Armies and Tactics: Philip II's Cavalry and Siegecraft
In the previous video we discussed the beginning of the reforms of Philip II and his mighty Macedonian Sarissa Phalanx. But Alexander's father did not stop there, also reforming his Companion Cavalry and his light Prodromoi cavalry and this video explains the tactics used by the new cavalry units, their weapons and armor, their battle roles and how they were formed. Philip also employed an engineer corp, led by Polyidus. Polyidus and his successors would create and improve many siege weapons that helped Philip and Alexander in their conquests.
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Sources:
Anson, E. M., ‘The Hypaspists: Macedonia’s Professional Citizen-Soldiers’ (1985).
Historia, Vol. 34 (2), 246-248.
Bosworth, A. B, (1988), Conquest and Empire: the reign of Alexander the Great, Cambridge.
Erskine, A, ‘The Pezhetairoi of Philip II and Alexander III’ (1989). Historia, Vol. 38 (4), 385-394.
Hammond, N. G. L., (1994), Philip of Macedon, London.
Heckel, W. ‘The Three Thousand: Alexander’s Infantry Guard’ (2013).
The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World.
Milns, R. D. ‘Philip II and the Hypaspists’ (1967).
Historia, vol. 16 (4), 509-512.
Worthington, I. (2008), Philip II of Macedonia, New Haven.
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
If you didn't cry at 10:40, we can't be friends anymore.
Kings and Generals when would we see ottoman again???:-D
Kings and Generals that was my great great great(a few more times great) grandfather's faith. I cried. Why would you do this?
Lol....dang he really went AWOL!
yeah that reminds me of game of thrones, when the free folks attack the wall with giants (S04e09)
I laughed 😂😂😂 Does that mean we are not friends any more?
Fun Facts: One of the first non-Macedonians that Philip incorporated into the Macedonian nobility was the Cretan Nearchus, who would become famous as the admiral of Alexander's fleet that sailed from India to the Persian Gulf. Philip's prodromoi would not be his only light cavalry force. Later in his reign he also enlisted light cavalry from his Thracian and Paeonian client states. Alongside his Macedonians, Philip also heavily relied upon mercenaries at the start of his reign - mainly from the Greek city-states further south. Polyidus' torsion catapult was arrow-firing. It could not fire stones with enough power to damage walls. Polyidus' innovations to siege warfare were just the start. His successor Diades would make further improvements during the reign of Alexander. However you will have to wait until the next episode ;). Oh and apparently it's 'Kausia' not 'Kauisa.' We know that now :) Many thanks to K&G for letting me write this series on Macedonian armies for them. Huge applause to Cogito for his awesome animations too. :)
Would people from other states often fight for the enemies of their city/state? Even though Philip invaded Polyidus city he still worked for him?
you can expect as long as his family was safe, the macedonian gold was better then fellow "polydian"(?) citizens that probably didnt even knew his face and or what other problems would one have with humans that lived in the same city as him in that era.
Well Thessaly at the time was made up of two rival 'leagues.' The Thessalian league that supported Philip and the city of Pherae and its surrounding cities who supported the Phocians. When Philip defeated the Phocians he was viewed as a saviour by the Thessalian league. Polyidus likely came from one of the Thessalian League cities and so saw Philip much more as a saviour than an invader.
