Alexander the Great & Hellenistic Warfare Flashcards
When did Alexander rise to the throne?
At the age of 20, when his father, Philip II of Macedon, was assassinated in 336 BC
What did Alexander do to solidify his power over Greece?
Crushed the Illyrians and Thebans, destroying Thebes in 335 BC
How did Alexander organize the Companion Cavalry?
Those who crossed into Asia Minor were reorganized in a Royal ila (squadron) and seven other ilai on a territorial basis
How many horsemen were in one Royal ile?
300 horsemen (regular ilai had 200 plus)
How did Companions fight?
With their ilai in an embolos
What was an embolos?
A delta shaped wedge formation that was invented by the Scythians and adopted by Philip II - this formation permitted rapid wheeling and withdrawal and was ideal for penetrating other cavalry formations
What were Companions armed with?
a Syrissa, the characteristic weapon of Macedonian cavalry and infantry
What importance did the phalanx play?
It was the iron core of the Macedon army
What types of soldiers fought in a phalanx?
Pezhetairoi and infantrymen,
Who were the pezhetairoi?
‘Foot companions’; tactical and political companions to the king
Who were part of Alexander’s expeditionary force?
12,000 infantrymen, companion cavalry, 9000 pezhetairoi, 3000 Hypaspists (the elite guard; ‘shield bearers’)
What was a taxis?
A basic tactical unit of the Pezhetairoi that was subdivided into smaller units
What was an Alexandrine lochos?
256 men, six lochos per taxis
How did Alexander have his order-of-battle organized?
Hypaspists and Pezhetairoi occupied the center, flanked by companion and Thessalian cavalry; they were all trained to cooperate in large-scale movements in oblique order
What was the tactical goal of companions in a battle?
To punch a hole in the enemy battle line and the phalanx would then exploit it, while the cavalry was covered in the flank and rear
What were phalangites armed with??
Heavy body armour, leather corselets, helmets, greaves, and knives as their secondary weapon
What were the Thessalian cavalry?
1,800 Thessalians followed Alexandr as Archon of the Thessalian League; he secured the position in succession to his father; the Thessalians were the finest cavalry in the army
What was the Prodromoi?
They were scouts, or Lancers (sarissophoroi), as they were armed with syrissas; they made up the light cavalry with two units of Alexander’s allies, the Paeonians and the Thracians; 600 strong Prodromoi fought in a small ilai of 150 horsemen
Who were Alexander’s Greek and Balkan Allied troops?
The Thracians/Odrysians (3,000 infantry) and the Illyrians (3,000 infantry) joined in 334 BC. 335 BC there was the Triballians (1,000 infantry), Paeonia (500 Agrinian javelin men, + 500 from Issus), and the Greek allies (League of Corinth) (7,000 infantry and 600 cavalry)
How many mercenary infantry soldiers did Alexander have?
5000 in the order-of-battle in 335 BC
How large was Alexander’s expeditionary force in 334 BC?
32,000 infantry and 5,100 cavalry; by Gaugamela in 331 BC this had grown to 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry
How small did Alexander keep his core army?
Though his numbers rose to 120,000 men when he subjugated Persia, his core army totalled only 23,000 foot soldiers and 8,000 cavalry at the Hydaspes in 326 BC
What was Alexander’s last great innovation?
He trained 30,000 young Persians in the use of the Macedonian equipment and tactics, and their incorporation into pre-existing Macedonian units
What happened at the Battle of the Granicus?
Spring 334 BC he crossed into Asia Minor via the Hellespont; he was confronted by the Arsites, Spithridates, and Arsames, and the Greek mercenary commander Memnon of Rhodes; Alexander deployed his army immediately
What was the outcome of the Battle of the Granicus?
Alexander had the advantage in numbers, and advanced with Socrates’ ile in the van to give the impression of a full scale attack, while the Persians charged chaotically into the river-bed - Alexander’s side broke through and gained victory; the mercenaries wanted to negotiate but Alexander said no and slaughtered all but 2,000 of them; Macedonians only lost 80 cavalry and 30 infantry, while the Persian numbers were about 5-6,000
What did Alexander do at Miletus?
He de-mobilized his fleet as it was more of a liability than an asset before going north to Gordium then south east to Cilicia
Who was the ultimate obstacle for Alexander?
