03-21-2016, 02:46 AM
My copy of Christopher Matthew's An Invincible Beast: Understanding the Hellenistic Pike Phalanx in Action came in and while I have only skimmed through it, my attention was drawn to chapter 2 on the sarissa. The author states his reasoning for why the pike came in two halves, with reenactment photos, while discussing other uses of the tube.
Have additional connector tubes been found? Lukewarm to the possibility of a modular pike, when no one else bothered to field any in later centuries, even the 17th Century experimenting double-armed men.
Quote:It is also possible that the term longche is the correct name for a pike that comes in two parts, while the sarissa could be the name for a single piece weapon - a name that later became a generic term for the Macedonian pike regardless of its configuration. If this is the case, then the Macedonian phalangite could have carried either a dual or single piece weapon depending upon the unit he was attached to and the duties that this contingent was expected to undertake. While the attribution of the term longche to a throwing/stabbing weapon used by Macedonian phalangites may not be accurate, McDonnell-Staff's conclusion that they carried such a weapon may be partially correct if it is assumed that the longche is the sarissa; either the front half or the whole pike. Either interpretation would then account for Plutarch describing pikemen as 'longche bearers'. pg. 59
Have additional connector tubes been found? Lukewarm to the possibility of a modular pike, when no one else bothered to field any in later centuries, even the 17th Century experimenting double-armed men.
aka T*O*N*G*A*R