In addition at Gaugamela he had Greek allied cavalry and Greek mercenary cavalry. His entire army was a combined-arms army with lots of slingers/peltasts and archers in support. They made up 24.42 % of the men. Only 26.09 % was Macedonian heavy infantry, and 14.86 % was cavalry. 32.49 % was hoplites. 47 093 men army. 28 588 (60.71 %) Heavy infantry (forming a defensive line) -12 288 (26.09 %) Macedonian heavy infantry -9216 (19.57 %) Phalangite infantry (sarissa) -3072 (6.52 %) Hypaspistai (sarissa or doru) -15 300 (32.49 %) Hoplites -1000 (2.12 %) Old hoplite mercenaries (doru) -9300 (19.75 %) Mercenary hoplites (doru) -5000 (10.62 %) Allied hoplites (doru) -1000 (2.12 %) Phalangite raw recruits (assuming 1/3 of the reinforcements) 11 500 (24.42 %) Light infantry (operating freely) 8250 (17.52 %) Peltasts 3250 (6.9 %) Archers Elite -1000 (2.12 %) Cretan archers (armor and shield) -1000 (2.12 %) Agrianian peltasts (javelins, armor and large shield) -500 (1.06 %) Other men (the “javelin men” mentioned by Arrian) Levy -1000 (2.12 %) Triballian peltasts/archers (javelins/slingers and some archers) -750 (1.59 %) Triballian peltasts -250 (0.53 %) Triballian archers -3000 (6.37 %) Illyrian peltasts (javelins/slingers and some archers) -2250 (4.78 %) Illyrian peltasts -750 (1.59 %) Illyrian archers -3000 (6.37 %) Thracians peltasts (javelins/slingers and some archers) -2250 (4.78 %) Thracian peltasts -750 (1.59 %) Thracian archers -2000 (4.25 %) Macedonian peltasts/archers (assuming 2/3 of the reinforcements) -1500 (3.19 %) Macedonian peltasts -500 (1.06 %) Macedonian archers 7005 (14.86 %) Cavalry -1805 (3.83 %) Companion heavy cavalry (xyston) -2000 (4.25 %) Thessalian heavy cavalry (xyston) -600 (1.27 %) Prodromoi cavalry (sarissa, lancer) -500 (1.06 %) Paeonian light cavalry (javelins) -650 (1.38 %) Thracian light cavalry (javelins) -600 (1.27 %) Allied Greek light cavalry (javelins) -850 (1.8 %) Greek light mercenary cavalry (javelins)
Well done
In modern times, the cavalry squadrons, and then the tank/armoured squadrons of the Greek army, are still named "ile"
V. Athanasiou That's just badass.
StrikeMasterIce All ancient Greek military terms are still used in modern army such as lochos, lochagos, strategos, pyr, phalanx etc
The true brilliance of the Macedonian Phalanx is that it could turn a mob of barely trained militia into a nigh unstoppable force. The disadvantage of the Phalanx is that the elite veterans in a Phalanx aren't all that much stronger then the militia, given the length of the pike and the lack of armor. This is why it was critical that the phalanx be accompanied by a strong cavalry force or it would lose to a Roman Legion. Contrast the Phalanx system to the Roman Legionnaire system. Barely trained Roman militia were pitiable. Barely armored and forced to confront the enemy at very close range, they would been destroyed or routed extremely quickly. However, the Legionnaire system benefited the elite veterans because their skills synergized well with the gladius. If a veteran Roman army confronted a veteran Phalanx army, the Romans would have the advantage. For whatever reason in the few times the Phalanx challenge Rome, the famed Greek cavalry tended to not actually be part of the Greek army, causing the Phalanx to lose. For all the historians praise of the Legion over the Phalanx, at the very least the Phalanx had the ability to turn a formation of poor peasants into a fearsome weapon on the battlefield. Pikeman would last well into the age of muskets while the Legionnaires would not.
it's funny to me how the phalanx formation from greece found it's way all the way to the swiss and italian people, while the greeks themselves adopted the cavalry way of the persians or parthians through cataphracts
yeah but we had to, due to constantly fighting those eastern armies in steppe/arid hilly & plains terrain, where cavalry shines. Also one of the main tactics for the Arabs was to send cavalry forces to raid and sack cities, which could be stopped only by a heavy force relying on cavalry. Europe had dense forests, swamps, and those who raided there (slavs, vikings, etc) didn't rely on cavalry and so were much slower. The medieval kingdoms too weren't intent on conducting pillaging hit & run campaigns, mostly it would be small groups of soldiers who did it, and so there wasn't a need for the entire army to be centered around cavalry. The Arabs and Turks on the other hand... you get the point.
yea, but the "romans", not byzantine greeks, already had their number in terms of tactics. how many times was Selucia sacked by romans? 3? 4 times? they didnt hold cuz logistically it was a problem. the heavy infantry could hold against heavy cav forces, problem was the lack of training and actual bodies for the army, forcing reliance on mercenaries...basically becoming the "enemy" forcefully, cuz that was the resource(bodies) you had; easier to train them in what they knew, then start from scratch as heavy inf.
