#hypaspist

[whencyclopedia]

Hypaspist

The hypaspists or hypaspistai were a distinct type of infantry soldier who served as a vital part of the Macedonian armies of both Phillip II of Macedon (r. 359 BCE - 336 BCE) and his son and heir Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE). The hypaspists became an invaluable part of the infantry that helped expand the Macedonian Empire.

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#History #Macedon #Hypaspist #GreekWarfare

[vwdoudpodgl]

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#overdevoted #Lampang #octahedric #errantry #protuberancies #hiems #secures #occipita #nonpreferable #tzaritza #worm-wrought #hypaspist #lengthen #acidoses #lagoons #denarcotize #philonium #centrifugation #temporisingly #exhaustions

[er-cryptid]

Patreon

#studyblr #notes #history #historyblr #history notes #world history #world history notes #ancient greece #macedon #phalanx #royal hypaspists #alexander the great #classics #classical studies #classical history #classics studies #classics history #alexander of macedon #ancient greece notes #ancient society

[jeannereames]

I forgot who it was, but I always found it so curious that it was recorded that Hephaistion was “wounded in the arm” during one of the battles. I know only the important things tended to be recorded, and of course, war and injury go hand-in-hand. I’m guessing that was pointed out because it was a really, really bad injury. Right? Not sure how that mention would’ve been relevant otherwise.

Arrian recorded Hephaistion’s injury.

In general, Arrian records a lot of military details that the other sources ignore or lack an interest in. Even so, with rare exceptions, his focus remains the army elite. And yes, Hephaistion is certainly among the elite, both owing to his importance to Alexander, but also, here, his role in the battle.

Diodoros tells us he fought first among the somatophylakes, or bodyguard. This has sometimes been misunderstood due to Diodoros’s tendency to mix-and-match terms. Diodoros doesn’t mean the 7-man unit of Somatophylakes, who didn’t fight together anyway. Their role as bodyguards was OFF the field. And I don’t think Hephaistion was a member of that unit yet anyway.

So what does he mean? The agema, or Royal squadron, of the Hypaspists. There were “regular” Hypaspists, and “royal” Hypaspists. Under Philip, this unit (then called Pezhetairoi) was the personal guard of the king in combat. When the unit itself came to be is a more involved discussion, but Philip made a significant change: he picked men for their size and fighting skill, not their high birth. Yet that was for the “regular” Hypaspists only, and it became one of the first pathways to advancement on skill alone in the Macedonian army. The royal unit, however, was another matter. Both Philip and Alexander made their military changes gradually.

Even under Philip, the Hypaspists were a stepping stone to higher commands for the sons of Hetairoi (Macedonian aristocrats). The whole unit was under the command of Nikanor, son of Parmenion. It was second only to the Companion Cavalry in prestige (which was commanded by Nikanor’s elder brother Philotas).

Yet overall command was different from unit command. E.g., Philotas commanded the Companions as a whole, but Kleitos Melas (Black Kleitos) commanded the Companion agema (royal unit) of Companion Cavalry. The king might lead that unit in battle, but he didn’t have time for the day-to-day duties of unit command, so Kleitos was their commander.

Similarly, by Gaugamela, Hephaistion had been advanced to command the Hypaspist agema. This may be why, later, Alexander advanced both him and Kleitos to joint command of the Companion Cavalry, after Philotas’s arrest and execution. Each had commanded the two most prestigious individual units in the army.

If Heckel is right (and I think he is), the Hypaspist agema at Gaugamela served as hammippoi, an elite form of hoplite who, literally, ran with the cavalry. (Keep in mind the horses would be mostly trotting or cantering, not galloping for long.) The job of the hammippoi was to help protect the horses and any cavalryman who was unhorsed, as the cavalry were much more lightly armed. But it’s a demanding job, to be sure.

At Gaugamela, Arrian tells us specifically of an encounter as Alexander returned with his Companion agema, after breaking off pursuit of Darius. They accidentally collided with some fleeing Persians and Indians (et al.), and it became the hardest fighting in the entire battle, as the fleeing men were desperate. I suspect this is where Hephaistion was wounded, as we’re told something like 60 Companions died in that engagement alone. It was brutal.

All that may help contextualize why Arrian names Hephaistion’s wounding. along with a couple others. He was the commander of a very important unit in the army.

