In our previous video, we talked about the Macedonian infantry of Philip II.
In this episode, we will cover the changes he made to the Macedonian cavalry and siege
equipment.
The Macedonian cavalry had a rich history, as the region was ideal for breeding fine
war horses.
The Macedonian horsemen were considered some of the greatest in the central Mediterranean
long before Philip.
Their riders came from the Macedonian nobility.
They were called the Companions or hetairoi to emphasise their closeness to the king.
Contrary to some beliefs, it was not Philip who created the title, ‘Companions;’ it
had been in use long before 359 BC.
We hear of the Companions’ prowess in battle against larger enemy cavalry units both during
the Peloponnesian War and the Spartan-Olynthian War.
So, Philip inherited a rich equestrian tradition among his elites.
Yet many of these nobles had perished along Philip’s elder brother, Perdiccas, fighting
against the Illyrians in 359 BC and it appears that Philip did not have a large surviving
cavalry force available.
He quickly solved this by promoting many of his supporters to the Macedonian nobility,
thus making them Companions.
Soon after, Thessalians and other Greeks were also incorporated into the nobility to further
increase numbers.
The Companion’s primary weapon was a lance called the xyston.
Around two metres in length the xyston’s shaft was made from cornel wood – similar
to the infantry sarissa.
Yet unlike the sarissa the xyston was wielded with one hand due to its lighter weight and
smaller size.
At its end was a stout iron tip designed to penetrate both armour and flesh.
The Companions were also equipped with a short sword, either a kopis or xiphos, in case the
xyston shaft broke on impact.
For their armour, the Companions were equipped with a cuirass made of either bronze or leather.
They were also armed with metal greaves and a gorget, both usually made of bronze.
Their helmet was the famed Phrygian helmet made of iron.
Later around the time of Alexander’s succession, it appears this helmet-style was replaced
by the more suitable Boeotian style.
Scholars debate whether Philip’s Companions also had a small shield like the pelta of
his infantrymen.
Whether this is the case or not, it appears it was discarded by the time of Alexander’s
crossing into Asia in 334 BC.
Philip arranged his Companion cavalry into squadrons called ile.
Each squadron consisted of around 200 men and were based on the Macedonian districts
where the Companions owned their land.
Among these squadrons was an elite 300-strong squadron called, the Basilike ile, the royal
squadron.
The greatest reform Philip made to his Companions was in their training.
The Companions were to be the shock-arm of his army, meant to disrupt an enemy’s line
and shatter their resolve with the power of their charge.
So, they were trained to fight in a special formation: the wedge.
The wedge had been traditionally used among the Scythians and Thracians.
It was triangular, with one rider at the front and the number increasing in each row further
back.
The squadron commander would lead the wedge, as that was the most visible and easiest position
to guide the rest of the formation.
In a solid wedge, each squadron of 200 men would be 20-men deep and 20-men wide at its
base.
The wedge could also be hollow which would give the formation a greater size.
Combined with the use of the xyston lance, the wedge formation was devastating.
The narrowness of its head meant that the leading horse could exploit and charge through
even small gaps in an enemy line.
Those behind would follow and very quickly the opposing formation would be shattered,
which the following infantry would exploit.
Philip knew that used if correctly, the shock element of his new-look companions trained
in the wedge formation would be devastating.
Yet the wedge was not faultless in its design.
Despite all the training and no matter how formidable the Macedonian steeds were, the
wedge would only prove devastating if there was a gap in the enemy lines for the horse
to charge through.
A horse would never charge into a solid unbroken infantry phalanx standing its ground; instead
it would shy away and refuse to run into a cohesive line of spears.
If the wedge was to be effective, the enemy formation had to first be disrupted and gaps
created.
This was what his new-look infantry was for.
Armed with lines of deadly sarisae, the offensive power of the Macedonian phalanx, supported
by both archers and javelin men, was perfect for shattering the cohesion of enemy formations:
being also under fire from both javelins and arrows, their foe would struggle to oppose
the sarisae with the shorter length of their own weapons.
Unable to counter, the enemy formation would soon suffer casualties and lose its cohesion;
gaps would emerge and it was these gaps that the companions could exploit in the wedge.
This was the tactic that scholars believe Philip used to gain his first great victory
against the Illyrians in 357 BC.
His son Alexander would famously use the wedge to exploit the gap in Darius’ line at Gaugamela.
Philip would also develop the hammer and anvil tactic, used most effectively by his son Alexander
and many other commanders since.
