Why did the phalanx fail?

At the Battle of Cynocephalae in 197 BCE, the Romans defeated the Greek phalanx easily because the Greeks had failed to guard the flanks of their phalanx and, further, the Greek commanders could not turn the mass of men who comprised the phalanxes quickly enough to counter the strategies of the Roman army and, after …

How did the Macedonian Phalanx work?

The phalanx used the “oblique line with refused left” arrangement, designed to force enemies to engage with soldiers on the furthest right end, increasing the risk of opening a gap in their lines for the cavalry to break through. Due to the structure of the phalanx, it was weakest in the rear and on the right.

How did a phalanx fight?

The hoplites would lock their shields together, and the first few ranks of soldiers would project their spears out over the first rank of shields. The phalanx therefore presented a shield wall and a mass of spear points to the enemy, making frontal assaults against it very difficult.

Why was the Macedonian phalanx effective?

The extreme length of the sarissa meant that up to five layers of pikes protruded ahead of the front man – allowing the phalanx to steamroll any opponent. So long as its rear and flank were protected, the formation was extremely powerful both as a defensive and an offensive weapon.

What was a phalanx and what did it do?

phalanx, in military science, tactical formation consisting of a block of heavily armed infantry standing shoulder to shoulder in files several ranks deep. Fully developed by the ancient Greeks, it survived in modified form into the gunpowder era and is viewed today as the beginning of European military development.

What was the phalanx used for?

Who won the battle of phalanx?

in this way, he was able to concentrate his forces on one section of the Spartan battle line. The Thebans broke through the Spartan lines, and their victory was complete. King Philip II of Macedonia, who had spent his youth as a hostage in Thebes and knew Epaminondas personally, further improved the phalanx.

How did the Macedonian phalanx fight?

The Macedonian cavalry fought in wedge formation and was almost always stationed on the far right. The hypaspists, elite infantrymen who served as the king’s bodyguard, were stationed on the immediate right of the phalanx wielding hoplite sized spears and shields.

Did Alexander the Great use the phalanx in battle?

Neither Philip nor Alexander actually used the phalanx as their arm of choice, but instead used it to hold the enemy in place while their heavy cavalry broke through their ranks. The Macedonian cavalry fought in wedge formation and was almost always stationed on the far right.

What is a phalanx in ancient Greece?

The Greek phalanx was a column formation of heavy infantry carrying long spears, or pikes, and swords. The pikes were six to twelve feet long, much longer than spears of the past. Men in the phalanx carried a round shield called a hoplon, from which the infantry took their name, hoplites.

What weapons did the Macedonian phalangites use?

Fresco of an ancient Macedonian soldier wielding a spear and wearing a cap, from the tomb of Agios Athanasios, Thessaloniki, Greece. Each phalangite carried as his primary weapon a sarissa, a double-pointed pike over 6 m (18 ft) in length, weighing about 6.6kg (14.5 pounds).