#asks #Hephaistion #Hephaestion #Hypaspists #Hammippoi #Battle of Gaugamela #Alexander the Great #ancient Greece #ancient military history #Arrian #Classics #tagamemnon

[whencyclopedfr]

Hypaspiste

Les hypaspistes étaient un type de soldats d'infanterie qui jouaient un rôle essentiel dans les armées macédoniennes de Philippe II et de son fils et héritier Alexandre III, mieux connu sous le nom d'Alexandre le Grand. Ils devinrent une partie inestimable de l'infanterie qui aida à conquérir la Grèce et à vaincre les forces perses de Darius III, contribuant ainsi à l'établissement d'un empire qui s'étendait de la péninsule du Péloponnèse vers le nord, à travers la Macédoine et la Thrace, à travers l'Hellespont en Asie Mineure, et vers le sud en Syrie, en Mésopotamie et en Égypte. Bien que leur origine et leur fonction exactes aient été qualifiées de mystérieuses, l'historien Stephen English, dans son ouvrage The Army of Alexander the Great (L'armée d'Alexandre le Grand ), les considère comme "l'une des troupes les plus compétentes et les plus travaillées de l'ordre de bataille macédonien..." (28).

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#Histoire #Macédoine #Hypaspiste #LaGuerreEnGrèce

[wearemercs]

hypaspist by remora25

#remora25 #hoplite #shield #spear #muscle armor

[poke-historian]

In a previous post, you've mentioned that even Pokemon would wear shellcaps, such as Dewotts. And, Pokemon like Slowking have proved that evolution can occur if you use an item that was originally from another Pokemon.

Are there any Pokemon that are known to evolve while wearing a shellcap? And if so, are there any changes or adverse effects to the evolution?

As far as I'm aware, there aren't any pokémon whose evolution can be induced by a shellcap, although you could argue that Karrablast's evolution into Escavalier is essentially it evolving due to gaining a shellcap -just not a human-made one.

However, one historical text by the... dubiously credible medieval scholar Poplar states that if a Karrablast is given 'Halfe a Shelmet's armour' (presumably referring to the upper half, most likely a typical shellcap) it does not fully evolve into Escavalier, but rather a slightly smaller pokémon which does not fly, but still bears some of the armour of an Escavalier. This 'hypaspist' (a reference to dismounted soldiers of ancient armies) or sometimes 'Half-escavalier' was allegedly two feet tall and carried 'broken lances', which would have made it somewhat suboptimal as a fighter in a battlefield where much larger pokémon and perhaps more notably armoured humans were prevalent.

Now it's generally considered that Poplar is not a reliable source of information -he has written about many things we know to be false, like Zigzagoon storing Applins in its fur- and considering that we have almost no other accounts of hypaspists existing, other than one or two artworks by Arcean monks (which were probably based off of Poplar's description!) it's quite unlikely that the hypaspist existed. However, it does continue to be an interesting little oddity of middle ages' extensive breeding of Shelmet and Escavalier.

#pkmn irl #unreality #poke history

[pokehistoryandhexology]

Hey there! You study antuquity, right?

Something I had a look at recently was an account by Poplar the Elder about a sort of half-evolution between Karrablast and Escavalier. He stated that if you gave a Karrablast only half of a shelmet's armour, that it would not fully evolve but would still adopt a partially armoured form with 'broken lances'. But perhaps most notably he referred to it as a 'Hypaspist' -An allusion to hellenistic armies as I'm sure you are aware. While in the middle ages we only have one or two Arcean frescoes depicting a 'Hypaspist' -and these depictions were probably based on Poplar's work. But considering the Hellenistic-based name, I was wondering if you've come across any evidence of this half-evolved Karrablast existing in any sources from antiquity?

what an interesting question, thank you!

apologies for getting to it late, life tends to life quite hectically. plus, i decided to do some further reading for this!

whilst the hellenistic period is something i've studied (one of my a-levels was dedicated to classical studies, and i took one module on the era this year), it's mostly a hobby at this point - i tend closer to medieval history now. however hammerlocke's library has a large source collection i was able to check out yesterday, and some were helpful for answering this.

so there was at least one account from a set of poems i was able to find from the period, that refers to a pokemon of a certain way. the translation used described it as "half-true", but it is likely that this is a metaphorical description for a potential half-evolution rather than actual pseudo-fiction.

one book (sheen, n. "the evolution of battle, 800 bce to 1500 ce", 1985) did include an interesting tidbit about battle formations from 100 bce, too, and ceramics and depictions from the time show armies working surprisingly extensively alongside ancient equivalents to escavalier and accelgor. and whilst some of the depictions on the artworks show unique pokemon that don't resemble either entirely, it's hard to say whether or not they are further evidence of the hypaspist or yet another ancient pokemon that we've not yet discovered. it seems likely that there was a potential evolution in such a manner, though, yes! if that is replicable in modern karrablast species, i wouldn't know. i've not seen any around, recently, to much dismay...

i would really recommend that book, by the way. it's got a lot of good historical background, alongside historiography from others in the field. there's a solidly sized section on kalosian warfare, i do believe, from 500 ce onwards.

