Macedonian Army: Philip II's Reforms and Alexander's Conquests

This report delves into the significant transformation of the Macedonian army under King Philip II, contrasting its structure and tactics with those of the traditional Greek army. It highlights Philip's key reforms, including the introduction of the Sarissa pike, the Pezhetairoi infantry, and the reorgani...Read More

Running Head: MACEDONIAN ARMY
MACEDONIAN ARMY
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King Philip left a great deal of impact on the later phase of Alexander’s imperial
campaign against the entire globe. As the research of Worthington (2014) articulated that the
presence of Philip in the history of Macedonia was so intense and prolific that later Alexander
took advantage of Philip’s establishment and brought the world under one imperial banner. The
major achievement of Philip could be seen in his reconstruction of Macedonian army and created
one of the greatest military around the world. In this context, this discussion tries to highlight the
difference between the condition of the Macedonian army and the state of the army after Philip
came to power.
In the classical age Greek army was segregated into two distinct form. The Hoplites were
known as the standard Greek infantrymen with a body armour and bronze helmet. A round heavy
shield fashioned in a process of combating with the enemies in a hand to hand fight was highly
prevalent in the Greek warfare. Backed by the cavalry, the Greek army used both the troops
where the infantrymen used hand to hand fight with the enemies and the cavalry outflanked the
rival army from both sides. However, there are some differences between the traditional Greek
army and the army of King Phillip. In the traditional Greek army, the infantrymen were belonged
to the peasantry and agrarian class. During the time of peace and prosperity, the hoplites were
farming their lands. On the other hand, the cavalry belonged to the aristocrats and they were also
responsible to maintain their horses and mustered for battle. From the research of Hammond and
Griffith (1979) it can be stated that there was no specific battle formation for the hoplites during
the battle as they were busy in doing hand to hand fight with the enemies. However, the number
and composition of troops was differed based on the geographical differences.
However, after the coming of Philip and reordering the army structure and warfare tactics
it became an invincible army that could conquer any land irrespective of its geographical

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differences. From the research of Gabriel (2010) it can be derived that use of high wages for the
army was a key factor for Philip’s army to get success. He found out that the infantry which was
one of the important part of his huge army, got less wage in compare to the cavalry. It was
legitimate for the cavalrymen to get more wages due to pay for their horses. Nonetheless, it can
be stated paying less wage to the infantrymen discouraged them intensely.
Furthermore, reformation was also staged in terms of transforming the battle techniques
by introducing 14 to 18 foot long pikes made of local cornel wood name as Sarissa. It gave great
advantage for the Macedonian army to fight with the barbarians and other rivals. Known as the
Pezhetairoi or the foot companions, those infantry troops were specialised in pikes and shields.
Therefore, a balance between the foot soldiers and cavalry had been established and helped
Philip’s army to advance effectively. In addition to this, for the cavalry as well different devision
was created with a strength of 200 men for each cavalry (Worthington 2014). Moreover, the
introduction of battalion in army created an effective coordination within the long army of
Philip. There was also a cavalry squadron named sarissophoroi who carried sarissas in battle.
Constant training of the army was also considered to be an effective measure for Philip’s
army to fight in any terrain. All those cavalrymen were carried all their equipment, food and
drink. In fact, Philip used mercenary soldiers as well in case of shortage of army. Those
mercenaries had vast knowledge of warfare and well equipped with the traditional Greek
technique of warfare. In this context, introducing the engineering corps was one of the major
facet in the Macedonian army during the reign of Philip. Polyeides of Thessaly were the
responsible army men to design new siege machinery with torsion catapult (Worthington 2014).
Spring loaded catapult were also important design of the engineering core that provided further
advantage to the Macedonian military.

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From this point of view, it can be stated under the supervision of King Philip, the
Macedonian army became the invincible force to stop and they were able to conquer any region
across the world. King Philip not only shaping the warfare techniques or upgrading the army
troops but using new technologies it also restored the confidence and solidarity within the
Macedonian military that helped Alexander to start his conquest.

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Reference
Gabriel, R.A., 2010. Philip II of Macedonia: greater than Alexander. Potomac Books, Inc..
Hammond, N.G. and Griffith, G.T., 1979. A History of Macedonia ii (Vol. 225). Oxford.
Worthington, I., 2014. By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the
Macedonian Empire. Ancient Warfare and Civilizati.