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Ancient writers say that the sarissa was capable of piercing both shield and armor, which suggests to Sekunda the use of a small but focused spearhead rather than a broad one. [10] Additionally, the Alexander Mosaic seems to show small spearheads, and small spearheads match what later medieval pikemen found to work the best.
The Macedonian phalanx (Greek: Μακεδονική φάλαγξ) was an infantry formation developed by Philip II from the classical Greek phalanx, of which the main innovation was the use of the sarissa, a 6-metre pike.
Sumerian phalanx-like formation c. 2400 BC, from detail of the victory stele of King Eannatum of Lagash over Umma, called the Stele of the Vultures. The phalanx (pl.: phalanxes or phalanges) [1] was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together.
On the battlefield, where they operated as shock-capable cavalry, the sarissophoroi wielded a weapon given the same name as the infantryman's (pezhetairos) pike, the sarissa; this was possibly in reality merely a longer version of the cavalry lance, the xyston. However, when operating ahead of the army on scouting and screening duties they ...
Macedonia (/ ˌ m æ s ɪ ˈ d oʊ n i ə / ⓘ MASS-ih-DOH-nee-ə; Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía), also called Macedon (/ ˈ m æ s ɪ d ɒ n / MASS-ih-don), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, [6] which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. [7]
The xyston (Ancient Greek: ξυστόν "spear, javelin; pointed or spiked stick, goad), was a type of a long thrusting spear in ancient Greece.It measured about 3.5 to 4.25 m (11 to 14 ft) long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands, although the depiction of Alexander the Great's xyston on the Alexander Mosaic in Pompeii (see figure), suggests that it could also be used ...
The pezhetairoi (Greek: πεζέταιροι, singular: pezhetairos) were the backbone of the Macedonian army and Diadochi kingdoms. They were literally "foot companions" (in Greek, pezos means "pedestrian" and hetairos means "companion" or "friend"). The Macedonian phalanxes were made up almost entirely of pezhetairoi.
The kontos and contus (Ancient Greek: κοντός), from κεντέω meaning to prick or pierce, was a type of long pike with a pointed iron at the one end. [1] Initially it was used for a variety of reasons, but most notably as a punt-pole by sailors who put it into the ground in shallow water, thereby pushing on the boat, and as a means of ...