05-26-2010, 05:59 AM
Paul Mac if I recall - though whether his idea or not I don't know.
I well realise a different scenario at Sellasia. "Buts kicked" might be too strong: pushed downslope from a higher position yes; for the distance Plutarch has it, no.
The hypaspists are another thread. I still think that both wings were sarisa-armed here and it's worth noting that, within a very short time, Alexander would take his father's army north to the Danube. Here he crosses - in a scene presaging the Hydaspes 10 years later - with 4,000 infantry. It is no leap of unhinged logic to suppose that the first of those troops across with the king would be his hypaspists - just as at Hydaspes - indeed it is extremely likely . Alexander orders a march forward and adds, for good measure, that these troops flatten the grain with their sarisae held traversely. The infantry, as a point of interest, is commanded by Nikanor. He is, coincidentally, the first attested commander of the hypaspists.
I well realise a different scenario at Sellasia. "Buts kicked" might be too strong: pushed downslope from a higher position yes; for the distance Plutarch has it, no.
The hypaspists are another thread. I still think that both wings were sarisa-armed here and it's worth noting that, within a very short time, Alexander would take his father's army north to the Danube. Here he crosses - in a scene presaging the Hydaspes 10 years later - with 4,000 infantry. It is no leap of unhinged logic to suppose that the first of those troops across with the king would be his hypaspists - just as at Hydaspes - indeed it is extremely likely . Alexander orders a march forward and adds, for good measure, that these troops flatten the grain with their sarisae held traversely. The infantry, as a point of interest, is commanded by Nikanor. He is, coincidentally, the first attested commander of the hypaspists.
Quote:Arr. Anab. 1.3.6(?) - 4.2
Those who crossed with Alexander amounted in number to 1,500 cavalry and 4,000 infantry.TheY crossed over by night to a spot where the corn stood high; and therefore they reached the bank more secretly. At the approach of dawn Alexander led his men through the field of standing corn, ordering the infantry to lean upon the corn with their pikes held transversely, and thus to advance into the untilled ground. As long as the phalanx was advancing through the standing corn, the cavalry followed; but when they marched out of the tilled land, Alexander himself led the horse round to the right wing, and commanded Nicanor to lead the phalanx in a square.
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
