Anyway,will be hard to marry a guy so busy doin'such a great docu.Takes lots of time and..energy.He must have no much time for distractions....😉.He does incredible content.All my respect.
You do a really good job of illustrating just how large the sarissa spears were. A weapon of that size took a lot of practice to use. But perhaps more interestingly the more experienced and elite soldiers used shorter spears. And many have argued that the ability of being able to be in the 5th row back - and still inflict casualties on an enemy you never have to look in the eye - was a big and important factor in the success of the phalanx.
I can’t tell you how excited I was to see that you had returned with a new video! The content, information, visuals, video quality, & narration are all of the highest quality. Your videos truly are the gold standard on Youtbe. I enjoyed this one immensely and cannot wait for the next one
Currently taking a upper division course on Alexander and the Hellenistic Kingdoms and I'm constantly watching videos on youtube to give visuals to the texts I'm reading. Of everything I've watched in the last 4 months this is without a doubt the highest quality and most accurate video out there. Absolutely adore the city going on in the background and the attention to detail.
I was very happy this came up in my feed. Welcome back. I'm fascinated by the phalanx formation and am glad there's another analysis of their use and tactics.
Loved this video. I'm actually studying greek history and since I love military history i wanted to know more about macedonian phalanx. Very good explanation and analysis, i hope you'll consider also che cavalry in a next video
Some corrections and bigger explanations. The most used helmet was the Thraco-Phrygian (phrygian cap helmet with MASK) The Pelte shield was made out of bronze and it was 60 to 68 CM in early hellenistic age and in late hellenistic age it was from 68 to 77-79 CM. The Xiphos sword wasnt 60 CM overall BUT the blade could be up to 60 CM or more! So if we're talking 60 CM blade then the sword would be close to 70 CM. And it wasnt "mainly for thrusting", its a leaf-shaped sword which means it has super good cutting, some versions had less wider leaf-shape which means those versions were for thrusting and some versions were more leaf-shaped, meant for slashing and chopping. The kopis infantry sword had 45 to 65 centimeters of BLADE LENGTH and it was wider than the cavalry one, the cavalry kopis had ALWAYS more than 68 CM of blade length, for example in Italy they found a greek kopis from pyrrhus's army with a length of 95 CM blade!!!! The kopis was made for chopping and the cavalry kopis could stab really well too, it was such a good cutter that Pyrrhus of Epirus chopped or cutted a man in half with it. (while the enemy was on armor, shiny armor like plutarch says) Also yes, the Romans were using Xiphos's and Kopis's but they stopped using it quite fast, choosing the slash and chop La Tene B sword instead. They changed from Sword + Kopis to La Tene B before 325 BC. The Sarissa wasnt up to 7 meters, i dont remember exactly but either Cleomenes's sarissas or Demetrius's sarissas in his war against Pyrrhus were up to 8.91 meters! About the equipment, in times of serious troubles some parts or the entire panoply (panoply means all the weapons, aka all armour pieces, shield and weapons) was provided by the state, but most of the time it was paid by the soldiers according to most sources. And in the antigonid kingdom, in the late period aka philip v's some of it was provided by the state, according to amphipolis decree. Of course it varied, because the Achaeans had phalangites, the epirotes, the spartans, the pergaminians, the ptolemies, the seleucids, the pontians (pontus) etc etc. Also i forgot to mention this before about the swords, yes, the initial swords of the phalangites were kopis and xiphos's but as the hellenistic age progressed and rivalries became more fierce, some kingdoms changed weapons, for example the seleucid phalangites had a ton of sword types, kopis, xiphos, la tene b or c or both, persian weapons, whatever! The ptolemies even tried to make gladius hispaniensis's for the phalangites xD the antigonids in perseus's time, standardised the sword type to the Makedonian xiphos, which is this: koryvantesstudies.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/5426670160_5234c4c790_o-e1412072185303.jpg Made to counter roman Principes chainmail. I could continue on and make corrections on the phalanx formation and fighting and so on but we would finish tommorow!!! You, the angry commenter reading this comment: I am not bashing on this channel, i am one of it's first subscribers and i admire the work these guys put into making those education vids... Funny incident: When the narrator said the most used helmet was the Pilos and not the thraco phrygian one i was drinking water, i spat the water on the screen(my screen is from 2006-7 and now it has straight lines rip) and i drowned so hard that i started crying for some seconds. Thanks guys!!! Also, England is my city. P.S: Remember kids, this formation made the R*man commanders Flamininus and Aemilius Paulus have nightmares for their entire lives... ENYALIOS ENYALIOS!!!