#ask #pkmn irl #interactions #earthly musings #thank you very much! this was fun to look into. sorry for the late reply.

[no-name-games]

Minion Monday: The Hoplite

For today, the first Minion Monday, I thought I'd talk about Greek hoplites - the standard Greek infantry of the Hellenistic period, and, consequently, one of the standard minion types available in Demigod.

Hoplites were the most common type of foot-soldiers in from the 7th to about the 4th century BCE. Any ordinary male citizen of the Greek city-states who had sufficient means (that is, the money to pay for it) was expected to provide his own equipment - at minimum, a spear and a shield.

All of the Greek city-states had some system of compulsory military service. Athens required all 18-20 year-olds to serve, while Sparta required all male citizens over the age of 20 to be part of the standing army. Thebes had its Sacred Band - an elite force of the Theban army comprised of 150 pairs of male lovers who swore to defend each other to the death.

All Greek hoplites were armed with an 8-foot long wooden spear known as a doru or dory and a ~3-foot, deeply-dished wooden shield known as an aspis.

Protection came in a variety of forms: leather-lined bronze helmets; a bronze, leather, or linen breastplate (linothorax); and bronze graves to protect the shins.

Hoplite Warfare

Hoplites were organized into regiments (lokhoi) of several hundred men each. Each lokhoi fought in ranks eight or more men deep (known as a phalanx), the first rank of which was known as the promachos line. Phalanxes stood in close ranks, with half of the shield of one man protecting his neighbor on his left side. This meant that phalanxes often moved forward at a right angle - each man seeking to keep behind the shield of his neighbor. The result was that the right flank, which was unshielded, broke first. Competent commanders kept their best troops on their right flank to avoid this, and it was also the flank that was attacked first by cavalry and other units. Greek hoplites advanced at a walk, usually accompanied by drumming or warcries. Once they engaged the enemy, the hoplites would thrust their spears over-arm (to get over the enemy armor), after which the lines would push and shove against each other or draw swords for close-quarter fighting. The engagement would end when one side broke ranks and retreated.

How Do Hoplites Function In Demigod?

Hoplites in Demigod are some of your best infantry minions. Their Combat of 3 means that they will win a fight more often than not, especially against weaker opponents like hypaspists (to be covered in a future article). Being equipped with a spear means that they will push back opponents 3" versus the standard inch - perfect for getting out of combat or allowing an archer to line up a shot. However, all of this comes at a cost - the hoplite's large aspis shield means that he moves a little slower than heavily-armed opponents - all things to keep in mind when choosing your minions!

#hoplite #ancient greece #wargames #wargaming #28mmwargaming #miniatures #28mmminiatures

[maskilop]

Civilization vi april update

#Civilization vi april update update#

#Civilization vi april update upgrade#

TSL Earth Huge: Civilizations start at the location of their historical capital on the huge Earth map.

Earth Huge Map: A larger sized representation of Earth with resources, terrain, and features reflecting their historic locations.

Mediterranean Large Map: A large map of the greater Mediterranean region with resources, terrain, and features reflecting their historic locations.

Unique units now replacing this unit: French Garde Imperiale and English Redcoat.

#Civilization vi april update upgrade#

Unique units that will upgrade into this unit: Spanish Conquistador and Ottoman Janissary.

Line Infantry: Industrial Era Musketman upgrade.

Unique units now replacing this unit: Norwegian Berserker, Japanese Samurai, and Georgian Khevsur.

Unique units that will upgrade into this unit: Roman Legion, Kongolese Ngao Mbeba, Macedon Hypaspist, Persian Immortal, Maori Toa, and Gallic Gaesatae.

Man-At-Arms: Medieval Era Swordsman upgrade.

Units now replacing this unit: Khmer Domrey.

Cannot move and attack on the same turn unless they’ve earned the Expert Crew Promotion. Trebuchet: Medieval Era Catapult upgrade. The most recent pack, Portugal, launched in March and introduced a new leader in Joao III, the Navigation School and Feitoria unique structures, and more.

