Military Reforms of Alexander the Great
In the last two videos, we described military reforms of Philip II of Macedon and how he changed his infantry, cavalry and siege weapons. Yet, the changes to the Macedonian army were just starting, and his son - Alexander the Great - conducted his own reforms throughout his campaigns. Alexander has built upon the work of his father and created an army that conquered the Achaemenid Empire and beyond. He created and improved some of the deadliest units of Antiquity, among them - the Silver Shields and Royal Agema.
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Sources:
Atkinson, J. & Hammond, M. eds., (2013) Arrian: Alexander the Great, the Anabasis and the Indica, Oxford.
Bosworth, A. B, (1988), Conquest and Empire: the reign of Alexander the Great, Cambridge.
Cartledge, P. (2004), Alexander the Great
Heckel, W. ‘The Three Thousand: Alexander’s Infantry Guard’ (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World.
Marsden, E. W., (1977), ‘Macedonian Military Machinery and its designers under Philip and Alexander, Thessaloniki 2, 221-233.
Worthington, I. (2014), By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire, New York.
Wrightson, G, ‘The Nature of Command in the Macedonian Sarissa Phalanx’ (2010). History, Political Science, Philosophy and Religion Faculty Publications. 11.
Production Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com
Songs used:
#Documentary #Alexander #Philip
You can say, Alexander was destined to conquer the world... You can say it by wearing this shirt: teespring.com/alexander_kng#pid=369&cid=6529&sid=front
Kings and Generals first :-)
Kings and Generals I liked before watching the video ;-)
Can you guys make videos about Shivaji?
Kings and Generals you have any plan to make a documentary on about king David???
Christermi Christos I liked before watching too
Fun fact : Many of Alexander's military terms (ile, iliarchs, lochos, agema, hypaspists) still used in modern army of Greece.
Apostolis F companion cavalry?
@@deuxpomme9777 that term is not used, since the modern cavalry in the greek army is the armored corps, but some times is used to name certain formations of the army, as a moto, or an honorary name.
@@nwchrista "Something's out of place" yeah, your brain
Gee how much do the Greeks worship alexander
@@scienceinsociety3099 Even though he was Macedonian and the ancient greeks didnt view Macedonians as Greek because they spoke a different language
When I tell people I’m into military history, they’re just like “why? Do you just wanna know how many people died every battle?” And I’m just annoyed that they don’t know the deeper parts of what goes into a battle. Like don’t you want to know how a small kingdom could conquer one of the largest empires in the world?
The people who don't want to know more are generally annoying. The desire to know more is the locomotive of the human development.
Max Lu I give my friends no choice but to learn military History lol they are smarter for it thats for sure.
Warrior Monk honestly yeah it’s actually a really interesting part of military history
Max Lu so what is your job? KZheadr?, Teacher, Journalist, Archeologist, or maybe Janitors? You contribute NOTHING to the human civilization and technology
TheBECK321 ummm ok?? I’m still currently in school. I’m simply interested in military history, what did I say to so easily offend you?
Your videos are better than anything on the history channel
Hopefully, we will only get better. :-)
Kings and Generals you already are and your improving on every vidio
in history channel everything was build by aliens.
Understanding Us #PAWNSTARSISHISTORY
First of all, the History Channel doesn't have history. Second of all, it was aliens xD xD
I'm Iranian and I don't know about any dispute between Greeks and Macedonians about Alexander. I think the Persian narrative of the history of Alexander is also very important, and according to us *Alexander is totally Greek* By the way, fantastic video as always, keep up the good work!
Thanks!
@Kings and Generals Seriously, everything about your videos are perfect. Content, animation even the narration voice is soothing and amazing to my ears :).
@Giannis Tsalmas Exactly, A Persian general named "bagabukhshe" made Macedonia a vassal of Achaemenid Empire (for a relatively short time before Xerxes f**ked up) and during that period, Persians always referred to Macedonians as "Yauna Takabara" which means "Greeks that wear flat hats".
George Prasinos I was about to say that today's Macedonians are Slavs by mistake I wrote wrong
wow you guys are very knowledgable
The siege weapon explanations are spot-on. Great work as always!
Thank you, good sir!