my fn god.. I typed this message 4 times already and i accidentaly deleted it 4 times in a row, what the f is going on..... About the xiphos check campovalano xiphos, it has 58-59cm blade length and 73-74 overall length. Also alfedena xiphos it has 66-67 cm blade length and 83-84 overall length!!! other examples you can find in greek museums only... About kopis, you need to read classical (xenophon)and hellenistic age sources, also you need to see paintings on walls and objects(for example kopis's from persian invasion of greece, are represented on many classical paintings, one of it you can find on wikipedia if you type Second Persian invasion of Greece) on classical age and you need to find museum examples from hellenistic... ill provide you with some... prnt.sc/6ZqS_MEKT9_D This is from tomb of philip ii of macedon!!! N1 = xiphos, n2 = infantry kopis, see how wide it is? if this thing hits u you will lose parts... ^_^, 2a = handle, n5 = the middle thing on the sarissa that was connecting the two parts into a pike (sarissa), n3 = buttspike of sarissa, n4 = spearhead of sarissa. prnt.sc/eyheC0UG-ph0 thats from the corfu museum if i am not msitaken, its a cavalry kopis from an cavalry officer of pyrrhus in pyrrhic war in italy against rome, it was found in a grave dedicated to the officer, along with it's helmet and armour, type Grave of Prodromi and you will find more info... About the helmets, try finding museum examples and if you have the patience, read all the battles involving the phalanx from every source... There is not even ONE report of a phalangite getting hit in the face, because obviously they were wearing the Thraco-Phrygian helmet.. prnt.sc/5GXyqcGuSh-G also, check academic studies, maybe on academia.edu you will find a LOT of examples, you can get free books of nikolas sekunda too on pdf form, hes the best on describing antigonid and epirotic army, he makes a lot of mistakes but hes still the best... About the pelte, you need to find museum examples from Greece, we have a lot of phalangite peltes and you can read whatever you can about hellenistic age from hellenistic historians. About romans using la tene b instead of sword and kopis, there are several books but only in italian, and maybe if you try searching italian museums, you will find mostly la tene b, and some historians mention the la tene b also, and theres almost no mention of xiphos or kopis in the roman army, except for the early early roman army where they had the hoplite model. About sarissa size, i think i read that from Polybius... Though i dont remember which exact book. In general, i dont think i provided good help for u... i read those things 2-3 years ago and i read so many historians that i forgot a lot of stuff as u can see, my advice: dont read modern historians, if you want hellenistic stuff, read hellenistic historians... and if the equipment is even older, read even older historians, and find museum findings... Personally i have read every hellenistic historian that talks about war... Sorry for not helping efficiently... I typed this message 4 times already and i already forgot what i typed on the previous ones lmao.. xDD
You've got also Machaira Hoplite sword and the Greek one some curved some straight all greek though. Depends upon the time and the type even of the phalanx ( again only greek)
4:52 I have doubts regarding the Leukaspides or White Shields being a phalanx unit simply due to the fact that Polybius (the more reliable source) doesn't mention these troops in the Battle of Sellasia rather puts foreign troops in their place like Illyrians. Plutarch doesn't mention them in the battle of Pydna which is incredibly weird since he says they were present in the battle of Sellasia unlike Polybius. Though like Polybius, in the battle of Pydna he mentions Thracians in place of the Leukaspides with "white and gleaming armour of their shields". The Royal Guard Infantry of the Argeads and the Antigonids is also a phalanx unit. The 5000-strong Peltast Guard is one example (they were also called Shield-Guards or Shieldbearers in Arrian's Alexander Anabasis, due to the fact that Pelte shield they were using is bigger: 70 to 75 cm [4:13]). However unlike the rest of the phalanx, they were considered lighter and more mobile in such that their deployment in battle is on the flanks. 6:35 Javelins were also a part of the phalanx arsenal. In Arrian's Alexander Anabasis, the phalanx regiments of Alexander during the Battle of the Hydaspes were also armed with javelins: "but now the phalanx itself of the Macedonians was advancing against the elephants, the men casting darts at the riders and also striking the beasts themselves, standing round them on all sides." ~ Arrian's Anabasis of Alexander, chapter 17, the Defeat of Porus. In Rufus Curtius' the History of Alexander, he mentions the arms of Macedonian Coragus in his duel with the Athenian Dioxippus as follows: "The Macedonian was had equipped himself with regular weapons: he held a bronze shield and a spear called a sarissa, in his left hand and a javelin in his right while he also had a sword at his side - as if he were going to fight a number of men simultaneously" Now is the used of both weapons possible? Sure however that depends on the kind of sarissa used. Like you mention before the sarissa varied in length; with the 4 metre version (roughly 12 to 13 feet) being the possible candidate of such use. 11:17 As for the Synaspismos or locked-shields, I think the formation wasn't purely defensive in nature. Plutarch says the when the phalanx-lines advanced during the Battle of Pydna, their shields were locked in combat suggesting that the formation as whole is just as offensive as it is defensive. Now is the possibility of such formation debatable? I don't think so. There was this article I saw last year that the formation can be done if the sarissas were raised in a "high-guard" position above the pelte, similarly to the way pikes are used in the 16th century. And as such, it creates a wall of pikes and shields. Link for more information: www.academia.edu/44440024/Synaspismos_and_Its_Possibility_in_the_Macedonian_Styled_Phalanx
Absolutely outstanding presentation and animations that perfectly and accurately showcase the subject matter. You're one of the best channels out there. I know the animations take a long time but they allow a level of immersion most other channels fail to achieve, especially when going over battles and formations like these.
Great to see you back Syntagma! An excellent video as per usual. Something like a video on the naval battle at Salamis in real scale I think would make an amazing video. Meaning to see all the, close to a thousand, ships from the advantage point of the Persian king.
@@Syntagma Great video and videos. I don't mind relevant music in the beginning to get people in the mood, but as the video goes on I do feel it's better to have the music get much quieter or not have any music, just to let the listener to better focus on the information being presented. The music was a little bit too loud. Also I'm sure you use a script and thus I suggest uploading close captioning for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Thanks for making these videos.
Being a historian myself and loving Macedon, I think this video was 1. Very well done and two. I ended up learning a thing or two from this and I will never look at a Macedonian phalanx the same way
@@jorgoasparuhov4131 OH wow another Macedonians weren't Greek guy. The evidence is overwhelming Macedon was a Greek kingdom get over it. I won't bother arguing with the willfully blind, enjoy your delusion.
@@jorgoasparuhov4131 this is a narrative (not even close to a theory) of quite recent inception consisting of gaping holes that is subscribed to by mostly those that the intellectual world refers to as idiots. For example, an analogous theme of slightly less stupidity is that of the flat earth theory. Incidentally, the latter - although outrageous, has a greater degree of influence.
@@ale3hs Yes It is true that there are many open holes in the false Anglo-Saxon history, which is attributed to the fictional Greek nation, which did not exist at all, and who are newcomers as Danajci - Danaos - Δαναοί [Danaoí]) from Egypt, on the Balkan or Macedonian peninsula,there already lived, indigenous Pelasgian, Venetian.. present-day Slavic populations. idiot, what flat earth, hello, here we are talking about the Holes in the false Ango-Saxon history
By far, the best explanation of the Macedonian phalanx I have ever come across. The video is worthy of scholarly publication. Phillip and Alexander would be proud!
Amazing how little difference there is between phalanxes and pike blocks of the late medieval/early modern era, despite the time that passed. Soldiers of each era would have found the other's drill manual very familiar.
@@Rabhadh As a reenactor who has done the later pike block drills, I can assure you that whatever the different commands, the forming of files and changes of spacing are almost exactly the same. Obviously phalanxes didn't have to integrate with muskets.