#Civilization vi april update update#

This marks the final free update of the New Frontier Pass season of Civilization VI, which began in May 2020 and included six content packs in the last 10 months. The full list of changes and more information on all new additions can be found below. The majority of the update includes balance adjustments for both maps and units, with the Melee and Heavy Cavalry seeing the most adjustments for units and Khmer, Mapuche, and Spain seeing the most map-based adjustments. If you’re playing as Portugal on TSL Earth Huge, expect to start right next to Spain. Both maps will have historically accurate types of resources and terrains, as well as True Starting Location (TSL) versions of each map where the capital of each player’s civilization sits in the actual real-world location of the city in question. New locales being added include the Mediterranean Large Map - a large-scale map of the Mediterranean region - as well as the Earth Huge Map, a map that spans the entire globe.

#Civilization vi april update

[whencyclopedia]

Pezhetairoi

The pezhetairoi (foot companions) were part of the imposing army that accompanied the Macedonian commander Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE) when he crossed the Hellespont to face the Persian king Darius III in 334 BCE. Armed with long pikes (sarissas), the pezhetairoi fought in a Greek phalanx formation and played an important role in the battles of the Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela.

Origin

Like with the hypaspist, the origin and evolution of the pezhetairos (plural: pezhetairoi) are shrouded in mystery. Except for references to them in discussions of Philip II and Alexander, the term pezhetairoi is hardly found in ancient literature. In his The Army of Alexander the Great, historian Stephen English wrote that, at some inexact point, the peasantry was recruited territorially and organized into infantry, and, according to the historian Anaximenes, it was given the name pezhetairoi. He added that the pezhetairoi were "essentially an evolution of the standard phalanx" (3).

However, disagreements still persist: some scholars refer to all of the Macedonian infantry as pezhetairoi while others believe they were not front-line infantry but bodyguards to the king. English contends that the pezhetairoi may have been created as a select, elite infantry acting as royal bodyguards under the Macedonian king Alexander I (498-454 BCE). It is claimed by some that this elite infantry eventually became the hypaspists. It was Alexander III (the Great) who would extend the term pezhetairoi to include all of the heavy phalanx infantry with the exception of the hypaspists.

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#History #Pezhetairoi #Macedon #AlexanderTheGreat

[delvingintohistory]

Macedonian Royal Hypaspist

An impressive reenactment of a Macedonian Royal Hypaspist by the German Historical association Hetairoi (Εταίροι). Felicitations to them for their work. The hypaspistae (υπασπισταί) were an elite Macedonian infantry unit of multiple military uses. (more…)

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#Alexander the Great #Alexander the Great’s State #Ancient warfare #Germany #Hetairoi #Hypaspists #Macedonia #Macedonian #Macedonians #Military history #Military technology #Military topics

[warsofasoiaf]

Good Afternoon, this is a bit of an odd one. Im trying to use some of the troop types from the ancient macedonian army to come up with a good dnd character. While I realize an indiviual phalangite or hoplite wouldnt do too well in a dnd group or setting, im not sure which of the others would do well out of formation. At first I thought my only option was the skirmishers like agrianians or agemas but then i saw that the hypaspists and most of the cavalry might do well too, any suggestions?

The problem with a lot of historical inspirations as D&D characters is that you’re pretty much relegated to small-unit tactics instead of large unit formations. You can play as a Roman legionnaire, but you’re not in a Roman quincrux. So in that sense, it depends on the feats you take. You could absolutely play a phalangite and hold a doorway or breach with a pike in an impromptu phalanx while having a hypaspist character with a shorter melee weapon stand next to you to attack close by. Given that your character is probably going to be some sort of fighter-class, which suggests professionalism, my suggestion is to either play as a hypaspist or a member of the Companion cavalry, depending on whether you’re doing dungeon crawls or open-world exploration. Ask your DM, and see if your party has someone that could work the front lines while you’re right behind them with a reach weapon.

Thanks for question, Procrastinating.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#tabletop gaming #d&d #character building

[cincinnatusvirtue]

Alexander III “The Great” Part 2: Where one empire falls, so must a new one rise...

Alexander the Great and the Macedonian army crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor in 334 BC.  The composition of his army at this point was primarily Greek but did include some non-Greeks as well.  It consisted of a mix of cavalry and infantry.  His cavalry included light cavalry mixing Greek and Thracian horsemen.  While his elite cavalry was the heavy cavalry known as the Companions of which Alexander always lead into battle personally, leading his royal contingent, it was made of the Macedonian landed nobility which was personally quite loyal to the king.  This was combined with Thessalian heavy cavalry from Central Greece as well.  His infantry included missle and melee infantry ranging from the phalanx or phalangists to his hoplites and hypaspists and various armed skirmishers both Greek and Thracians such as the peltasts.