Alexander the Great made many impressive military reforms during his reign. Can't help and admire the man. My thanks to those who made this video a reality.
Fun Facts Although it looks hugely bad-ass, we do not know whether Alexander ever used Diades' grappling hook. Just as his mentor, Polyidus, had before him, Diades would go on to write a treatise on siege machinery - parts of which survive to this day in Vitruvius (book 10). Posidonius’ siege tower was called a 'helepolis,' meaning ‘the taker of cities.’ It was called this because of its huge size. Later, during the Wars of Alexander’s Successors, engineers would develop even greater siege towers that they also called 'helepoli' - most famously Demetrius at both the sieges of Salamis (306 BC) and Rhodes (305 BC). What were the hypaspists armed as? This is one of the big debates of Alexander’s army and we cover the two options in our first video on Philip II (back when they were called Pezhetairoi). One theory is that they were armed like hoplites, with smaller spears and larger shields to add versatility to the phalanx. The other theory is that they were armed no differently to the rest of his phalanx. I am more in favour of the latter opinion - especially as neither Arrian, Curtius, Diodorus, Plutarch or Justin ever make any reference that these warriors were armed differently to the pezhetairoi (it was their skill, not their equipment that made them stand out). This is however, one of the great debates of Alexander’s army so we welcome other suggestions 😊. Among Alexander’s hypaspists, he had an elite squadron called the ‘royal corps’ or agema basilikon. They were tasked with guarding Alexander when he was fighting on foot. The Persian levies recruited for Alexander’s mixed phalanx had been enlisted by Peucestas, the Macedonian governor of Persia who became famous for his adopting of Persian dress and customs. One Persian noble included in Alexander’s royal agema was the brother of Darius, Oxyathres. Pretty cool huh? Once again, huge thanks to the whole team at Kings and Generals for all their efforts and support! Have loved writing this series. And let's just say, perhaps we should rename August to Alexander. Stay tuned ;). Oh and by the way, when we said infamous in the video, we didn't mean it! We chose the wrong word. Just replace it with 'famous.' :)
Coool
Very nice hints :) but noo pls dont rename August. I like it's named after Gaius Octavius. Another great person of history.
Oxyartes wasnt Darius brother, he was a Sogdian or Bactrian nobleman of Bactria, father of Roxana, the wife of Alexander of Macedon.
You are thinking of the wrong person. Oxyartes was the Bactrian or Sogdian nobleman and father of Roxana. Oxyathres was the brother of Darius. See here www.livius.org/articles/person/oxyathres/
It is a hint for things to come ;)
Oh man I remember the times when this channel was mostly about Total War and was named Nurrix&Phoenix, you did such a great progress. From a Total War channel you made one of the best channes witch documentaris on entire KZhead, fucking amazing. Keep it up guys :3
Oh, long time viewer. :-) Thanks for being with us for so long, hopefully, we will only get better. :-)
Dear creators, thank you for existing. I am from a very remote region of the world with network and data meagre and poor. Quality content like this are fulfilling and exciting, not only does it takes my imagination to a different place but to a different time. Keep up the good work. τὴν μὲν σὴν πρόνοιαν ἐπαινῶ
Thanks for watching, more stuff on the way. :-)
Meagre and poor network and data lol. What African nation are you in :D
Movie Jose or Siberian russia
Hardly more like Central Rust Belt USA including Detroit
Make me you negro
Best Greek leader, love you Greece! A Albanian here from Macedonia.
@NEVER_AGAIN Who the fuck are you calling a filthy Gypsy?
Thank you, Albania has great history and leaders. Skanderbeg is one of the best leaders in Europe. Love from Greece 🇬🇷❤️🇦🇱
Who is Skanderberg?🤔
Unrelated note, but today is the anniversary of the greatest defeat Rome suffered during antiquity. The Battle of Cannae.
We do not talk about it. :-)
Thanks dude
Kings and Generals I can't blame u. Everyone who watches ur channel knows what happened at cannae.