We will talk about this tactic in more detail in a separate documentary.
The Companion cavalry were designed to fight in unison with the infantry to gain victory.
Neither unit was more important; both were indispensable.
However, the Companions were not the only Macedonian cavalry force reformed by Philip.
Alongside the heavy cavalry, Philip introduced a new, lighter unit called the prodromoi literally
meaning ‘the runners ahead.’
The prodromoi were the lighter compliment to the Companions.
Unlike the Companions, they wore tunics and the traditional Macedonian hat called the
kauisa.
It appears the prodromoi served in a variety of roles and their primary weapon depended
on that: Primarily, they served as scouts and would have been armed with javelins and
acted as swift skirmishers.
These javelins would be used to inflict the first casualties in a battle from distance.
Later, we also hear of the prodromoi being referred to as sarissaphoroi or ‘sarissa-bearing
cavalry.’
This suggests the prodromoi could also serve as lancer cavalry, used primarily against
enemy horsemen.
At the Battle of Gaugamela for example, we hear of Sarissaphoroi routing the opposing
Persian cavalry.
Although their name suggests otherwise, the sarissaphoroi lance was shorter than that
of the sarissa infantry- it would have been too cumbersome for the rider to carry.
Instead, they were armed with longer versions of the xyston lance, still held with one hand.
Just as with the Companions, Philip divided the prodromoi into ile squadrons and trained
them in the wedge formation.
Philip also saw great potential in the development and reform of another area of military warfare
and his reign would mark the beginning of a new epoch in siege warfare.
Philip had a keen interest in using siege machinery to aid him in capturing cities – most
notably at Amphipolis in 357 BC, where he used both battering rams and siege engines
to breach the enemy’s walls.
Seeing its effectiveness, it was probably not long after this that Philip created his
own special engineering corps within his reformed army, tasked with constructing various siege
engines such as siege towers, battering rams and catapults.
Once again we do not know for certain, scholars presume the headquarters of this corps was
in Pella, which likely soon became an arsenal for military machinery.
The engineering corps quickly became a critical part of Philip’s army and they soon got
used to constructing and operating various siege engines.
One such engine was the Oxybeles.
The oxybeles was an improvement on the gastraphetes mechanical bow that had originated in Sicily
at the start of the 4th Century BC.
Its mechanical bow remained the same as the gastraphetes but it differed by being mounted
onto solid frames.
Non-torsion winches were used to pull back the bow’s arms to give it more power.
As a result, it could fire bolts up to 300 yards.
Although the oxybeles was not created in Macedon, it was quickly brought there by Philip to
aid his siege warfare.
Evidence suggests that Philip used the oxybeles during his siege of Olynthus in 348 BC and
continued to use them throughout his reign Philip’s engineering corps would make advancements
to siege warfare due mainly to one man.
Polyidus, a Thessalian was Philip’s chief engineer for much of his reign.
Once again, our evidence is limited but it appears Polyidus made significant improvements
to both the ram and siege tower, increasing their protection and manoeuvrability.
Yet Polyidus’ greatest achievement was his creation of the torsion catapult.
Prior to 350 BC, catapults such as the gastraphetes and oxybeles were non-torsion and fired arrows
against defenders on the wall rather than the walls themselves.
Polyidus would make significant improvements.
In around 340 BC, he developed torsion springs and supporting frames for the catapults.
These springs gave the catapult a much greater propulsive power than the oxybeles and allowed
it to fire arrows at enemies from up to 300 metres away.
These torsion catapults could also be placed on top of siege engines, from where they could
fire down on defenders.
They were called, katapeltai Makedonikoi or ‘Macedonain catapults’ as Philip and Polyidus
were the first to develop them.
Philip would use these new machines during his siege of Byzantium in 340 BC, although
the siege in the end proved unsuccessful.
Polyidus’ importance to Macedonian siege developments cannot be understated.
We will discuss the changes made to the siege warfare by Alexander and the Diadochi in future,
but it should be noted that those developments were built on the shoulders of Philip and
Polyidus.
During his reign, Philip had completely revolutionised Hellenic warfare.
Infantry, cavalry and machinery – he had reformed all.
The days of heavily-armed phalanxes being the dominant factor in the war were over.
A new era in armies and tactics had begun.
His son, Alexander, would be sure to take advantage of this changes, so subscribe and
press the alarm bell to learn about Alexander’s army in our future videos.
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