The Macedonian army was faced by the Persians who called on forces from all across the empire.  Persians, Bactrians, Scythians, Sogdians, Syrians, Indians and even Greeks as mercenaries.  They too had infantry, cavalry, archers and even armed chariots.  Memnon of Rhodes, a Greek mercenary commander in Persian service advocated for a strategic withdrawal and scorch and earth tactics which would stretch Alexander’s supply lines and deny his forces food and supplies to forage or “live off the land”.  However, the Persian satraps of Anatolia saw this move as both undermining to morale and not worthwhile because the scorched earth would be their own fertile lands, hurting long term commerce.  Their contention was to fight the Macedonians head on before they ventured too far into the Persian Empire.

The first major battle, was the Battle of Granicus fought in May 334 BC in what is now western Turkey along the Granicus river, as was often the case Alexander would fight many of his classic battles along rivers.  For his part this was strategic, the Persian armed chariots could not be effective on muddy river banks where mobility was slowed.  The Persians knew the Macedonians would attempt to cross the river and hoped to slow their  advance their by bunching up the Macedonian forces.  The battle started with a feint attack on the Macedonian left, commanded by a trusted general, Parmenion who commanded the Thracian and Thessalian cavalry.  The Persians shifted many of their forces to meet this attack but in doing so weakened part of their line, Alexander personally lead his noble Companion cavalry into battle in a flying wedge formation.  In the melee, Alexander personally killed a number of Persian nobles but was nearly killed himself by one until a timely intervention by a Greek general named, Cleitus the Black severed the Persian’s arm clean off with sword still in their hand, saving Alexander’s life.  The Macedonian center now had time bought and moved its phalanxes into place across the river, supported by the bulk of the army now pushed back the Persians, the speed of their advance surprised the Persian forces who after some tough fighting retreated.  The retreat happened before they could commit their forces, namely the Greek mercenaries to battle.  This resulted in the Macedonians killing their fellow Greeks in a general massacre, viewing them as a traitors for having served the Persians.  Granicus was a resounding Macedonian victory, their first major one over the Persians.

The battle opened up Anatolia to the Greeks who began conquering the lands.  Some Persian satraps in the next several months surrendered their territory without a fight, hoping to spare their damage.  Alexander sometimes let Persians stay in their positions of power so long as they supplied his army and swore loyalty to him.  Gradually, Alexander worked his way along the coast to neutralize the Persian naval bases that could cut off supply lines back to Greece.  He also visited the city of Gordium which contained the fabled Gordian Knot which presented a riddle to many in the ancient world, the complicated and varied tied knot was a puzzle that required challengers to unravel it, the one who solved the puzzle was said to be destined to rule all of Asia.  Many had contemplated how to unravel the knot but failed.  Alexander’s solution was simple, cut the knot with his sword.

From Anatolia, Alexander hoped to advance into Syria and threaten the Levant.  It was at this point that the Persian Shah, Darius III personally lead an army to counter the Macedonian threat.  Darius’s army actually ventured behind the Macedonian army hoping to cutoff its supply lines and trap it deep in Persian territory with no hope of reinforcement.  Alexander did however rise to meet Darius.  They did do along the Southern Anatolian coast along a small river called Issus.  The Battle of Issus was fought in a narrow ground between the mountains and the sea, the ground was chosen by Darius to limit the mobility of the Macedonian cavalry which had been so effective at Granicus.  Darius’s army was as typical of the Persian forces was multiethnic and once again they relied on Greek mercenaries, arguably their best troops which Darius placed at the center with his royal bodyguard.  The Macedonian advance across the river was slowed by the river itself, the Persians fortifying their bank of the river and the Greek mercenaries hard fighting.  However, Macedonian hypaspists, tasked with guarding the phalanxes weak and vulnerable flank and rear managed to break through a line in the Persian-Greek forces.  This allowed Alexander to see an opportunity to strike unexpectedly at the heart of the Persians.  Taking his Companion cavalry, Alexander drove his force on a right flank maneuver and then wheeled toward the Persian center, straight at Darius.  The speed and fury of the Macedonian charge at the Persian King of Kings completely unnerved Darius and he fled in his chariot.  This collapsed the morale of the Persian center which also fled.  On the left flank of the Macedonians, Persian cavalry held back Parmenion’s left flank cavalry.  Ever the observer and adapter to the situations on the battlefield, Alexander would wheel his forces  to hit the Persians now exposed rear.  This surprise attack combined with the holes being punched in their mercenary forces and the flight of their king lead to a rout of Persian forces.  The Macedonians pursued and killed off many retreating Persians, gaining yet another decisive victory.  In the wake of this, Alexander captured members of Darius’s family including his wife, mother and two daughters.  Alexander held them as prisoners though they were by all accounts well treated during their captivity.  Darius himself retreated to the Persian capital in Babylon.  