It always amazes me that the Scottish schiltrons spear walls and it’s success at Stirling bridge and Bannockburn appears to be new tactics when used against English armies heavy in cavalry resulting in almost suicidal charges by English mounted knights only sharp spears ….obviously the English then changed ta tics and dismounted the knights making heavy infantry and then the longbow on its flanks ….
@@nobbytang A strange thing to ponder about history is we know more ancient history than medieval people did, even if they were educated. Presumably future historians will find new information that radically revises what we in the present already consider ancient. The pike block was a reinvention to solve the same problem, and the first army to fight it knew nothing about ancient phalanxes and reinvented missiles to beat it, namely longbows and then firearms.
Just finished watching this video and I just have to thank you so much this video work and 3d models informative voice that explains everything clearly without pauses and touching on one of my favorite bits of ancient military history is just incredible mark my words this channel is going to the top cant wait !! Keep up the great work man !!
@@grindyoutodust819 right.i know but let me tell yiu.It is from the Katin and in Italian is Falange,I used Falanx on purpose but sure,in Englus,it is as you said.. The,..we cane first..Thx ciao
I realy wish you made these more often, and do a series on Scipio Africanus, Hanibal Barca or some otger great general the way you did about G.J. Cesar. You make fantastic content, its a joy to watch.
Really really enjoyed this video and the presentation that went with it. Very nice to have a representation to go with what you were talking about. Subscribed
Great video! I wonder how they dealt with the rightward skew at the front of the phalanx. Each spear carrier has to move slightly to the right when is spear is lowered to project it forward. This would move each solder behind him at the first few ranks.
Most don't realize this but the rightward skew as you called it is only a feature to a hoplite phalanx. The one who use regular size spears and larger shields naturally move slighty too the right, cause each person is trying get the most protection from his neighbors shield. Alexander's phalanx he inherited from his Father with longer spears aka actual pikes, move in a straight line or side to side in very good order.
I agree with the other reply. This was exaggerated in the hoplite phalanx, not the Macedonian. The bigger hoplon shield and related tactics caused a natural drift.
General Epaminondas of Thebes realized this rightward skew existed, and at the battle of Leuctra (371bc), he placed his best soldiers on his right, and doubled his right wing's size to overpower the spartans and crush them, and that way, he took the street cred of being the strongest military power of Greece on his march back to Thebes.
@@ITSMRFOXY The best soldiers were always placed to the right of any formation chosen, by all cities- states, and they ve tended to place the right flank close or against a fixed obstacle as it was the weakest point of the formation in question
I've often wondered how unwieldly the 'half pikes' were i.e. the front halves of the Sarissa not connected to their sockets. They wouldn't have a proper weighted backend and they'd still be a lot longer and thicker/heavier than conventional spears but have thought about whether they were ever used to convert the phalagnites into 'less-than-ideal' ad hoc hoplites (bearing in mind their shields are a lot smaller too) because there would have been circumstances such as garrisoning, foot patrols, sieges and less-than-regular circumstances where the phalagnites would have to make do in other roles when required.
Hoplites would flow into the gaps created, Alexander always had enormous support for his phalanx units. When a phalanx unit was endangered of being flanked, elite hoplites would be dispatched to push out the enemy. They were usually stationed behind the Phalanx. They were very effective in hand-to-hand combat.
Nice theory but Greeks had no horses and no horses no cavalry meaning like Báni,Háni,Jáni,Káni,Cáni where not Greeks but a CaucaSIAN group so where a MakeDon a different group.
@sigrimm kjarr There is something called fact checking and archaeology . GaL moved between PortuGaL,BenGaL and MonGolia due to which R1A and R1B Haplogroup are so widespread as they are compared to Greek genealogy which is simply not a for a good reason since they adopted some stories and identities that simply have no meaning in they own language.One doesn’t need to super intelligent to understand that GALatea was GaL like GALicia,GaLilee…and not Greek,Jewish…
Thank You. Far too many people look at the phalanx as one dimensional. "They can get flanked, etc." If one just watches the movie Alexander one can see that skirmishers and other units come from the gaps to support the phalanx. People always be acting like its one phalanx unit vs one enemy unit. If anyone wants real history sources: Bannockburn. The scottish pikes didn't just fight the cavalry alone. The english had archers to take down the pikes so that their cavalry can come in for a charge. However, on the other end, scottish cavalry disrupted english archers. On the other end, english cavalry tried to disrupt scottish archers, and so on.
@@emeralddragongaming2930 There where no Horse in those lands and those “Greek” are a Jewish like SeaPeople that never where a pastoral, warrior,tribal group neither did they had horses,cavalry,chariots…since they are later group that invaded from the Sea and traveled via Sea.
Syntagma its been while since your last uploads,i keep checking your channel to see if you've drop anything!! I hope your coming back soon i love your channel...your fan from Kurdistan Peace.
Seeing how unit cohesion is the strength of the Phalanx...This tells me picking the right place for the battle is the key to victory....I would pick the ground with all sorts of natural obstacles, Creeks,Large rocks, gullies,Pits, even burying tree stumps tip up to break up the Phalanx formations
Awesome video. Found this very fascinating and informative. I have a few questions; 1- The Phalanx (both Greek and Macedonian) are effective formations but when it lost against the manipular legion it was generally on broken/rugged ground. Both Greece and Macedonia are very rugged, surely they would have been familiar with operating in such terrain? Alexander took his Phalanx to Afghanistan and India and fought and won on broken/rugged terrain. Anatolia is very rugged and the Diadochi fought there for years. Was the later Phalanx poorly led, I.e less junior officer's, less disciplined, less professionally drilled, over confident etc, or was it something else? 2- How did the Phalanx fight in sieges? Both on defense and attack? Did they rely on the Pelta and sword or did they use the bigger Hoplon and javelins and if so were these with the baggage train (thus adding a massive logistically problem). To some these may seem really obvious questions but it's always puzzled me Cheers
Alan Greenwood The Greeks including the ancient Macedonians never called themselves as such. The correct term is '"Hellenes", hence the term "Hellenistic era". The Romans didived the Hellenic world, what more or less coincides with modern Greece, into two provinces, Macedonia and what they called Grecia, hence Greece or Greek. Another popular misconception of history, fortunately very clear to the academic communities of classical studies.
