The ancient Greek phalanx battle formations have been the subject of debates both in ancient history and among today's historians. In fact, it is still not clear whether the so called deep phalanx formation was a better tactic then the so called "shallow" formation. In one instance a phalanx formation composed of veterans, may have only needed ranks four rows deep. In the case of new, untested soldiers, the depth of the phalanx formation was at times 12, 16, and 32 ranks deep. Some historians believe the deeper the group, the more power it had. It had extra soldiers in the rear ranks to step forward to replenish lost troops on the front rows. This is contrasted by others who claim that extra deep ranks were redundant inasmuch as the front ranks were responsible for either the victory or the defeat in a battle.
A Phalanx Formation.
A phalanx.
The phalanx were the backbone of the Ancient Greek armies.As soon as the enemy saw the phalanx approach, they knew they would be defeated.
Phalanx
Usually, battles were fought by phalanxes, formations of men armed with spears lined up to create a wall of spears. One side of either phalanx would be routed(flee) by cavaly or the other phalanx breaking through. google "phalanx formation" In the end after a rout cavaly or light infantry would pursue the enemy and harrass them when they fled.
A phalanx is a type of military formation done by the ancient Greeks. It was almost impossible to get through.
The phalanx was one of the ancient world's most effective fighting tactics.
The Phalanx was reformed and made into one of the most effective fighting forces in the Ancient World by his father Philip II. They are a military unit armed with 12 metre long spears (known as the Sarissa). Trained in various manouvers and formations, they were crucial to his success. Alexander the great was never defeated.
They used several different battle formations instead of the phalanx. The Roman maniples and cohorts were flexible as opposed to the relatively static tactics that had to be used with the phalanx. This manoeuvrability gave the Romans a definite advantage over their opponents.
Phalanx Formation
The shape was standard- a 16-rank deep compact rectangle. The phalanx was trained in reforming to face another direction while maintaining its integrity.
The phalanx was invented by the ancient Greeks, but is seen most when Alexander The Great was in power. Alexander improved the phalanx by adding the pike (an 18 foot spear) to it increasing its effectiveness in battle.