The Makedonian phalanx -- why such depth?

[Paullus Scipio]

Xenophônta de ho hupaspistês echôn tên aspida apelipen

Xenophon found himself deserted by the servant who was carrying his shield

You may well need to rethink that dogmatic stance unless this was a stray Macedonian "aspis bearer" ahead of his time.

This is simply a "chicken and egg" translation problem. The word used is 'hyp-aspist'=shield -bearer, not the generic word for 'servant'...there are over 40 words in the ancient Greek lexicon for, or that relate, to 'servant', e.g. 'therapon' = generic servant, waiting-man or slave ( Herdt; Thucyd) but "hyp-aspist" is not one of them ! The translator in this case simply did not want to sound clumsy by the more literal; " Xenophon found himself deserted by the shield-bearer who was carrying his shield". Being even more pedantic, the correct word for shield-bearer in Attic dialect is 'hyperetes'... = military/Hoplite's baggage carrier/shield carrier)- who might also carry the Hoplite's shield among other things!

'Hypaspist' means specifically shield-bearer, sometimes in the sense of 'squire', not generic 'servant'.....