I think this is the answer to the battles that macedonians lost against romans. "Was the later Phalanx poorly led, I.e less junior officer's, less disciplined, less professionally drilled." Phyrrus the Great didn't had that problem and won against Rome
i think it was more the romans beat the phalanx mostly because of the time, the romans finally took over greece about 200 years after alaxander the great, and in that time the training standards of macedon wilst still high had stagnated and laxed a bit, where as the romans had more times to study and plan around the phalanx, roman studding and planning was what mostly gave them the edge over other nations
I thought the Roman army use of the pilum to break up the Phalanx cohesion and allowed them to get close. Choice of the terrain and ranged weapons would be good counter tactic to a Phalanx formation.
@@zacktoby not sure how effective the pilum would be against a phalanx, as the pilum was primary used to disable shields, and how phalanx use their shields on their shoulders it might make the pilum scrap accross the shield rather than pen, but even if it did pen and stick in, i dont think it would make the solder any less effective as they arent swinging the shield around and thus feel the weight of the added pilum
This is a top notch quality video! Very well done and whit the animations as well! Keep this up! Also music: I love it! Can we have it whitout the narrative and voice over? :)
It would be great to see this recreated in real life. I have never seen a reanacment of a macedonian Phalanx that can convince me to the accuracy of this information. Cmon who can handle a spear that is 5-7 meters long in foemation and not only that; add other equipment, a sword, a shield and armor. And these men were supposedly able to hold the spears at angles to provide cover from missiles.
@@FelixstoweFoamForge Actually. I have looked up the Swiss pikemen and a reanacment vid. They were as heavily armored and had very long pikes. It suddenly doesn't look as far fetched now.
@@hamidious Thanks for getting back to me on this one buddy! Maybe all the Macedonians you saw just weren't all that good. For what it's worth, I got the privilege of handling an ECW renactment pike a few years ago. NOW, it was a very good quality tapered-shaft one, so cheaper ones may have been different, but ohh my, was that thing well-balanced (I think that's the key), so well balanced in fact that despite being 16 feet long I could move it around vertically one handed, and in the 17th century "charge your pike" position, it just fell into place and felt like it weighed nothing. difference
Same fir myself I guess it is a big part of the extreme fascination i have fir history and the people who lived these times. Stygmata it is amazing makin ' feel kssr to reality. If you like feeling intendivly the carious historical periods,imust duggest a podcast i've got " addicted" to ,for the perfection of the whe; try: YUDDHA..AN INDUAN PODCAST in rnglish sbou history of subcontinent ,especially THE MUGHALS. let me know if you like it
Superb! Seems you guys haven’t produced a video in a long time. What a pity. You should collaborate with Tim Duncan and his award winning “The History of Rome” podcast , and create the visual The History of Rome. It was a great listen but would be so much better with your animations.
That's why the Phalanx had Hoplites trained in hand to hand combat to protect its' flanks. Something that, in their latest stages, the Hellenic Empires lost for a number of reasons making the Phalanx vulnerable to the flanks.
Also flat ground was needed, they didn't fight very well on uneven terrain, 1 large rock would break a phalanx if it lay on their path. Rough ground, trees ect would break up any advance by a phalanx much worse then a cohort
Syntagma produces some of the best content on this platform.
If you like him so much why don’t you marry him?
@@mack626 I'm planning to do so
This comment section 🤣
Amazingly done
Anyway,will be hard to marry a guy so busy doin'such a great docu.Takes lots of time and..energy.He must have no much time for distractions....😉.He does incredible content.All my respect.
Glad to see you return. Your content is always top quality
I know right he's badass kickass! Lol.
Everyone go and like all his videos. He needs a serious come back
It is a joy to see you post! Thank you for these excellent videos! 😃👍
You do a really good job of illustrating just how large the sarissa spears were. A weapon of that size took a lot of practice to use. But perhaps more interestingly the more experienced and elite soldiers used shorter spears. And many have argued that the ability of being able to be in the 5th row back - and still inflict casualties on an enemy you never have to look in the eye - was a big and important factor in the success of the phalanx.
This is my favorite history channel. Wish he posted more.
Welcome back! Thoroughly enjoy your videos
Hearing you say Syntagma is like hearing a character in a movie name drop the movie; it’s so funny for some reason.
Syntagma means constitution in greek.
It means constitution. It , literally means: means,: “many soldiers, coordinated”. Συν + ταξη/τασσωμαι
All battlez only remember effort, effect, Names???😮😎🙏✅💘🙏😇🙏💪💖
It means to put (things or something) straight. recount your marbles or get back to classroom
This channel deserves so many more subscribers.
I can’t tell you how excited I was to see that you had returned with a new video! The content, information, visuals, video quality, & narration are all of the highest quality. Your videos truly are the gold standard on Youtbe. I enjoyed this one immensely and cannot wait for the next one
Easily the best and most interesting in depth look at the Macedonian phalanx I've seen yet. Excellent work! Thank you for sharing!
Currently taking a upper division course on Alexander and the Hellenistic Kingdoms and I'm constantly watching videos on youtube to give visuals to the texts I'm reading. Of everything I've watched in the last 4 months this is without a doubt the highest quality and most accurate video out there. Absolutely adore the city going on in the background and the attention to detail.
thank you :)
The graphics are really incredible. Such a vivid picture of the ancient world.
I was very happy this came up in my feed. Welcome back. I'm fascinated by the phalanx formation and am glad there's another analysis of their use and tactics.
Top quality video from a fantastic channel, and looking forward to more. Keep it up!
Loved this video. I'm actually studying greek history and since I love military history i wanted to know more about macedonian phalanx. Very good explanation and analysis, i hope you'll consider also che cavalry in a next video
Dude your videos are awesome please make more!!!
why did you stop
Been 2 years now
Sadge
Return of the king when
I think his nose is stuffed lol
This is the best museum I have ever watched.
A tutorial video on pronouncing ancient greek and Latin names would be an absolute gem!
Some corrections and bigger explanations.
The most used helmet was the Thraco-Phrygian (phrygian cap helmet with MASK)
The Pelte shield was made out of bronze and it was 60 to 68 CM in early hellenistic age and in late hellenistic age it was from 68 to 77-79 CM.
