Armed Forces and Units
Macedonian Army
Ancient, Macedon
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The Macedonian army was the fighting force of the kingdom of Macedon under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Philip's reforms from 359 BC made soldiering a professional, full-time occupation, arming the infantry with the long sarissa pike in a deep phalanx and building the Companion cavalry into a decisive shock arm. Alexander inherited this army and used its combined-arms flexibility to conquer the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
Facts
Force TypeRoyal standing army: sarissa phalanx infantry and Companion cavalry 1 Founded Year Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ancient Macedonian army
Wikipedialead sentenceQuote, lead sentence
The Macedonian army was the army of Macedon
1. Wikipedia: Ancient Macedonian army
WikipediaDevelopment, Philip II sectionQuote, Development, Philip II section
Nicholas Sekunda states that at the beginning of Philip II's reign in 359 BC, the Macedonian army consisted of 10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry
Wikipedia: Macedonian phalanx
WikipediaAssociated With: Sarissa, Equipment sectionQuote, Associated With: Sarissa, Equipment section
The weapons of the first five rows of men all projected beyond the front of the formation, so that there were more spear points than available targets
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