Elite phalangites have a huge advantage over less veteran units in the phalanx vs phalanx matchup. When 2 pike formations collide head on, the result is a complete bloodbath. The veteran formation willing to march unflinchingly against an opposing phalanx despite knowing this will shatter lesser trained units before or at the moment of contact. This happened repeatedly in the wars of the successors, as well as much later with the famed Spanish Tercios.
Your right i dont know who told this guy still doesn't count for shit when all the evidence suggest otherwise
I see that many people are praising Phillip II for the success of his son. Ancient Greeks were very proud of their origin, so they used their father name along with theirs. Alexander the Great offered 300 persian shields to the Parthenon after his win in Granicus River with the inscription: ''Αλέξανδρος Φιλίππου και οι Έλληνες πλην Λακεδαιμονίων'' which is translated as ''Alexander, son of Phillip and the Greeks except Spartans.''
I love how sassy the ancient Greeks were. "Except the Spartans" that's classic.
I feel somewhat proud that I actually understood all of that Greek sentence except "πλην".
@@yarpen26 it is the same with μειων ( which produces μειώνω ) and it means "-" for example 8-7=1
The quality of this channel's videos is far better than any other history channels.
Micah Smith That isn't history, thats alternative history...
Micah Smith then why did you mention his alternative history channel instead of his real history channel? Anyways, I still think this channel is the best.
This thread is bizarre... :-)
Baz Battles and Historia Civilis are awesome too! When they do put out content.
I absolutely love the combination of Total War animations, the drawings, maps and the usage of old Greek names. The details! It is definitely going the right direction, the show I mean! Big Thanks!
Thanks for watching, much more on the way! :-)
in Greek army we still use the name "ile" for tank squats and we refer to tanks as the horses branch.
What tanks? Puppets of islam and erdogan
@@ElCarboon we actually rule all the Aeagen Turcs only bark. We also have far superior army than you 😅
Another advantage of the cavalry wedge is that it is more manuverable than a square formation because the leader at the front is easily visible to more of the formation, allowing them to respond more quickly to his signals. Additionally, the narrow front and wide rear makes it easier to stay in formation while turning. In other words, the formation is distorted less during turns (relative to a square formation), allowing the men to form up more quickly after the turn.
You guys consistently present professional videos that are not only historical and educational but entertaining as well. Job well done!
Doing our best, thanks!
I wonder what was the mortality rate of squadron leaders.
mogyesz9 probably around 90%
I wonder what the battle mortality rate was for all. Battles were presumably quite risky, so large casualties would be expected... but would devastating routes caused by the reliance on strict formations increase the mortality rate?
they seek gaps and quickly slip into it, brunt of the work is done by the men behind him, they will have to make a gap larger, so probably mortality rate was higher the further you were from the tip of the wedge
unless they are ordered to charge into a wall ;)
If the leader died then its worth it. I'd imagine any soldier will be encouraged if he saw his leader going head into the fight
You’ll indeed catch me on the next one
Thanks for watching until the very end. :-)
Great video. Alexander enjoyed the fruits of Philip's hardwork. Its very important for one to plant the seeds and prepare, doesn't matter the benefits are reaped now or tomorrow.
Vinod Varghese You still have to admit though Alexander was a logistical genius and knew how to modivate and maneuver his troops in an impossible manner , who knows if Philip would have had Alexander’s success in the field. Philip was the reformer and Alexander the conquered
Yeah, Alexander used his father's reforms, but also improved upon them, we will talk about it in more detail in the future.
These videos deliver information so concisely, I really feel like I'm learning _far_ faster than I do watching most documentaries.
Thank you for watching :)
I really love these types of videos on the tactics and weaponry of the Hellenistic age and others as well! Keep making them!
Extremely informative and enjoyable. Thank you.
this channel it's getting better and better
That is our goal, thanks!
Big fan of your content. It's just amazing.
