Sarissa Drills

[rocktupac]

Over the next week I will be scouring over the sources looking for the various listed drills Alexander had the phalangites perform with their sarissas. I need to come up with a list for a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for another joint research project. To help speed up the process, could I ask anyone that may know of a passage off hand to site where it might be located? Thank you in advance.

[marcus]

Over the next week I will be scouring over the sources looking for the various listed drills Alexander had the phalangites perform with their sarissas ... could I ask anyone that may know of a passage off hand to site where it might be located? Thank you in advance.

The only one that I can think of off the top of my head is the one performed during the campaign in Thrace/Illyria - in fact, there might be 2 different drills mentioned, but Arrian isn't close enough for me to check. It's in the first few chapters of Arrian Book I, anyway.

ATB

[Paralus]

Arrian 1.6:

Then Alexander drew up his army in such a way that the depth of the phalanx was 120 men; and stationing 200 cavalry on each wing, he ordered them to preserve silence, receiving the word of command quickly. Accordingly he gave the signal to the heavy-armed infantry in the first place to hold their spears erect, and then to couch them at the concerted sign; at one time to incline their spears to the right, closely locked together, and at another time towards the left. He then set the phalanx itself into quick motion forward, and marched it towards the wings, now to the right, and then to the left. After thus arranging and re-arranging his lines many times very rapidly, he at last formed his phalanx into a sort of wedge, and led it towards the left against the enemy, who had long been in a state of amazement at seeing both the order and the rapidity of his evolutions. Consequently they did not sustain Alexander’s attack, but quitted the first ridges of the mountain. Upon this, Alexander ordered the Macedonians to raise the battle-cry and make a clatter with their spears upon their shields; and the Taulantians, being still more alarmed at the noise, led their army back to the city with all speed.