The Xiphos sword wasnt 60 CM overall BUT the blade could be up to 60 CM or more! So if we're talking 60 CM blade then the sword would be close to 70 CM. And it wasnt "mainly for thrusting", its a leaf-shaped sword which means it has super good cutting, some versions had less wider leaf-shape which means those versions were for thrusting and some versions were more leaf-shaped, meant for slashing and chopping.
The kopis infantry sword had 45 to 65 centimeters of BLADE LENGTH and it was wider than the cavalry one, the cavalry kopis had ALWAYS more than 68 CM of blade length, for example in Italy they found a greek kopis from pyrrhus's army with a length of 95 CM blade!!!! The kopis was made for chopping and the cavalry kopis could stab really well too, it was such a good cutter that Pyrrhus of Epirus chopped or cutted a man in half with it. (while the enemy was on armor, shiny armor like plutarch says)
Also yes, the Romans were using Xiphos's and Kopis's but they stopped using it quite fast, choosing the slash and chop La Tene B sword instead. They changed from Sword + Kopis to La Tene B before 325 BC.
The Sarissa wasnt up to 7 meters, i dont remember exactly but either Cleomenes's sarissas or Demetrius's sarissas in his war against Pyrrhus were up to 8.91 meters!
About the equipment, in times of serious troubles some parts or the entire panoply (panoply means all the weapons, aka all armour pieces, shield and weapons) was provided by the state, but most of the time it was paid by the soldiers according to most sources. And in the antigonid kingdom, in the late period aka philip v's some of it was provided by the state, according to amphipolis decree. Of course it varied, because the Achaeans had phalangites, the epirotes, the spartans, the pergaminians, the ptolemies, the seleucids, the pontians (pontus) etc etc.
Also i forgot to mention this before about the swords, yes, the initial swords of the phalangites were kopis and xiphos's but as the hellenistic age progressed and rivalries became more fierce, some kingdoms changed weapons, for example the seleucid phalangites had a ton of sword types, kopis, xiphos, la tene b or c or both, persian weapons, whatever! The ptolemies even tried to make gladius hispaniensis's for the phalangites xD
the antigonids in perseus's time, standardised the sword type to the Makedonian xiphos, which is this: koryvantesstudies.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/5426670160_5234c4c790_o-e1412072185303.jpg
Made to counter roman Principes chainmail. I could continue on and make corrections on the phalanx formation and fighting and so on but we would finish tommorow!!!
You, the angry commenter reading this comment: I am not bashing on this channel, i am one of it's first subscribers and i admire the work these guys put into making those education vids...
Funny incident: When the narrator said the most used helmet was the Pilos and not the thraco phrygian one i was drinking water, i spat the water on the screen(my screen is from 2006-7 and now it has straight lines rip) and i drowned so hard that i started crying for some seconds. Thanks guys!!!
Also, England is my city.
P.S: Remember kids, this formation made the R*man commanders Flamininus and Aemilius Paulus have nightmares for their entire lives... ENYALIOS ENYALIOS!!!
Where can one find and read such detailed information?
my fn god.. I typed this message 4 times already and i accidentaly deleted it 4 times in a row, what the f is going on.....
About the xiphos check campovalano xiphos, it has 58-59cm blade length and 73-74 overall length.
Also alfedena xiphos it has 66-67 cm blade length and 83-84 overall length!!! other examples you can find in greek museums only...
About kopis, you need to read classical (xenophon)and hellenistic age sources, also you need to see paintings on walls and objects(for example kopis's from persian invasion of greece, are represented on many classical paintings, one of it you can find on wikipedia if you type Second Persian invasion of Greece) on classical age and you need to find museum examples from hellenistic... ill provide you with some...
prnt.sc/6ZqS_MEKT9_D This is from tomb of philip ii of macedon!!! N1 = xiphos, n2 = infantry kopis, see how wide it is? if this thing hits u you will lose parts... ^_^, 2a = handle, n5 = the middle thing on the sarissa that was connecting the two parts into a pike (sarissa), n3 = buttspike of sarissa, n4 = spearhead of sarissa.
prnt.sc/eyheC0UG-ph0 thats from the corfu museum if i am not msitaken, its a cavalry kopis from an cavalry officer of pyrrhus in pyrrhic war in italy against rome, it was found in a grave dedicated to the officer, along with it's helmet and armour, type Grave of Prodromi and you will find more info...
About the helmets, try finding museum examples and if you have the patience, read all the battles involving the phalanx from every source... There is not even ONE report of a phalangite getting hit in the face, because obviously they were wearing the Thraco-Phrygian helmet.. prnt.sc/5GXyqcGuSh-G also, check academic studies, maybe on academia.edu you will find a LOT of examples, you can get free books of nikolas sekunda too on pdf form, hes the best on describing antigonid and epirotic army, he makes a lot of mistakes but hes still the best...
About the pelte, you need to find museum examples from Greece, we have a lot of phalangite peltes and you can read whatever you can about hellenistic age from hellenistic historians.
About romans using la tene b instead of sword and kopis, there are several books but only in italian, and maybe if you try searching italian museums, you will find mostly la tene b, and some historians mention the la tene b also, and theres almost no mention of xiphos or kopis in the roman army, except for the early early roman army where they had the hoplite model.
About sarissa size, i think i read that from Polybius... Though i dont remember which exact book.
In general, i dont think i provided good help for u... i read those things 2-3 years ago and i read so many historians that i forgot a lot of stuff as u can see, my advice: dont read modern historians, if you want hellenistic stuff, read hellenistic historians... and if the equipment is even older, read even older historians, and find museum findings... Personally i have read every hellenistic historian that talks about war... Sorry for not helping efficiently... I typed this message 4 times already and i already forgot what i typed on the previous ones lmao.. xDD
You've got also Machaira Hoplite sword and the Greek one some curved some straight all greek though. Depends upon the time and the type even of the phalanx ( again only greek)
4:52 I have doubts regarding the Leukaspides or White Shields being a phalanx unit simply due to the fact that Polybius (the more reliable source) doesn't mention these troops in the Battle of Sellasia rather puts foreign troops in their place like Illyrians. Plutarch doesn't mention them in the battle of Pydna which is incredibly weird since he says they were present in the battle of Sellasia unlike Polybius. Though like Polybius, in the battle of Pydna he mentions Thracians in place of the Leukaspides with "white and gleaming armour of their shields".
