The Handy Military History Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton

THE PHALANX

      Given their success against the Persians, why did the Greeks need a new fighting style?

      They probably didn’t. It was their own set of civil wars (Sparta versus Athens and Thebes versus Sparta) that made the rise of the phalanx necessary.

      By about 350 B.C.E., the Greeks fought in this new formation, which was quite different from any which had before been seen. The phalanx was an oddly shaped, irregular rectangle, with about 300 men packed into tight ranks. Men in the outer ring carried spears, some as long as twenty-two feet. Men in the second, inner row carried shorter spears and deadly swords. The innermost part of the phalanx was composed of men who hurled rocks at the foe. All together, the phalanx formation resembled a hedgehog or a porcupine, lurching toward the foe, but in modern terms we would probably associate it with a tank.

      Where was the phalanx developed?

      The phalanx formation was first deployed during a set of wars between Sparta and Thebes, but it reached the peak of its development under the leadership of Philip II, king of Macedon. Philip had been a hostage at Thebes during his teenage years; there, he saw and learned the best that Thebes had to offer. Returning to Macedon, Philip developed a new phalanx, adding a new dimension, that of cavalry on both wings. As a result, the Macedonian phalanx combined speed and strength, power and flexibility.

      By the time of his death in 336 B.C.E., King Philip was the master of all of Greece except Sparta. He had begun to turn his attention east, with plans to invade the Persian Empire. However, Philip was assassinated at the age of fifty-six, and his plans were carried out by his son, the remarkable person known as Alexander the Great.

      Was Alexander’s childhood as tortured as we have sometimes heard?

      Yes, indeed. Though he was prince and heir to the throne, Alexander lived a precarious life, alternating between the wishes and desires of his father—King Philip II—and his mother, Olympias of Epirus. These strong-willed personalities gave much to their son, particularly in terms of ambition, but his childhood was a dangerous time as he sought to adjust to their conflicting demands.

      King Philip divorced his wife when Alexander was about fifteen, and there was concern that the son by his new marriage might replace Alexander as heir to the throne. Whether or not Alexander had a hand in his father’s assassination (the full truth has never come out), he doubtless suffered some guilt after his father’s death and his own elevation to the throne. Olympias was, naturally, thrilled with the developments, especially when it became clear that she would be the real power in Macedonia when her son went to invade Persia. First, however, Alexander had to deal with a rebellion in Greece.

      What happened to Thebes?

      At its height, Thebes was a city-state with a population of around 70,000. Today, all that remains of the city is a series of corn fields and olive groves, with almost no trace of its former glory. The culprit was the brief Theban Revolt of 335 B.C.E.

      Believing that Alexander was an easier target than his deceased father, the people of Thebes rose in revolt and asked the other city-states to join them. While the issue hung in the balance, Alexander came south with his Macedonian army and utterly defeated the Thebans. He then proceeded to destroy the city, brick by brick. Tradition has it that he left exactly one house standing, which belonged to a poet whose work he admired. This display of ruthlessness was sufficient: there were no further revolts or rebellions against Macedonian rule.

ALEXANDER

      How many men were in Alexander’s army?

      Alexander left Macedonia in the spring of 334 B.C.E., with 35,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. This seems like a preposterously small number with which to commence an invasion, but Alexander—whose spies kept him informed about Persian weakness—was supremely confident. Tradition has it that he slept with a copy of Homer’s Iliad under his pillow and that he regarded himself as the new Achilles.

      At twenty, Alexander was a superb combination of lean, athletic grace and razorsharp intelligence. He had been tutored for a time by the philosopher Aristotle. Alexander had no doubt that Greeks and Macedonians were superior to all other peoples and that they were meant to govern the world. At the same time, he had some rather advanced ideas about ethnic and racial harmony, believing that he would one day create a blended society of Greeks and the people they conquered.

      Where was Alexander’s first battle?

      Alexander performed the same passage of the Hellespont as Xerxes, but in reverse (he performed sacrifices on the Asian side, vowing to avenge Greece for the Persian invasion of 480 B.C.E.). The first three months saw only skirmishes, but the Persians gathered an army of roughly equal strength and the two sides clashed at the Battle of the Granicus (River).

      The battle was fought on a dry riverbed during a time of drought, with the Greeks on the west side and the Persians to the east. Both sides struggled for possession of the riverbed, and the outcome was doubtful for hours. Then Alexander took a fall from his horse—the famed Buchephalus—and lay on the ground for several minutes (very likely, his staff performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation). The Greeks and Macedonians lost heart when Alexander went down, but when the commander rose and mounted his horse, it restored their confidence. The battle was won an hour later, with the Persians in a dignified retreat.

      A painting by Sebastiano Conca (1680–1764) depicts Alexander the Great visiting the Temple of Jerusalem. Alexander conquered lands from Greece to Judea to Egypt to the edge of the Indian subcontinent before dying at the young age of thirty-two.

      Meanwhile, where was the King of Kings?

      Darius III was not a warrior like his ancestors. He had a reputation to defend, however, and an empire to preserve. Hearing that the Greeks and Macedonians were a tough group, Darius assembled a large army, perhaps as many as 100,000. When Alexander and his men descended from the last of the Turkish mountains onto the broad plain that lies at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean, they found Darius’ Persians waiting for them.

      We employ terms like “the Persians,” but Darius’ army was actually made up of Persians, Egyptians, Bactrians, Phoenicians, and others; this was almost inevitable, given the size of the Persian Empire. One reason Alexander would win so decisively is that his men nearly all spoke the same language, while Darius’ may have spoken as many as six!

      Who won the Battle of Issus?

      The battle is celebrated in art with a mosaic that depicts Alexander on Buchephalus, driving straight at Darius, who is ready to turn and flee. Although the mosaic clearly intends to glorify Alexander, there is truth in this depiction.

      The battle was about evenly matched, with the phalanx proving unbeatable, but with the Persians doing well on the two wings. At a critical moment, Alexander and the King’s Companions—his chosen group of horsemen—drove straight into a gap in the Persian lines, coming close to Darius. The King of Kings fled, and his staff of interpreters—those who made coordination between his various ethnic groups possible—surrendered. As a result, the Persian army disintegrated, with the Macedonians and Greeks in hot pursuit. Approximately 20,000 Persians were killed, and many more were captured. That evening, Alexander also captured Darius’ tent, with two of his wives, several of his children, and an immense amount of silver and gold.

      Was there any chance Alexander could be stopped?

      Darius III did not think so. On hearing of the loss of part of his family, Darius sent a letter, asking Alexander to return them. Alexander could keep the treasure, Darius said, and he was welcome to the western third of the Persian Empire if only he would make peace. Holding the letter aloft, Alexander brought the matter to his top generals.

      Parmenion was eldest of the group. He had served King Philip II loyally and well. Parmenion now said, “If I were Alexander, I would accept this offer.” It