Hail Hannibal! Hail Scipio! *SCIPIO, SCIPIO, SCIPIO KING!*
None Lol 80,000 Romans defeated by an army of 40,000 on a flat and open battlefield That's how Edit: if you have the time, Historia Civilis made a phonemanal, compressed quadrilogy with regards to the events of the Second Punic War, focusing on each major battle along with the strategies and tactics employed by their commanders. Start with the Battle of the River Trebia Extra Credits also made a fantastic series with this time period though they go more into the motives of each actor and the politics/logistics behind them.
That intro, though! I am consistently impressed by your dedication to quality, research, and covering topics uncovered (with this level of polish and quality) on this platform. Amazing guys, everytime I just want to say as long as you keep it up, I'll be here.
And we are happy to have you. :-)
I'm blow away by the quality of these videos. Thank you, much love
Thank you for watching!
I'm thoroughly enjoying these videos. You lads/ladies are doing a great job.
Alexander the great. Reckless. Ambitious. Dangerous. Military genius. Perfect leader in this time period.
Most probably. If you compare, you see that Philip was much more reserved.
@@KingsandGeneralskindly elaborate your statement😉
Megas Alexandros, the brightest light of Hellenism!!
That was AWESOME and I can't wait for the next installment! Great for visual or auditory learning with Devin hitting on all cylinders as usual!
Thank you, good sir!
Thank you king and generals for posting amazing vids I learn here more than I learn in school keep posting amazing vids you are my favourite youtuber
Love your posts, thank you!
Great video, as always
Ancient Greek history. Absolutely love it.
This one probably one you best video's to date imho. Cheers
Thank you!
That's one HELL of a Channel! Very interesting - big thanks! :)
Thank you very much! :-)
Kings and Generals thank u for uploading these awsome vids in the first place:)
For a historygeek like me, this is my favorite channel! Thank you for all the work you put in this channel.
Thank you very much for watching!
You spelt Greek wrong :p
:P
An Amazing high quality video , Great job .
Thank you very much!
Fantastic stuff. I love your channel. Please do a video like this about the makeup of the Spartan military. So few people have ever actually tackled that topic in detail.
Thanks for watching! We have a few videos on the Greek city-states.
I was waiting for months to see this. Thanks a lot
Thanks for watching!
I already liked the video before watching cause I know you guys deliver great content !
Glad to hear that! :-)
An unstoppable ancient army! You could say this is the perfect ancient combined arms force under the command of perhaps the greatest military prodigy.
YEAH! DEVIN DOING ANOTHER VIDEO. LOVE THAT GUY
This is always one of the high points of the week!
Thank you! Hope, you will enjoy Sunday's video.
excellent work
Whose the handsome chap in the thumbnail?:-)
can I have an autograph
There's youtube in the after life? Nice
We can role play and i can be asia😈
This is interesting. Due to all the video about Philip II military reform, I had an impression about Alexander as a military and tactical genius who luckily inherit one of the most professional army at the time and use it to conquered the world. Alexander is truly one of a rare genius existed once every few hundred years. Gifted tactician, well verse in politics and the art of captivating and motivating others.
Well, we have to go through it chronologically. :-)
Love this keep it coming
More on the way!
I've been waiting eagerly for this. I don't regret the wait.
And I was waiting for your feedback. :-) Tell me, is this episode too packed?
Well, I think of content like water in a jug, the water level is right at the top, now overflowing, but making it rather hard to move without spilling. However, I didn't mind it - mind you, I grasped everything, but I tend to rewatch parts, as I tend to watch for the enterainment, so I re watch segments/sections - this is a good thing mind you.
I loved the graphics too, as well as the detail in how everything works, animations and so on. It makes the documentary, along with the many wonderful examples, that much more memorable and closer to true perfection.
Great video again!
Thank you!
good video as always, very informative. I think evolution of roman legions would be good as well.
Great as ever, keep it uo
We will, thank you!
Love these videos after a few years still 👏
you responded!
great stuff
As a Greek i find it very funny hearing you and others read Greek words 😂. Ex. lochoi the - oi is called like -e-
Also, great video!
Thanks :-)
Amazing video!
Thank you :-)
Good vid!
Greatest Greek of all time!
Thank you
Great work my friend
Thanks for watching!
The GREAT ONE ! That’s all that needs to be said, yes the army Alexander inherited was created by his father Phillip. But the mans mind for warfare was un matched, his abilities like Reading terrain, battle tactics, ability to seize the moment when it presents it self was just amazing! He was an enigma wich will never be matched! And man what another 10 years of life would have done can only be amagined
we thank you !
