by advance of the heavy foot to finish claiming the field) was the method used not only here (where it is best described in our sources) but also in numerous of Philip's victories over Thracian and similar tribal armies for which we, sadly, have no detailed description. - Regards, Fred