Thank you for watching :)
This was quite the informative video. I really enjoyed it a lot. My compliments to those who made this video a reality.
very nice video again. you are very accurate with the names dates and tactics!!! i really enjoy these series
Thank you for watching :)
Thank you guys for aways be uploading new content!!
Thanks for watching! Working an the new video right now. :-)
another good show, good relaxing background music.
Nice video!! Well done once again!!
By far my favorite history channel on you tube. Well this and i would say dan carlin are my favorites.
Appreciate it! :-)
Mod in this video: Well.. just Divide Et Impera :) Best wishes, K&G Machinima department , Malay Archer
Would it be right for a history nerd to use any other mod? Its not like vanilla is good enough. :p
Malay Archer oh hey, out curiosity any chances of a new Historical Machinima? I loved the Trajan series.
Saint Sin well there’s Ancient Empires...that’s pretty good. For me it runs better than DEI as well which is odd since it’s for Attila..
Connor Quarmby Hey buddy, the next video will be about Phyrrhic wars documentary :) and thank you for your support!
Connor I should have said any other mod for Rome II in heinsight. Ancient Empires is awesome! Dresden (main DEI mod) worked on it a lot and I would have suggested it above DEI but its for Atilla not Rome II.
Excellent work there guys! I come from Greece, so I just wanted to make a minor remark; when the letters ''o'' and ''i'' are found together in Greek words, they are usually pronounced as ''e'' and not as ''oi''. Keep up the good work!!
Thanks, we will!
Well made and very informative video once again. 👍
Thank you!
Awesome video and amazing work as always ! Small note at around 7:00, if I may.. The Macedonian Hat was called KAUSIA from the word KAUSON ( ΚΑΎΣΩΝ) meaning "heat" ..
Thanks for making your videos, keep it up!
Thank you for watching :)
Awesome video again! Great job!
Thanks for watching, more episodes on the way!
Well done..Thanks
Quality video. It's so interesting just how advanced their siege engines were. I feel like it took a long time for the medieval period to catch up to the ancient world. At least that's my perception anyway, could be wrong.
Yep, and the Romans appropriated a bunch of things. :-)
was their speciality. Carthage would not have lost the First Punic War if the Romans hadn't reverse engineered a beached Carthaginian quinquereme galley in their hundreds...
That's a good point.
The Medieval Europeans did not really like sieges, as a rule. Instead of surrounding a city and trying to starve it, or assaulting a city's walls, they preferred instead to raid, capture, and burn down the farms supplying a city. If the farms supplying a city are captured and destroyed, the city is no longer supplied with food, and that has the same effect as with surrounding and besieging the city. It's a different, more mobile way of waging war, made possible by the ascendance of cavalry and the institution of knighthood (contrary to popular belief, the knight's primary strategic method of combat was chevauchee, aka raiding). A modern comparison would be the difference between WW1 and WW2. Whereas in WW1 armies slugged it out and tried to reduce each other's defenses and numbers with the firepower provided by artillery, in WW2 armies preferred a more mobile form of war, massing force onto specific points in the enemy line, penetrating it, and then striking at the supply lines and the enemy's depth. Medieval European armies operated in a similar way, instead of besieging cities and castles and slugging it out with siege engines, enemy strong points are bypassed whenever possible and vulnerable farms and supply lines are raided, captured, and destroyed. It was only until cities and castles became much more valuable targets due to increasing urbanization and increasing trade that sieges became the preferred strategic method of attack once again.
I was talking about raids, though, not battles. I agree that battles usually only happened when either (a) both sides think that they have an overwhelming advantage over the enemy, and obviously one of the sides are wrong, or (b) one of the sides think they have an overwhelming advantage over the enemy, and has the mobility to force battle or otherwise attacked an important strategic asset to force battle. Since in general commanders aren't stupid, battles are rare indeed. Raids however, are extremely common, to the point that the vast majority of combat in Medieval Europe would have been quick penetrating raids and skirmishes instead of battles and sieges. Another thing to consider when talking about sieges in a medieval context is that it is insufficient to besiege a single castle, you have to simultaneously besiege adjacent castles too, because otherwise the forces in those adjacent castles will frequently sally out and wreck havoc on your supply lines and your foraging parties. Naturally, this made the resources required to commit to a single siege increase exponentially. This is probably one of the reasons why medieval commanders preferred raiding and chevauchee over battles or sieges. Much easier to do and actually workable. The sheer number and density of castles in Medieval Europe is insane and made sieges an extremely difficult task.