:-)
great content
Thank you!
Off topic, but one of your videos got into a balkan memes compilation. Also, great video(as always)
Yeah, I have seen that. :-) Thanks!
This video was massive, had to focus a lot to follow it to the end. 15min. seemed like 30 min of your battle videos, probably because of it`s tehnicity. Thanks! Also, if I`d be an Iranian I`d be a bit proud of my ancestors being part of Alexander`s army and being called `Epigoni`.
you guys should do a series on the military innovations during the Diodachi wars.
This is a masterpiece, as usual. Great job, guys! This is definitely a worthy tribute to Alexander, the Kingdom of Macedon, and the Hellenistic era. I think only Historia Civilis is a better channel in regards to narration and attention to historical detail, although their production values/graphics/animations are obviously not as good as yours.
Love the civV music implement.
It wasn’t after alexanders death when his hypaspist were called the silver shields, it happened during his last campaign in India by the way.
Yes the term originates during his Indian campaign in 327 BC as stated in Curtius and Justin. But it was only after Alexander's death that his hypaspists started being widely referred to as the 'Silver Shields.' Alexander historians continue to refer to Alexander's hypaspists as hypaspists until the end of his reign.
So rather er they were entitled “silver shields” already by alexander during the end of the Indian campaign but weren’t really like called “silver shields” by words until after his death?
Remember it wasnt technically alexanders hypaspist they were philips who were 50-60 after alexander death and they were the silver shields
Excellent video, any chance you could do one of these videos on Genghis and Subutai please? Their army structure and techniques were great along with their siege warfare
Thank you! Yes, we are planning to cover as many armies as possible.
Kings and Generals look forward to watching it 🙂
VERY-VERY ACCURATE! KEEP-UP!
Thanks!
Very nice video, It's quite funny hearing all the Greek titles/names mispronounced though. 😂 What is also quite interesting to notice is that some of the ranks/titles mentioned here are still used by the Greek/Hellenic Army to this day!
liked before watching
I take that,even the term sucessor later used to refer to his generals' kingdoms comes from Alexander
"oi" in Greek is pronounced as "i". Lithoboloi for example is pronounced "Lithovoli". Great video btw! I pushed the like button before watching all of it, the quality is guaranteed ;D
Konstantinos Kotsomytis Η προφορά που περιγράφεις είναι η νεοελληνική. Η αρχαία προφορά της Ελληνικής είναι ακριβώς αυτή του βίντεο
Σε ευχαριστώ αλάνι. Πίστευα ότι η αρχαία ελληνική προφορά μας είναι λίγο πολύ άγνωστη και ότι το πώς προφέρονταν τα αρχαία είναι απλά εικασίες.
Erasmian pronunciation makes everything sound German
Έχουμε όμως αποδείξεις; Πώς γνωρίζουμε πώς προφέρονταν τα αρχαία ελληνικά;
War and technology continues to be the driving force behind human advanments. Without war we'd all be stuck in the Stone Age and with it we are all doomed! "We who are about to die salute you," Kings & Generals! Great job as always!
Thanks for watching!
Great video! Quick tip: In greek words "oi" and "ei" are pronounced as "ee". They are 2 (out of the total 8 I think) greek diphthongs, that translates as "two sounds". For example "lithoboloi" (plural of lithobolos) are pronounced "lithobol-ee".
I wish I was there to see these engines in action. They must have been magnificent.
Havent watched the vid yet but I hope this also touches on Phillip II's reforms.
We have a separate video describing his reforms. :-)
Kings and Generals cool! Will check it out!
This video was great, the changes established by Alejandro Magno give an account of the advance and cultural integration that He had in mind for the future empire. What would have been of that great territory if he had governed 20 more years?
Thank you! It is hard to say. On one hand, he really tried to build a multicultural empire with all the troop addition and marriages. On the other, he often neglected administrative questions. So, we just don't know.
Kings and Generals That is true but we must also bear in mind that cultural changes are the most difficult to do, especially among peoples with roots of conflict so profuse, sometimes a vision of change is destroyed by the cruelty of present reality.
