The Campaigns of Alexander (Classics) Read Online Free PDF Page B

with the totals in Arrian (Ptolemy), and may be taken as substantially correct. The size and composition of the force holding the bridgehead at Abydos – there surely must have been some troops there in 334 – is not known, but the likelihood is that it was small and consisted mainly of mercenary infantry.
     
    The backbone of the infantry was the Macedonian heavy infantry, the ‘Foot Companions’, organized on a territorial basis in six battalions (
taxeis
) of about 1,500 men each. In place of the nine-foot spear carried by the Greek hoplite, the Macedonian infantryman was armed with a pike or
sarissa
about 13 or 14 feet long, which required both hands to wield it. The light circular shieldwas slung on the left shoulder, and was smaller than that carried by the Greek hoplite which demanded the use of the left arm. Both Greek and Macedonian infantry wore greaves and a helmet, but it is possible that the Macedonians did not wear a breastplate. 13 The
phalanx
(a convenient term for the sum total of the Macedonian heavy infantry), like all the Macedonian troops, had been brought by Philip to a remarkable standard of training and discipline. Unlike the phalanx which the Romans encountered over a century later, Alexander’s phalanx was capable of rapid movement and was highly manoeuvrable, as one can see from a reading of the first half-dozen chapters of Arrian’s book.
     
    In battle the right flank of the phalanx was guarded by the
Hypaspists
or ‘Guards’. These were an élite corps, consisting of a Royal battalion (
agema
) and two other battalions, each of approximately 1,000 men. Alexander used them frequently on rapid marches and other mobile operations, often in conjunction with cavalry and lightarmed troops. This suggests, although it does not prove, that they were more lightly armed than the heavy infantry; but if they were less heavily armed, we do not know where the difference lay.
     
    The member states of the Corinthian League contributed 7,000 heavy infantry, while 5,000 Greeks served as mercenaries. The remainder of Alexander’s infantry consisted of 7,000 Thracian and Illyrian light troops armed with javelins and two bodies of archers from Crete and Macedonia respectively. The outstanding unit among the light troops was the Agrianians, 1,000 strong, who have been well compared in their relation to Macedon and in their quality to the Gurkhas of the Indian army. Alone ofthe allies they served throughout the campaign and Arrian mentions them almost fifty times. With the archers and the Guards they took part in all the reconnaisances and skirmishes as well as fighting superbly in the set pieces.
     
    Pride of place among the cavalry was held by the Macedonian ‘Royal Companions’, originally 1,800 troopers divided into 8 squadrons or
Ilai
, all under the command of Parmenio’s son, Philotas. Among them the Royal Squadron, consisting of perhaps 300 men, was Alexander’s own bodyguard, which spearheaded the devastating cavalry charge in the major battles. Their position was on the immediate right of the Guards, who had the task of maintaining contact between the Companions and the phalanx. The counterpart of the Companions on the left of the phalanx was the Thessalian cavalry, also 1,800 strong at the start of the expedition. Under the general command of Parmenio, they had the difficult task at Issus and Gaugamela of holding much superior forces of Persian cavalry while Alexander delivered the decisive blow on the right. The Greek allies furnished 600 horsemen, and the remaining 900 were made up of Thracians, Paeonians, and ‘Scouts’ (
Prodromoi
) who were also called ‘Lancers’ (
Sarissophoroi
) since they were armed with the
sarissa
, presumably shorter than those carried by the infantry which required the use of both hands. Whether these light cavalry were Macedonians or Thracians is not clear; certainly they were distinct from ‘the Thracians’. Finally, although Diodorus does not mention