Can you make a video about Pyrros,king of Epirus and his campaign against Rome?Love your Videos btw
We will
Kings and Generals thx
Love u guys what a great video, keep up the good work
Damn, you're delivering these vid's in quick succession, keep it up :).
We will, thank you!
Alexander had every tool he needed for conquest delivered to him in a silver platter, all thanks to his dad.
El Bandito. He still had to use it effectively...and have the "cojones" to do so.
Daniel Morris born with silver spoon in his mouth
He really should check his "dad left me a military powerhouse" privilege.
*Best Dad of the Ancient Era*
That is a bit simplified. We will discuss Alexander's reforms soon.
3rd! Lucky to be always updated on the armies and tactics series.
There will be more :-)
Great continuation to last one..!
More on the way!
As usual ,nicely done
Thank you!
Make a video on Mughal armies and their tactics, please. Furthermore, try to incorporate the importance of supply chain and management in your videos as well since they tend to play a major role than the actual battles and the army composition. Thank you. Love from Pakistan
We will, eventually.
I think Invicta has some good videos on the supply chain and management topic
I'll check it out. Thanks.
this just made my day
Glad to hear that. :-)
Please do a video on ancient Assyria!
Thank you
I'm researching for a historical fiction I want to write and I can't overemphasize how valuable these videos are for me.
Are you finished with it?
@@ElCarboon Not yet. I've written 115 pages so far.
@@spencerevans8719 nice, gl
Great video! as always :)
Thank you for watching :)
Great video as usual
Thank you, consider sharing!
Kings and Generals I will share it
I was curious on your thoughts on Matthew's An Invincible Beast, which attributes many of the reforms to Philip's predecessors? It deals primarily with the infantry, though. Matthew highlights Philip's reintroduction of the traditional hoplite to act as a hinge between the pikemen and cavalry as one of his main innovations.
Like always a good video!
Doing our best :-)
beautiful
Thanks!
Great video as always lads but why switch between imperial and metric, when describing the range of siege engines? Probably just the sources, but a consistent unit of measurement would be nice. No big deal though, still one of the best military history channels on youtube
That is true, I was careless and I am really sorry about it. Will do my best to be more consistent in the future.
thanks , good video
Thank you!
There was a modern (in principle) system of a central office distributing mounts and replacement mounts in campaign. Horsemen many times had their second mounts confescated and re destributed.
Do a video about King David IV of Georgia's campaigns against Seljuks. It would be very interesting.
love your vids man
Thanks, more on the way!
hope so. you're the most entertaining channel to watch right now on youtube for me
Glad to hear it!
love the intro!!!!
Thanks!
4:22 I love how in this segment you tell us how the horses could exploit any hole to charge through the infantry, but in the footage(Total War?) you see all the horsemen stop in place as they collide with the enemy.
Total War has its faults
Yes. It was said in jest. Total War is great, and it's presentation is awesome, but I feel like modders are the ones who ultimately make it great.
So, according to this video and the one previous, Macedon had all the best stuff--best horses, best wood for spears/sarissas, plenty of bronze and iron producing capability...amazing how the leadership of a single person can change this gifted land (and no wonder all the others wanted the territory) from zero to hero!
Wish you can make a video on Philip's conquests
just great M8 tnx
Thanks for watching, consider sharing!
terribly underrated channel, its almost heretical that you have less than a half a million subs.
Thanks for these high quality videos, what about Crusades series?
Thanks! It is one of the options of the current patreon poll.
intresting really. I wonder if you scheduled your series on Nader,or covering battle of Carrhae and karnal or even Yeghevārd and kars? you know,every week me and many of my friends(who I introduced you channel to)keeping our fingers crossed,hope to see your new work about these(Nader and...) anyways,stay strong mate. you're doing great ;)))
If you want to see cavalry wedge in movie action, look "Alexander Nevski". They use the wedge to break the Russian formation in battle.