The Royal Guard Infantry of the Argeads and the Antigonids is also a phalanx unit. The 5000-strong Peltast Guard is one example (they were also called Shield-Guards or Shieldbearers in Arrian's Alexander Anabasis, due to the fact that Pelte shield they were using is bigger: 70 to 75 cm [4:13]). However unlike the rest of the phalanx, they were considered lighter and more mobile in such that their deployment in battle is on the flanks.
6:35 Javelins were also a part of the phalanx arsenal. In Arrian's Alexander Anabasis, the phalanx regiments of Alexander during the Battle of the Hydaspes were also armed with javelins:
"but now the phalanx itself of the Macedonians was advancing against the elephants, the men casting darts at the riders and also striking the beasts themselves, standing round them on all sides." ~ Arrian's Anabasis of Alexander, chapter 17, the Defeat of Porus.
In Rufus Curtius' the History of Alexander, he mentions the arms of Macedonian Coragus in his duel with the Athenian Dioxippus as follows:
"The Macedonian was had equipped himself with regular weapons: he held a bronze shield and a spear called a sarissa, in his left hand and a javelin in his right while he also had a sword at his side - as if he were going to fight a number of men simultaneously"
Now is the used of both weapons possible? Sure however that depends on the kind of sarissa used. Like you mention before the sarissa varied in length; with the 4 metre version (roughly 12 to 13 feet) being the possible candidate of such use.
11:17 As for the Synaspismos or locked-shields, I think the formation wasn't purely defensive in nature. Plutarch says the when the phalanx-lines advanced during the Battle of Pydna, their shields were locked in combat suggesting that the formation as whole is just as offensive as it is defensive. Now is the possibility of such formation debatable? I don't think so. There was this article I saw last year that the formation can be done if the sarissas were raised in a "high-guard" position above the pelte, similarly to the way pikes are used in the 16th century. And as such, it creates a wall of pikes and shields.
Link for more information: www.academia.edu/44440024/Synaspismos_and_Its_Possibility_in_the_Macedonian_Styled_Phalanx
wow
AMAZING! This deserves millions of viewers, likes and subscribers!
I am really fond of your style guys, this is so cool.
Absolutely outstanding presentation and animations that perfectly and accurately showcase the subject matter. You're one of the best channels out there. I know the animations take a long time but they allow a level of immersion most other channels fail to achieve, especially when going over battles and formations like these.
Hellenistic times ( liter. HELLAS =GREEK TIMES) are the most exciting period of worlds history , connecting European Greek and Persian asian cultures
Great to see you back Syntagma! An excellent video as per usual.
Something like a video on the naval battle at Salamis in real scale I think would make an amazing video. Meaning to see all the, close to a thousand, ships from the advantage point of the Persian king.
thanks for the kind words :) That's a good image indeed, Salamis is on our list for a video sometime in the future.
@@Syntagma Great video and videos. I don't mind relevant music in the beginning to get people in the mood, but as the video goes on I do feel it's better to have the music get much quieter or not have any music, just to let the listener to better focus on the information being presented. The music was a little bit too loud. Also I'm sure you use a script and thus I suggest uploading close captioning for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Thanks for making these videos.
Being a historian myself and loving Macedon, I think this video was 1. Very well done and two. I ended up learning a thing or two from this and I will never look at a Macedonian phalanx the same way
@@jorgoasparuhov4131 OH wow another Macedonians weren't Greek guy.
The evidence is overwhelming Macedon was a Greek kingdom get over it. I won't bother arguing with the willfully blind, enjoy your delusion.
Why did you rate this video 1, sir?
@@jorgoasparuhov4131 this is a narrative (not even close to a theory) of quite recent inception consisting of gaping holes that is subscribed to by mostly those that the intellectual world refers to as idiots. For example, an analogous theme of slightly less stupidity is that of the flat earth theory. Incidentally, the latter - although outrageous, has a greater degree of influence.
@@ale3hs Yes It is true that there are many open holes in the false Anglo-Saxon history, which is attributed to the fictional Greek nation, which did not exist at all, and who are newcomers as Danajci - Danaos - Δαναοί [Danaoí]) from Egypt, on the Balkan or Macedonian peninsula,there already lived, indigenous Pelasgian, Venetian.. present-day Slavic populations. idiot, what flat earth, hello, here we are talking about the Holes in the false Ango-Saxon history
@@jorgoasparuhov4131get a university course and then try xena and caprain america as a history ref
By far, the best explanation of the Macedonian phalanx I have ever come across. The video is worthy of scholarly publication. Phillip and Alexander would be proud!
thanks man :)
Amazing how little difference there is between phalanxes and pike blocks of the late medieval/early modern era, despite the time that passed. Soldiers of each era would have found the other's drill manual very familiar.
That is a misconception, apart from similar weapons they organised and drilled very differently.
@@Rabhadh joe mama
@@Rabhadh As a reenactor who has done the later pike block drills, I can assure you that whatever the different commands, the forming of files and changes of spacing are almost exactly the same. Obviously phalanxes didn't have to integrate with muskets.
It always amazes me that the Scottish schiltrons spear walls and it’s success at Stirling bridge and Bannockburn appears to be new tactics when used against English armies heavy in cavalry resulting in almost suicidal charges by English mounted knights only sharp spears ….obviously the English then changed ta tics and dismounted the knights making heavy infantry and then the longbow on its flanks ….
@@nobbytang A strange thing to ponder about history is we know more ancient history than medieval people did, even if they were educated. Presumably future historians will find new information that radically revises what we in the present already consider ancient. The pike block was a reinvention to solve the same problem, and the first army to fight it knew nothing about ancient phalanxes and reinvented missiles to beat it, namely longbows and then firearms.
Just finished watching this video and I just have to thank you so much this video work and 3d models informative voice that explains everything clearly without pauses and touching on one of my favorite bits of ancient military history is just incredible mark my words this channel is going to the top cant wait !! Keep up the great work man !!
thanks man :)
Marvelous exposition of the men their arms and their formations and how it all worked
8:41 The Syntagma was considered the best RUclipsr of the 21st century
Great work, the animations help a lot to visualize what it was a macedonian army.