Yeah, I agree, the Greeks, especially, hated everything Persian prior to this war. It wasn't easy.
Kings and Generals Well it is clear that a large part of the old caste of soldiers was part of the plot against Alexander based on his deep hatred of the Persian and motivated by the cultural and military changes carried out by him. the founding of the cities around the conquered lands and the extension of the Greek culture were in part a solid base for the consolidation of a failed multicultural state What we could say is that this was the cornerstone of succession wars after Alexander died. we can also affirm that without this exchange, the conquest would not have been possible, the reforms were the key to victory and the extension of Macedonian power in the region and ironically his doom to.
I can't remember hearing about all these kinds of war machines being used in for example Rome. Where they like just forgotten or? Especially thinking about the artillary stuff
They picked most of them up from the Greeks, but gave them Latin names. The Scorpio and Onager (ballistas and catapults) are the most notable. If you ever find yourself in Israel, you can find reconstructed Roman siege engines at ancient fortresses such as Massada and Gamla.
Nice drawings of the siegeweapons with the little animations ;-)
Thank you. ;-)
Kings and Generals ^^
Good job K&G another great video and giving me another reason why I dont watch the history channel anymore
Thank you very much for watching!
Did the guy from feature history do the drawings? The look really similar, and it's wonderful.
Nope, but we are glad you enjoyed it!
A very well done, clear report, supported by superb graphics. I greatly enjoyed it. I have a couple of suggestions if I may. -I read that at the siege of Tyre he sent men into the nearby forests to cut wood for siege engines, indicting maybe that the whole of the engines weren't transported but maybe only the metal portions??? -Also I read that horses at the time of Alexander were what we would think of today as large ponies. Is there ever any mention of the size of Bucephalus? More, of course the cavalry had no stirrups which meant they couldn't use lances and the horses were without shoes, keeping them out of really rocky areas. Any comments on any of this would be appreciated. As a point, the mounted American Indians suffered the same restraints although I believe the Comanches did carry lances based on their observations of Mexican cavalry. -What was Alexander's life mission statement? Honor! He lived in an honor society and so first, it was the honor of becoming king of Macedonia , met out revenge on the Persians for their many intrusions into Greece, then to one of Alexander deciding he wanted to be proclaimed king of Persia. But there was only two ways this could happen legitimately, the first being the capture or killing of Darius or the priests of Persepolis so proclaiming that it be true; the priests declined and Persepolis burned. All the while he channeled Achilles, the greatest warrior in antiquity, sleeping on a copy of The Iliad. Finally he wanted to be proclaimed a god!!! One wonders if after a while he would seek an honor even higher than this.
Thank you! We'll look into that.
Could you do video on Siege of Berg(hen) op Zoom in 2.october.1622?
Rome Military Reforms next please
More about Alexander’s campaigns
Great
Thanks!
This has got me wanting to play the Seleucids in Rome II for the 1000th time.
Really good videos but you are slaying the greek words xD but the videos are very informative
I keep hearing that Phillip's Engineer "increased the mobility" of various siege weapons...how? Lighter? More wheels?
Can u do something about skanderbarg i subed a great channel for sure
We will
Great one, thanks. PS: And thanks for sticking with the correct pronunciation of diadochi :-)
We need to do at least something right. :-)
I wonder how Alexander's unusual army would have fared against Rome's Legions. His army was not the same as the later Macedonian armies Rome encountered during its wars against Philip etc in Greece.
@@SilverforceX no, he will definitely raped the Romans. Remember roman cavalry suck so much that they began to realize the importance of military units combination like alexander's army.
@@jamesmanuel8517 Roman Cavalry didn’t suck. It was fit for the italic battleground. The Romans will later use the numidians and Germans as cavalry units to replace the equites.
@@LuisBrito-ly1ko dude what? Roman cavalry did suck. Remember Cannae? The Roman cavalry outnumbers that of Hannibal's Mercenary Cavs but they still smashed that Roman Cavalry. And the Parthia? Alexander's Cavalry is unmatched, literally beating any best enemy Cavalry at that time wether melee or range Cavalry types.