I have seen it.
I love every think in your chanal
make about greek siege machinery used also in sea battles and about greek chemical weapons or greek defensive machines in cities that they were used in preventing opponents to capture the city
love the vids:D Can you say the lenght in meters and yards it is hard for the rest of us to know the distance in only yards. ty keep it up:D
Yeah, that was a bad call, we will standardize it.
Nice!
Flavius Belisarius did Justinian blinded you and made you beg on streets in your later life?
Umar Ansari Tis only a story made by later writers. What really happened was I retired from military service.
Flavius Belisarius did Justinian demotivated you because he was afraid that you were too popular among Byzantine citizens and kicked you out of your rank in Byzantine army I have huge respect for you No doubt you are the best among all Byzantine Generals
I know more or less what Alexander did with his Cavalry in terms of tactics, but not Philips. Very interesting videos. I would suggest that the "Fun facts" ought to be added at the end of the video, not as a comment, as (albeit now I watch for them) I sometimes do miss them - also, many others would see them! I do believe also that the spacing of the individual horses would be slightly more than depicted, but not much more. I eagerly await (and know full well that I'll enjoy it) the next video. Keep it up!!!!!
Thank you, my friend! :-) All noted. We are thinking about incorporating the fun facts, but a few times we did it, the people didn't watch, so need to find a better format. :-)
Permit me to forwards an idea. Take the case you mention a character for instance Alexander, during his younger years. You can put at the bottom in a box colored like old parchment, the fun fact, for instance, "Aristotle was the tutor of Alexander". It could also be done as a piece of parchment on the sides of the screen. I do not advise the top with parchment, as it would obstruct more the screen in that case. In the case of this video, one of your fun facts, such as " Later in his reign he also enlisted light cavalry from his Thracian and Paeonian client states. " could have been placed in such a manner while talking about Philip's Prodromoi. Regardless, keep it up friends, your videos are awesome!
Good one, appreciate it!
You are most welcome!
Great video.please make a video on roman siege of Jerusalem 70 AD
Thanks! Noted.
That's a very impressive intro.
Thank you!
Sometimes you use measurements such as yards, and sometimes metres. My advice would be to use the more universal one, or use both (with one in parentheses). Keep on the good work
That is a good point. I guess, my long-time love of football played a trick on me. You know how the penalty spot is at 11 meters, which is 12 yards. We will be more consistent, of course.
I don't watch american football sorry, if it's that you're referencing to hehe.
No, European :D
please make a videos about wars of Georgian unification
Alexander was a tactical genius no argument there....but without the work of Philipp doubtful Alexander could have cross the Hellespont. Great show keep it up guys (and girls maybe).
Thanks, we will!
Never been so happy
Great Video! By the way, what GemFX are you using or is that reshade?
Awesome video ! :-)
It's a custom up to this point
It is a good custom. :-)
Dankness yet again. Question another great youtuber Historia civilis (I think its spelled) did a piece on this and he talked about the tech. the cav. used, your two takes differ a touch. curious opinions. Cause his explanation made a bit more sense given the tech. limitations of the time.
I respect your channel and I am loathe to post "competitors" videos, but I'm very curious to know the different takes, kzhead.info/sun/ndmBXcejqYBjlok/bejne.html
No, it is ok, Historia Civilis has a great channel and is a great guy overall. There are many topics that are still debated by the historians, and the military tactics are always hotly contested, because historians of the past were less meticulous in this matter. So, often if you see a discrepancy like that, it means that the scriptwriters adhere to different theories, which is ok.
Good video my friend, it must be a lot of work :-)
Thanks! It is :-)
Kings and Generals how long it takes?
Please, please the Battle of Zenta
Can u do a video about preveza naval war
Great video as always! What's the song that starts at 8:30? Thanks
Will try to add the songs ASAP.
Kings and Generals That's awesome! Much appreciated :)
Could you cover British and Prussian line infantry tactics during the 18th Century ?