Great Channel while it lasted.
still on :) we'll be back soon
@@Syntagma That's great.
Ugh, you make just the best videos. Again, great work
Welcome BACK!!! I love these videos
missed this channel, superb stuff
By far,the very best historical piece about Falanx,and much more.SIMPLY WONDERFUL.
"Phalanx"
@@grindyoutodust819 right.i know but let me tell yiu.It is from the Katin and in Italian is Falange,I used Falanx on purpose but sure,in Englus,it is as you said..
The,..we cane first..Thx ciao
I realy wish you made these more often, and do a series on Scipio Africanus, Hanibal Barca or some otger great general the way you did about G.J. Cesar. You make fantastic content, its a joy to watch.
thanks man :)
The view of the pikes rising into view over the crest of the hill is really something. Must have been a terrifying sight in reality.
Glad you are back in action. KnG was giving me headaches man!!
Really really enjoyed this video and the presentation that went with it. Very nice to have a representation to go with what you were talking about. Subscribed
You and historia civilis need to do a Collab but what every you do keep up the amazing content
Always happy to see you post a video ^^
Much anticipated
Pretty nice video; it would be fantastic if you also do an introduction to Persian-style equipment to compare the two different fighting styles.
brilliant! sublime! so glad of the quality of such an interesting topic!! keep it up
Looking forward to seeing your next videos 🎉
Great video! I wonder how they dealt with the rightward skew at the front of the phalanx. Each spear carrier has to move slightly to the right when is spear is lowered to project it forward. This would move each solder behind him at the first few ranks.
Most don't realize this but the rightward skew as you called it is only a feature to a hoplite phalanx. The one who use regular size spears and larger shields naturally move slighty too the right, cause each person is trying get the most protection from his neighbors shield. Alexander's phalanx he inherited from his Father with longer spears aka actual pikes, move in a straight line or side to side in very good order.
I agree with the other reply. This was exaggerated in the hoplite phalanx, not the Macedonian. The bigger hoplon shield and related tactics caused a natural drift.
General Epaminondas of Thebes realized this rightward skew existed, and at the battle of Leuctra (371bc), he placed his best soldiers on his right, and doubled his right wing's size to overpower the spartans and crush them, and that way, he took the street cred of being the strongest military power of Greece on his march back to Thebes.
@@ITSMRFOXY The best soldiers were always placed to the right of any formation chosen, by all cities- states, and they ve tended to place the right flank close or against a fixed obstacle as it was the weakest point of the formation in question
I've often wondered how unwieldly the 'half pikes' were i.e. the front halves of the Sarissa not connected to their sockets. They wouldn't have a proper weighted backend and they'd still be a lot longer and thicker/heavier than conventional spears but have thought about whether they were ever used to convert the phalagnites into 'less-than-ideal' ad hoc hoplites (bearing in mind their shields are a lot smaller too) because there would have been circumstances such as garrisoning, foot patrols, sieges and less-than-regular circumstances where the phalagnites would have to make do in other roles when required.
they would still make awsome halfpikes / twohanded spears, it would make them mutch better in broken tarain or sieges.
Wow this channel deserves more attention.
Top quality history channel. They dont even show this stuff on cable TV anymore
great video, you're FINALLY back!
thank you for your come back
So Glad to see your back
I am reading herodotus the histories and am almost done with book 1. One of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Pretty please keep making stuff like this it's really cool especially showing the formation and stuff
More than a deserved subscribe! Looking forward for new content, keep it up Syntagma you'r the best!
Wow, that was amazing! Love to see your content again.
Syntagma we miss you! No better creator for ancient history! Come back when you can :)
Excellent video
Appreciated the fact that you did a lot of research and experimented the faisability of various pike length. Well done to you!
thanks man, glad you like it :)
Really good video! Never thought this would be so interesting. Well done sir.
I Love this video like All off your Videos. Allready followed your Reference to Asklepiodotuses taktica :)
FINALLY! A new video after 6 months, HALF A FUCKING YEAR, we all thought this channel was already dead.
Hoplites would flow into the gaps created, Alexander always had enormous support for his phalanx units. When a phalanx unit was endangered of being flanked, elite hoplites would be dispatched to push out the enemy. They were usually stationed behind the Phalanx. They were very effective in hand-to-hand combat.
Nice theory but Greeks had no horses and no horses no cavalry meaning like Báni,Háni,Jáni,Káni,Cáni where not Greeks but a CaucaSIAN group so where a MakeDon a different group.
@sigrimm kjarr There is something called fact checking and archaeology .
GaL moved between PortuGaL,BenGaL and MonGolia due to which R1A and R1B Haplogroup are so widespread as they are compared to Greek genealogy which is simply not a for a good reason since they adopted some stories and identities that simply have no meaning in they own language.One doesn’t need to super intelligent to understand that GALatea was GaL like GALicia,GaLilee…and not Greek,Jewish…
Thank You. Far too many people look at the phalanx as one dimensional. "They can get flanked, etc." If one just watches the movie Alexander one can see that skirmishers and other units come from the gaps to support the phalanx. People always be acting like its one phalanx unit vs one enemy unit.
If anyone wants real history sources: Bannockburn. The scottish pikes didn't just fight the cavalry alone. The english had archers to take down the pikes so that their cavalry can come in for a charge. However, on the other end, scottish cavalry disrupted english archers. On the other end, english cavalry tried to disrupt scottish archers, and so on.
@@MAKDavid-1 actually they did have horses and cavalry even heavy one
@@emeralddragongaming2930 There where no Horse in those lands and those “Greek” are a Jewish like SeaPeople that never where a pastoral, warrior,tribal group neither did they had horses,cavalry,chariots…since they are later group that invaded from the Sea and traveled via Sea.
Syntagma its been while since your last uploads,i keep checking your channel to see if you've drop anything!! I hope your coming back soon i love your channel...your fan from Kurdistan Peace.
top quality content you made here, keep it up and thanks
criminally underrated channel
Just found this channel. Excellent quality and top research.
thank you :)
Masterful content and excellent 3D renderings. Very historically accurate. Subscribed!
thank you :)
@@Syntagmawill you be uploading a video soon? Your videos are so good
Yeah your videos are the BEST.