@@deepdungeon8465 That’s because the army was led by idiots. Should I remember you about the Battle of Telamon in which the Roman Cavalry defeated the Gallic Coalition? Or what about Alesia, in which Caesar broke the siege with his Cavalry? What about the Battle of Zama in which Roman Cavalry defeated the Carthaginian Cavalry? For each example you give me of Roman cavalry being defeated, there’s at least on or two in which it succeeded.
@@LuisBrito-ly1ko nah, Cannae was head to head cavalry charge. Hannibal gambles that move and he knew he'll lose the battle if his brother Hasdrubal along with the Cavalry were beaten by the Roman cavalry. Comparing Alexander's Companion and Thessalian Cavalry to that to Romans are laughable.
Do this channel have any battle related to salaudin ayubi?
i love you, guys.
i swore you had maybe 3 or 4 videos uploaded on alexander the greats' conquest and i cant seem to find them. were they taken down?
So, were there hypaspist (or anything similar to it) units during Philip's era? What Philip used to connect his fast moving cavalry and his slow paced phalanx?
When is the documentary on Alexander's conquests coming out?
did not knew about the incorporating of native into the phalanx...made total sense though....any report from the period about the treatment of asian native in the Macedonian army and how they were view by their Greek and Macedonian counterpart?
Wow he did love his engineers.
Great works you are making, do you think Alexander is considered great only for his military campaigns? he would be Alexander the Great if he had lost one of his battles?
So depend on your video, Hypaspist is a kind of elite phalangite!? in my opinion, hypaspist's duties are protect flank of macedonian phalanx and support companion cavalry so i think hoplite style is more suitable for those duties than phalangite style. how can hypaspist protect flank of macedonian phalanx while their flank is weak too? How can hypaspist catch up with companion cavalry in battles while bearing a 4-6m pike and always have to move in very close formation? i want to know your opinion
8:54 I hate losing my soldiers due to death.
I guess it should have been worded better :-)
In one sentence, because Alexander was lacking elite Greek manpower he tried to put barbarians into his army but it didnt end well
10:47 So did the Epigoni units from Asia fight like Greek hoplites? or like Macedonian phalanx? Also the Greek Prodromos skirmish horsemen had some really cool hats! 14:50 It looks like modern day navy sailor's hat.
they fought in Macedonian phalanx, with the sarissa
Battles of the Ancients thanks!
1:58 Radically Improved Its Design
Did you just say Eumenes... Man, I miss that one badass secretary :'(
When did the use of stirrups become widespread in western calvary?
I am not an expert on that, but probably between VI and VIII centuries AD.
Thank you. I have been binging on history programs like this one, and history podcasts since retiring. A lifetime of being a skilled craftsman didn't allow me the opportunity to research my favorite subject, history. Thanks again for all the great content.
Thank you, good sir! :-)
The first stirrups show up in the 7th century, those were made out of wood. That 's why in graves for example we often find only little remnants. In the 8th century they started to make them from metals such as iron and copper alloys. Before that cavalry used either a thick blanket or a saddle. The Greeks for example used thick wool blankets to ride on, as it is described by Xenophon. You need something between your butt and the horses back. Because the humans hip has some very pointy bones at the lower end. These will, if you ride without a blanket or a saddle, over time chafe on the horses back. Creating chronic back pain and will make the horse drop its back. To put it simple it will no longer move correctly and over a short time it will be no longer usable. The Romans, probably, copied a Celtic saddle type known as a "Horn saddle" that has two horns on the front as well as on the back of the rider that will help him to stay on horse. On some depictions you can make out a loop. This is probably something that was copied from the Persians and was used only on ONE side and acts as a mounting assistance. There are also other saddle types like Scythian ones, but I don't know too much about these..... Nevertheless if you have stirrups than you always need a strong foundation e.g. a saddle otherwise the stirrups mounting system will negatively effect the horses condition. So, if you have stirrups you also have a saddle. If you have a saddle you do not need to have stirrups.
I have references to the Avars being notable for using stirrups in the 7th to 8th centuries and were probably adopted from the Chinese who seem to have been using them as early as 500 BCE
Well if you guys need help with the Ptolemaic and Seleucid army structure let me know and I will provide you with what I have and also add to patreon so I can participate.