We will, eventually
3:57 How often did they have to appoint a new commander?
was the squadron leader heavily armoured (if so wouldn't he slow the others down?) and what would happen to squadron if the first man died?
I love you guys, really.....and I also love Devin btw.
Thanks! :-)
Another splendid video except (and it might seem a pedantic point, but it is annoyingly common) things can only be 'fired' from firearms. Bows etc 'shoot', and javelins etc are thrown.
Thank you! I will try to be more careful about it!
Recently found your channel and became an instant fan. Is there any way to find a chronological list within a certain topic? I came in at Phillip of Macedon, but I'm not sure where your coverage of Hellenic warfare begins. Great videos though, please keep it up!
Welcome aboard! So, we have multiple series. This one is called Armies and Tactics and, for now, covers the ancient Greeks: kzhead.info/sun/l9FraMV-epaLe4k/bejne.html Another major Greek series covers the Diadochi Wars: kzhead.info/channel/PLaBYW76inbX4nsEGlU-uo7SzsUtq3jBuG.html
Most excellent! Thanks very much!
I am a simple man. I see Kings and General and click Like!
Thank you!
The largest success of the wedge was that they could all follow the leader in very tight maneuvers. The wedge was almost never used as a charge. Surprised a channel like this would get it wrong.
I think we explained it. The goal was to exploit the gaps in the formations, and the leader would do just that. It was very different than the charge of the medieval knight, for instance.
If you would like me to send you the sources I am happy to :)
Specifically, the wedge was used for maneuvering and not charging. It allowed for very tight and accurate turns and flanks, and was formed into a more classic rectangle / blob as the engagements were made. I'm interested in your sources.
1:43 The problem with cavalry back then was the rider would fall off their horses. The Gauls had some type of special saddle that helped that problem. But if you fell off your horse you’re were as good as dead. It wasn’t until the introduction of the stirrup that made the problem disappear. It also made cavalry more deadly
True, it allowed cavalry to charge more effectively.
This is actually a myth. First of all: heavy shock cavalry were used effectively way before the stirrup was invented. Second: a man made a test in a horse, were he would charge and hit targets with and without stirrups and he found out that stirrups didn't help he stay on the horse. The stirrup was only useful for getting back in his former position. In keeping the rider on the horse, the saddle played the major hole. And third: The late antiquity and medieval horses were bigger than their ancient times counterparts, that's what made the stirrup necessary, the stirrup's primal function was getting up on the horse.
Is there a Samothrace has a different signifier for it>
With the Macedonian infantry primarily comprising of pikemen, how would they assault a city? A sarissa would be too cumbersome in narrow street battles or to carry to the top of city walls. I've heard of the Hypaspists participating in city assaults, but what about the Phalangits? Did they discard their sarissas for shorter spears or did they just fight with their sidearms as swordsmen?
Philip devised a siege-train with catapults and siege towers for that. You’re right - the pike-phalanx was useless for sieges and other prohibitive situations. Philip truly created the first combined-arms army which worked in tandem together, not just different arms being on the same battlefield independently.
I like how he uses Rome 2 footage to illustrate what he says.
Good :-)
Wasn't there a catapult they made that fired stones? Is that developed during Alexander
Will you do a video on the Siege of Alesia?
Maybe, we'll see.
I have one major problem with this and with the total war representation of cavalry in general. No man in his right mind would simply charge into the enemy line in the ancient world. With no stirrup and in some cases no saddle you would fly off the horse if you attempted to just ram yourself into the enemy. In addition the weapons the companions used would break on such an impact. This is one of the reasons the battle of dyrachium (1081 AD) is so interesting as it is the first use of what we imagine when we hear cavalry charge.
O would love to know about the medieval Knight lance
You will, the plan is to go through the evolution of all armies.
Nice opening
Thank you for watching :)
Where was Alexander in the “wedge” - in front (the first rider)? - if so that must have been extremely dangerous.
7:01 kausia* :)
Will there be more napoleon and frederick the great videos
Yes. We have a poll on patreon right now. It will define the order of the next series.