Even better than large documentaries with big budgets@@Syntagma
1:17 gorgeous city! Please do more and more often videos ❤
The most underrated channel
Excellent presentation, glad to find this channel 👌
Please syntagma we need more
Amazing stuff 👍
It’s great to see someone create content of such high quality for free.
Kudos to you sir
I love this channel so much. Now I can look at a helmet and be lkke" yo that's not a Corinthian that's a Thracian!"
Seeing how unit cohesion is the strength of the Phalanx...This tells me picking the right place for the battle is the key to victory....I would pick the ground with all sorts of natural obstacles, Creeks,Large rocks, gullies,Pits, even burying tree stumps tip up to break up the Phalanx formations
Impressive video! well done, thanks for making it.
Awesome video.
Found this very fascinating and informative.
I have a few questions;
1- The Phalanx (both Greek and Macedonian) are effective formations but when it lost against the manipular legion it was generally on broken/rugged ground.
Both Greece and Macedonia are very rugged, surely they would have been familiar with operating in such terrain?
Alexander took his Phalanx to Afghanistan and India and fought and won on broken/rugged terrain. Anatolia is very rugged and the Diadochi fought there for years.
Was the later Phalanx poorly led, I.e less junior officer's, less disciplined, less professionally drilled, over confident etc, or was it something else?
2- How did the Phalanx fight in sieges? Both on defense and attack?
Did they rely on the Pelta and sword or did they use the bigger Hoplon and javelins and if so were these with the baggage train (thus adding a massive logistically problem).
To some these may seem really obvious questions but it's always puzzled me
Cheers
Alan Greenwood The Greeks including the ancient Macedonians never called themselves as such. The correct term is '"Hellenes", hence the term "Hellenistic era". The Romans didived the Hellenic world, what more or less coincides with modern Greece, into two provinces, Macedonia and what they called Grecia, hence Greece or Greek. Another popular misconception of history, fortunately very clear to the academic communities of classical studies.
I think this is the answer to the battles that macedonians lost against romans. "Was the later Phalanx poorly led, I.e less junior officer's, less disciplined, less professionally drilled." Phyrrus the Great didn't had that problem and won against Rome
i think it was more the romans beat the phalanx mostly because of the time, the romans finally took over greece about 200 years after alaxander the great, and in that time the training standards of macedon wilst still high had stagnated and laxed a bit, where as the romans had more times to study and plan around the phalanx, roman studding and planning was what mostly gave them the edge over other nations
I thought the Roman army use of the pilum to break up the Phalanx cohesion and allowed them to get close. Choice of the terrain and ranged weapons would be good counter tactic to a Phalanx formation.
@@zacktoby not sure how effective the pilum would be against a phalanx, as the pilum was primary used to disable shields, and how phalanx use their shields on their shoulders it might make the pilum scrap accross the shield rather than pen, but even if it did pen and stick in, i dont think it would make the solder any less effective as they arent swinging the shield around and thus feel the weight of the added pilum
This is a top notch quality video! Very well done and whit the animations as well! Keep this up! Also music: I love it! Can we have it whitout the narrative and voice over? :)
It would be great to see this recreated in real life.
I have never seen a reanacment of a macedonian Phalanx that can convince me to the accuracy of this information.
Cmon who can handle a spear that is 5-7 meters long in foemation and not only that; add other equipment, a sword, a shield and armor. And these men were supposedly able to hold the spears at angles to provide cover from missiles.
Swiss, Landsknechts, Spanish Tercio, Swedish infantry of the 30 years war, English Civil War Pikemen all seemed to manage reasonably well?
They trained for years yk.
@@FelixstoweFoamForge Actually. I have looked up the Swiss pikemen and a reanacment vid.
They were as heavily armored and had very long pikes. It suddenly doesn't look as far fetched now.
@@hamidious Thanks for getting back to me on this one buddy! Maybe all the Macedonians you saw just weren't all that good. For what it's worth, I got the privilege of handling an ECW renactment pike a few years ago. NOW, it was a very good quality tapered-shaft one, so cheaper ones may have been different, but ohh my, was that thing well-balanced (I think that's the key), so well balanced in fact that despite being 16 feet long I could move it around vertically one handed, and in the 17th century "charge your pike" position, it just fell into place and felt like it weighed nothing. difference
Huh, thought you guys were dead. Glad you're posting again.
I knew stayin subbed to this channel would pay off
hell yeah new material ! high quality content
love the videos. would love to see one on the hoplite phalanx
a fantastic video, well done Syntagma!
still hoping this guy returns...
wow, seriously amazing job. Cheers from Estonia
I’m just fascinated with our ancient history as humans. Just wondering what daily life was like in the days of antiquity.
Same fir myself I guess it is a big part of the extreme fascination i have fir history and the people who lived these times.
Stygmata it is amazing makin ' feel kssr to reality.
If you like feeling intendivly the carious historical periods,imust duggest a podcast i've got " addicted" to ,for the perfection of the whe; try: YUDDHA..AN INDUAN PODCAST in rnglish sbou history of subcontinent ,especially THE MUGHALS. let me know if you like it
Glad I found this channel
I'm so glad this video got to my recommendations
Superb! Seems you guys haven’t produced a video in a long time. What a pity. You should collaborate with Tim Duncan and his award winning “The History of Rome” podcast , and create the visual The History of Rome. It was a great listen but would be so much better with your animations.
These are the silver shield pilemen from Rome Total War
Make a new video already! It's been over a year! That's unacceptable!
That was really cool!
5 seconds sound in a loop, nearly 20 minutes. Really nice...
E' un vero piacere vedere un vostro video. L'attesa viene sempre ripagata
There are not enough cubits to measure my love for this video
That's why the Phalanx had Hoplites trained in hand to hand combat to protect its' flanks. Something that, in their latest stages, the Hellenic Empires lost for a number of reasons making the Phalanx vulnerable to the flanks.
Also flat ground was needed, they didn't fight very well on uneven terrain, 1 large rock would break a phalanx if it lay on their path. Rough ground, trees ect would break up any advance by a phalanx much worse then a cohort
Loving these visuals