Over the next year or two Alexander consolidated his gains in Anatolia and advanced down the Syrian coast, taking the Levantine cities either by surrender and sparing them destruction or in the case of Tyre and Gaza having to besiege them and after many months finally captured both.  Alexander then advanced to Egypt where he was proclaimed Pharaoh.  He also visited a temple where the Egyptian priests declared him the son of their supreme god, Amon Ra.  He introduced the Greek presence into Egypt and the Levant, something that was to last for centuries with the Greeks serving as Pharaohs of Egypt until Roman rule, with a Greek-Egyptian named Cleopatra being their last famed ruler, a descendant of the Ptolemaic dynasty that was established by one of Alexander’ s general, Ptolemy in the wake of Alexander’s death.  Something new was happening due to Alexander and the Hellenic presence in Egypt.  Greek and Egyptian culture to a degree synthesized and Greek culture was being spread to Persia’s various provinces.  He would also found the first of many cities bearing his name, Alexandria, now one of Egypt’s major cities.  It would become a famed center of learning and culture throughout the ancient world, blending Greek, Egyptian, Persian and other traditions into one center.  This was to become a hallmark of Alexander’s rule and legacy, as he would spread Hellenic culture to other parts of the world and increasingly it would blend with the local culture becoming a hybrid of East meets West.  Reflected in art, religion, currency, governance, commerce, day to day life and military tradition.

Meanwhile, back in Greece the mighty Sparta which had remained silent during Alexander’s Asian and African adventures finally rose up to challenge the Macedonians, Alexander nor his father directly fought the legendary Spartans and the question was raised who was mightier Sparta or Macedon.  Antipater, one of Alexander’s generals who stayed behind in Greece would answer that burning question.  The Macedonian army crushed the Spartans at the Battle of Megalopolis virtually fighting to the last man, killing their king in battle too.  This subdued the Spartan rebellion and Greek discontent over taxes and Alexander’s rule in general.

Darius III offered several attempts at negotiations with Alexander as all of Persia’s western provinces and African ones, namely Egypt, were being conquered, some without a fight which was a humbling experience for the Persian Shah.  His last offer at peace was to offer half of the Persian Empire to Alexander, all the Western provinces, to become co-rulers of the empire, to taken several thousand pounds of silver and gold as payment and to arrange a marriage between Alexander and one of his daughters.  Alexander did seriously consider the offer and all but one of his generals argued against it.  Alexander, refused seeking to have all the empire and not just half.  The war would continue.

Alexander now marched his forces into Mesopotamia or modern Iraq with the goal of taking the Persian political capital, Babylon.  Darius is believed to have anticipated the Macedonians would take a more direct route through the deserts of central and southern Iraq which with extreme heat and lack of supplies would drain their army.  Darius however, once again realized he was dealing with no ordinary for.  Alexander ever the clever strategist took his army on an unexpected route through Northern Iraq instead, nearing mountains that would shade or cool his forces from the intense heat of the deserts to the south.  This caught the Persians off guard and Darius was forced to instead move his own army northward.   Some Persians figured the Tigris River which the Macedonians numbering shy of 50,000 men would have to ford was too deep and strong.  However, Alexander’s army did cross and was now moving toward Babylon on the east side of the river.  Darius decided to find ground of his own choosing to meet and defeat the Macedonians.  He found it on a relatively flat plain east of modern Mosul, Iraq at a place called Gaugamela. 

