History of the Macedonian Army: From Weakness to Greatness

Running head: HISTORY OF THE MACEDONIAN ARMY
HISTORY OF THE MACEDONIAN ARMY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY OF THE MACEDONIAN ARMY
The Macedonian army is considered to be one of the greatest and best military forces
of the ancient world. The Macedonian army was not always great and skilled. Macedonia was
an ideal region for people due to its geographical factors as it consisted of rivers, mountains,
essential raw materials were found here which attracted many kings to try and invade
Macedonia (Worthington, 2014). ). During 359 B.C the kingdom of Macedonia was lying on
the brink of destruction, it was defeated and people of Macedonia were in despair. The need
for a strong ruler and an army was desperately needed during this time. This essay talks about
the changes that the Macedonian army went after the reign of King Philip II that made them
the best military force in the ancient time.
The army of Macedonia before the reign of King Philip II 9was not strong and lacked
vision. The neighbours of Macedonia were very strong and it was very difficult for the army
to compete with its neighbours. The army of Macedonia mostly comprised of the peasant
class. These people were not very strong. These foot soldiers were not well equipped and
were given no formal training. They were no match to the superior infantry of their
neighbours like the Illyrians. The Macedonian army also consisted of elite unit armed in the
Greek hoplites fashion that were few and outclassed by the Illyrian counterpart. After 359
B.C Macedonia became weaker and another invasion seemed evident. During this time, King
Philip II took to the throne and made a revolutionary change in the army of Macedonia
(Chrimatopoulos, 2018).
King Philip II was the 18th king of the kingdom of Macedonia. King Philip II came to
the throne after his elder brothers Alexander II and Perdiccass III were unsuccessful in
protecting the kingdom. Philip spent his time as a hostage at the leading city of that decade,
Thebes. Here he observed Greek generals who were inventive and tactician in their approach
in moulding their army to make them powerful (Greenwalt, 2015). When King Philip II came
into power, he realised that the Macedonian infantry was in need of a change. Remembering