Darius, who had been in Cilicia
What happened at the Battle of Issus?
Alexander was confronted by the Persian army, led by Darius; both sides cancelled each other out, as Persia had stronger cavalry and Alexander had stronger heavy infantry; Darius’s plan to lead Alex’s army into the awful terrain was foiled by Alexander’s rapid reactions to the changing tactical situation, along with the moral + discipline of Macedonian soldiers; Macedon turned to sacking Darius’s camp, as they couldn’t pursue the enemy
Why was the Battle of Issus almost a near defeat for Alexander?
Darius made full use of the excellent defensive position afforded by the Pinarus but his formations were lacking battle discipline and experience of large scale tactical movements
Why was the Battle of Issus such a success for Alexander?
His tactics were executed by a veteran army that was accustomed to its leader’s methods and possessed a battle discipline which ensure co-operation, even where rapid movements and changes of battle-order were required
What happened at the Siege of Tyre?
Alexander held the city under siege for six months before he finally took the resistant city
What did Alexander construct at Tyre?
He dug a 60m wide mole, and two siege-towers armed with catapults; he also learned he could lash some of his ships together to make battering rams, but the Tyrians prevented this but having divers cut the cables, so he switched to chains; In August he finally broke part of the city walls and ordered a general assault on the breach
What happened to Tyre after Alexander’s soldiers got inside?
It came to bitter street-fighting and Tyre was burnt down. The 2,000 surviving Tyrians were crucified to satisfy Alexander’s anger
Where was Alexander welcomed as a liberator?
Egypt; he was also crowned Pharaoh at Memphis
What happened at the Battle of Gaugamela?
Against Darius’s forces; he had crossed the Euphrates and wanted to take Babylon, so he attacked the Persians on October 1st, 331 BC; Darius retreated and Alexander lost his trail but had claimed some victory
When did Alexander finally catch Darius?
In 329 BC after he’d fled north to Media
What was the Battle of the Hydaspes?
Porus, the Indian king who wanted to stop the Macedonian advance, waiting on the banks of the Hydaspes; Porus had an elephant cavalry, and Alexander used a Forward Division and Rear Division to fight him; Macedonian discipline + tactical co-operation with the phalanx + light infantry was decisive for Alexander’s side
When did Alexander’s soldiers refuse to march any farther?
When they reached the River Beas, the eastern frontier of the Persian empire; after a conquest down the Indus river, they turned back
What was precipitated by Alexander’s death?
A series of civil wars in which his generals tested their skills against each other
What was the Battle of Gaza?
In 312, Ptolemy I of Egypt fought against Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus (one of Alexander’s generals)
How did Alexander change the face of war?
His army defied logistics by living off the land, whatever the local conditions; the military system he established prevailed until the 2nd century BC
Where did cavalry shields (Celtic) come from?
Possibly introduced by Italian or Galatian influence; they were round
What were the Xystophoroi?
Light unarmed mercenary cavalry that carried a long lance (the xyston) to compensate for their lack of armour and enabled them to fulfill a battlefield role
When did the empire disintegrate?
It was complete by the early 3rd century - the Ptolemies held Egypt, the Seleucids Syria + lands to the east, and the Antigonids Macedon, the Attalids the Kingdom of Pergamon
What were torsion catapults?
Developed between 353-341 BC under Philip II of Macedon
Why did cavalry settlers need to be provided with larger estates?
They were more expensive to maintain
Why did cavalry decline in number and importance after Alexander’s death?
Local population became more attached to their own royal dynasties
What two distinct types did the phalanx fall into?
The traditional hoplite and the peltasts
What was a traditional hoplite?
They had hoplite equipment together with their Macedon equivalents (chalkaspides, ‘Bronze shields’)
What was a peltast?
A cross between hoplites and light infantry equipped with small bronze shields, daggers, helmets, and short pikes
What was an ‘articulated phalanx’?
Companies of pike-wielding phalangites were interspersed with ‘joints’ of lighter and more mobile infantry companies fighting in looser formation; may have been invented by Pyrrhus of Epirus
What was a ‘double phalanx’?
A second reserve line of phalangites were frequently drawn up some distance behind the first line