By choosing an open expansive battlefield, Darius hoped not to be boxed in the way he had at Issus, this would allow more room for his chariots and cavalry to maneuver.  His force was estimated by modern scholars of being upwards of 100,000.  It included Indian war elephants and various contingents and mercenaries from all over the Persian Empire as was usual.  Alexander however as was often the case, took an unexpected maneuver and initiative which offset the Persians.  He moved his Companion cavalry from their right flank far out on what appeared to be an outflanking maneuver which deceived the Persians into thinking this was an maneuver that needed to be countered and indeed they sent a large force of cavalry from their left to meet and clash with the Macedonians.  As the Persians drew their forces to mirror and counter Alexander’s deep flank, they weakened their own center as was Alexander’s plan.  The deep flank was joined by his phalanx and hypaspists infantry which Alexander had gradually disengaged them from the flanking maneuver to meet the Persians center which fixed them in place.  Meanwhile, the Persian chariots armed with javelin throwers advanced only for the Macedonian regiments to part forming alleys for the chariots to pass through without causing damage, before the chariot riders were killed themselves.  Parmenion and the Thracian-Thessalian cavalry on the left also fixed the Persian right flank in place.  It was now time for Alexander’s decisive move.   The deep flank and the fixing in place of the Persian forces effectively weakened the Persian center by creating a gap which like at Issus, Alexander could strike at Darius’s jugular once more by driving his flying wedge Companion heavy cavalry right at the Persian center and split it’s force into pieces.  Darius, once again caught off guard by the Macedonian deception and fury fled the battlefield, causing panic and routing in his forces.  Parmenion’s left flank however was in jeopardy and just like as Issus, Alexander had to lead a counter charge to save his left from being overwhelmed which was encircled by Persian cavalry on all sides.  Darius fled and evaded capture or death as Alexander had hoped, but preservation of his army was more key to the long term goals of Alexander.  He attacked the Persians in their rear with some breaking off to loot the Macedonian camp before they were dispatched themselves.  The rest of the Persian army fled as the Macedonians shifted their forces to left to relieve Parmenion.  It was another victory and ultimately the final blow needed to defeat Darius and the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

Alexander entered the Persian capital of Babylon which he claimed to enter as a liberator, he also went onto the cities of Susa and the ceremonial capital of Persepolis which was in the Persian heartlands of modern Iran, he burned Persepolis as payback for the Persians burning Athens 150 years earlier in the Persian invasion of Greece under Xerxes.  Now he was declared by his new Persian nobility Persian Shah himself and Lord of Asia, in addition to his titles as King of Macedon, Hegemon of the Hellenic League and Pharaoh of Egypt.  Effectively the Persian Empire ceased to be a real force at least in the western provinces.  Darius gave an impassioned speech to carry on the war in the eastern half of the empire which remained unconquered.  However, his satraps, especially one by the name of Bessus had enough of defeats and retreat by Darius, they took him prisoner and murdered their Shah.  Bessus was then self-proclaimed Shah but Alexander viewed Bessus as little more than an impostor, with himself as the real Shah and he considered the act of murdering Darius, the rightful ancestral King of Persia as cowardly and little more than petty and unjust, a crime punishable by death.  

Darius’s body would be recovered by Alexander as he set off in pursuit of Bessus.  He gave him a proper burial in the ancestral tombs of his dynasty.  Alexander had respect for Darius’s position and an appreciation of the Persian monarchy’s history even if they were enemies on the battlefield.  He now set about trying to consolidate a hold on his conquests through a mix of his Macedonian generals and Persians who proclaimed loyalty to him, becoming his new nobility and serving as provincial administrators.  He began to administer Persia, though largely as Persia had been run, seeing himself not as a new conqueror but as rightful inheritor to the prior Persian dynasty, this admiration for Persia along with the adoption of certain Persian customs and the maintenance of Persian governors and administrators by Alexander started to cause some resentment among his generals who unlike Alexander simply despised the Persians and felt Greek traditions superior.  The first cracks in Alexander’s otherwise impenetrable self-armor were starting to appear.  Yet, there was much work to do, such as the capture of Bessus and the conquest of the eastern remnants of the nominal Persian Empire.   Alexander’s gaze was fixed to the east to the ends of Persia and beyond, to the edge of the known world...

#Alexander the Great #darius iii #macedonia #persian empire #ancient greece #military history #military tactics #ancient world #granicus #issus #gaugamela

[jeannereames]

Hii😄, could you talk about Alexander and hefestion's skills? Whether militarily or diplomatically, I heard that Hephaestion was better at politics, diplomacy and logistics, and that in some ways his and Alexander's skills complemented each other.

I'm always a tad amused when my own research is quoted back to me as a bit of general knowledge. 😂 That's not at all a slam, btw! I'm quite pleased it's escaped out of academia to become part-and-parcel of what people know about Hephaistion. Means I made an impact on rehabbing his career.

But yes, those things are true. I wrote about them first back in 1998, in my dissertation, then published it as part of an academic book chapter in 2010, titled "The Cult of Hephaistion" in Responses to Oliver Stone's Alexander: Film, History, and Cultural Studies, P. Cartledge and F. Greenland, eds. Complete with tables! Follow the link to read it.

