Into the Land of Bones. Frank L. Holt

Into the Land of Bones - Frank L. Holt


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Most Macedonian infantrymen wore armor, including helmets and cuirasses. Their national weapon was the sarissa, a long spear reaching eighteen feet and weighing about fourteen pounds. Its menacing blade was balanced by a useful butt spike, which could itself be swung around and wielded if the sarissa’s shaft were broken. Massed in precise formations, men carrying these sarissas cut deep into the ranks of the enemy.23

      Alexander’s cavalry fought using swords and sarissas. Because the stirrup was unknown at the time, cavalrymen had to take care not to be unseated while charging, slashing, or thrusting. The king’s mounted forces underwent a transformation in response to the Bactrian campaign. The old squads (ilae) of two hundred riders were organized into larger battalions (hip-parchies) of two or more ilae. These units better served the powerful detachments sent out by the king to hunt down the insurgents, and they stood a better chance against attacks by the first-rate horsemen of Bactria and Scythia. Overall command of the cavalry, once vested in a single Companion, had to be divided for security reasons after the execution of Philotas.24

      Alexander also deployed a great number of allied and mercenary troops. Lacking Macedonian reinforcements, the king grew increasingly dependent on the use of Greek mercenaries while in Bactria. Furthermore, to preserve his dwindling Macedonian manpower, Alexander singled out these mercenaries to be left behind as garrison forces and colonists. This caused resentment among the Greeks forced to remain in Bactria and led to some dissension in the ranks. Another source of friction would be the king’s decision before leaving Bactria to supplement his armed forces with additional native recruits.25 His army thenceforth mixed three volatile elements, but the extreme demands of the Bactrian war left Alexander no choice. He had to assume the risks or retreat from the region.

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