I am now, some years later, returning to Hephaistion's career with the current monograph I'm working on. I've altered my opinion about some things (primarily details), and modified my take, but it remains largely the same. I've even convinced a number of my colleagues, so Hephaistion as logistics officer now appears in most summaries about him. Now, if I can just convince them he wasn't either incompetent or the quarrelsome bastard he's often made out to be.

He did have diplomatic assignments too, although he's hardly the only one. Erigyios, Perdikkas, Ptolemy...they were also used for diplomatic purposes. Plutarch (in a long contrast with Krateros) says ATG employed Hephaistion for business with the "barbarians" and Krateros for business with Greeks and Macedonians, because Hephaistion agreed with ATG's "Persianizing" whereas Krateros kept his traditional ways. From Plutarch, that's not necessarily a compliment for Hephaistion. It's also not stated so anywhere else beyond Plutarch. I have some theories I'll be discussing in the book.

IF we can take the disproportionate assignment of logistical/diplomatic assignments as any indicator, it would seem that Hephaistion was more skilled in that realm than in combat command. That isn't to say he was no good at combat command, mind (I've had some read it so, as if "not as good" = "bad" because middle ground apparently isn't permitted).

It also doesn't mean he wasn't a decent fighter. He probably was, as he seems to have been assigned to lead the agema (Royal) unit of the Hypaspists, e.g., the king's personal guard in battle. According to earlier accounts of the origin of this unit, Philip created them to cut across regional divisions, picking the largest men and best fighters. The agema was, if Waldemar Heckel is correct, drawn specifically from the sons of Companions (Hetairoi). That would back up Curtius' description of him as "larger in physique" than Alexander. (That's what the Latin actually says, not simply "taller.") But keep in mind, the best fighters are only occasionally equally good at command. Those are two different skills.

Finally, his choice as Chiliarch may also underscore some of what we've already seen in his assignments. But it's this appointment that leads some scholars to conclude that he rose due to Alexander's favoritism, not actual ability on his part. That, however, seems to me to stem from several (erroneous) assumptions.

IME, competent people surround themselves with other competent people, at least for any length of time. Flatters may be tolerated, but they're not continually advanced. It's dictators who surround themselves with yes-people (and not all of them; they also need competent individuals). Alexander may have been called a "tyrant" by the Greeks, but he wasn't. He was a king. The Greeks/Athenians/Spartans/Others were playing politics. Macedonian kings had to court their courtiers. If Alexander had been manifestly unfair in his appointments, his men would have rebelled against those officers. They rebelled...but not for that reason. They wanted to go home.

For those who regard Alexander (and Philip) as tyrannical, and/or the enemy of (Greek) freedom, and/or megalomaniacs, and lucky rather than competent, then sure. It would follow that ATG would surround himself with asslickers. But if one thinks he was actually good at what he did (which is a different thing from approving of conquest, mind), and a halfway decent politician--then no, it doesn't follow that his top officers were yes-men. Curtius bluntly tells us that Hephaistion was freer than anyone to "upbraid" the king. Doesn't sound like a yes-man to me.

I think Hephaistion was appointed as Chiliarch for two reasons: Alexander trusted him AND he could do the job. Too bad he didn't live long enough for us to see what he might have done with it.

#asks #Hephaistion #Hephaestion #Alexander the Great #Hephaistion's military assignments #Hephaistion's status in the army #chiliarch #Classics #ancient Macedonia #ancient Greece #Plutarch's hit job on Hephaistion

[whencyclopedfr]

Antioche

Antioche ou Antioche-sur-l'Oronte était une ville antique située sur l'Oronte, près des monts Amanus, en Syrie. Le "pays des quatre villes" - Séleucie, Apamée, Laodicée et Antioche - fut fondé par Séleucos I Nicator (Victor) entre 301 et 299 avant notre ère. Certains attribuent la fondation initiale de la ville sous le nom d'Antigonie à Antigone Ier le Borgne qui perdit la région au profit de Séleucos après la bataille d'Ipsos en 301 avant Jésus-Christ. Selon certaines sources anciennes, Séleucos était considéré comme l'un des successeurs les plus capables de l'empire établi par Alexandre le Grand. Seleucos ne faisait pas partie du cercle restreint d'Alexandre. Il était l'un des commandants des hypaspistes, une garde élective qui servait de tampon entre la cavalerie et l'infanterie d'Alexandre. Bien que l'on parle peu de lui et de sa relation avec Alexandre, lui et ses descendants régnèrent sur un empire incluant Antioche pendant près de 250 ans.

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#Syrie #SéleucosI #Antiochia