The Balkans Part Two The Balkans 359-277 BC: Macedonia, Thrace, Illyria and Celtic migration and invasion (Part Two) The expansion of the Autariatae, c. 335-310 BC The weakening of the Triballi and Dardanians by Philip II and Alexander the Great during their reigns (359-323 BC) was probably a key factor in the expansion of the Autariatae in the Central Balkans during the years 335-310 BC. Autariatae were an Illyrian tribe. Of all the Central Balkan peoples they had the least contact with the Graeco-Macedonian world. That is why we know so little about them. When in the year 335 BC Alexander the Great was returning from the Danube to Macedonia, he had never heard of them. This detail, which comes from Ptolemy, is sufficient to convince us that up to that time the Autariatae had had no contact with Macedonia. After 335 BC, information about the Autariatae is largely concerned with their migration on account of a plague of frogs. At the beginning of the third century BC all trace of them is lost. There remains only the tradition that they were the greatest and most powerful Illyrian tribe and that at one time they even ruled over the Triballi and other Illyrian and Thracian tribes. Autariatae were north-eastern neighbours of the Ardiaei and western neighbours of the Dardanians. By 335 BC the Autariatae had occupied the whole area from the Lim and the Tara on the south, where they marched with the Ardiaei – to the Western Morava on the north, where they were neighbours of the Dardanians and Triballi. The name of the river Tara has been connected with that of the Autariatae . The Autariatae came into the Serbian area as early as the fifth century BC, bearers of an Illyrian culture. In the period between 335-311 BC it seems that the Autariatae expanded their territory, largely at the expense of their eastern neighbours, the Thracian Triballi. In fact, it seems that the Autariatae, after they had reduced the Triballi, were themselves overcome by the Celtic Scordisci (cf. Strabo, 7.5.11). Papazoglu believes that the name Autariatae was used not as the name of a particular tribe, but as a collective name to indicate an indefinite number of unknown tribes, all those tribes who lived deep in the interior of the Illyrian lands, beyond the Ardiaei and Dardanians. The limited area to which the name “Illyrians” was applied by Hellenistic sources would speak in favour of this notion. Autariatae , whether they had held it from ancient times, or they had recently seized it from the Triballi. Lastly, the closeness of the Autariatae and Triballi to each other makes their plan to attack Alexander on his return from the Danube appear more comprehensible. It is likely that the Autariatae were even then thinking of infringing Triballian territory and descending the Southern Morava valley towards the land of the Agrianes and Paionia . the Autariatae were at one time the greatest and most powerful Illyrian people.” This description of them certainly refers to the time when, as Strabo says a little further on, “having subdued the Triballi, who extended from the Agrianes to the Istrus, a journey of fifteen days, they overcame other Thracians and Illyrians ” (7.5.11).Autariatae happened after Alexander’s expedition to the Danube. 1. the Triballi, against whom Alexander thought it necessary to safeguard Macedonia before he ventured on the long expedition against the Persians, were still in his time the powerful people who had been able to challenge Philip; 2. the Autariatae in 335 BC were in their own country. It may be that it was just Alexander’s victory over the heretofore greatest people in the Central Balkans which became the reason for the Autariatae to set out and overrun the land of their eastern neighbours. Up to that time peaceful, they now developed great military strength and subdued not only the Triballi but also other neighbouring tribes. Autariatae occupied the whole territory of the Triballi, and that they spread eastwards to the river Isker. On the contrary, Strabo’s note on the conflict of the Autariatae with the Scordisci leads to the belief that only the western half of the Triballian lands were covered by the Autariatae expansion. The Scordisci settled, as we know, after the Celtic defeat at Delphi in 279 BC, along the Danube on both sides of the Great Morava. In this region they overcame the Autariatae , who had previously driven the Triballi out of it, or at least out of the eastern part of it.Autariatae , then, took the place of the Triballi as the leading people in the northern part of the Central Balkans. What was the extent of their hegemony, it is impossible to say. We do not know what other tribes or what region Strabo is thinking of when he says that the Autariatae “also overcame other Thracians and Illyrians ”. The information about their control over a distance of 15 days’ march causes particular difficulty, for it is not clear whether it should be applied to the Triballi, meaning that Triballian territory had that extent, or to the Autariatae . Probably the detail about the twenty-three days’ journey which the Autariatae undertook to the land of the Getai derives from another source. In any case, the expansion of the Autariatae was not only towards the east, but also towards the south, along the Southern Morava valley, in the direction of Paionia.Autariatae was of short duration. Twenty years after Alexander’s return from the Danube their country underwent a great disaster: it was struck by such a plague of frogs that the inhabitants had to flee and seek new homes. That was the beginning of the decline of the Autariatae .
The Diadochi (‘The Successors’) Following the death of Alexander the Great in Babylon 323 BC, his vast empire was inherited by his most powerful generals, the Diadochi or ‘Successors’. Antipater was one of these, and in alliance with Ptolemy Lagos, satrap of Egypt, and Antigonos I Monophthalmus ("the One-eyed", so called from his having lost an eye), the satrap of Phrygia & Lydia, he defeated the royal Argead regent Perdikkas and his chief supporters Eumenes of Kardia and Seleukos of Babylon. With Perdikkas dead and Eumenes on the run, Antipater succeeded in 321 BC in establishing himself as the official regent for Alexander’s infant son King Alexander IV. When the provinces were divided between his [Alexander’s] Successors, perhaps the most intractable people of all were assigned to the sturdiest among them ” (Justin, 15.3.15). While Lysimachos succeeded in maintaining his authority on the West Pontic and Aegean coastlines, the interior fell under the control of native kingdoms, such as the Getai and King Suethes III of the Odyrisai , while the Triballi and Dardanians ceased to be even notional tributaries to the Macedonian kingdom.
Division of Alexander’s Empire, Second Diadoch War (315-301 BC) In 311 BC the former satrap of Babylon, Seleukos, succeeded in re-establishing himself in Mesopotamia, and his authority was recognized throughout the upper satrapies of the empire. Seleukos withstood the attacks of Antigonos Monophthalmus throughout 310-308 BC, and established himself as one of the Diadochi.
King Lysimachos of Thrace Agathokles, Lysimachos’ father, possibly a Thessalian, was granted lands and position by King Philip II. Certainly Lysimachos (c. 361-281 B.C.) was described as both Thessalian and Macedonian; Arrian (6.28.4) says that he was from Pella, so we can assume that, wherever he was from originally, he was brought up and educated at the Macedonian capital.
Lysimachos (305-281 B.C.) Silver Tetradrachm, Lampsacus mint Weight 16.3 g. Diameter 31 mm; Obverse: Head of the deified Alexander the Great right wearing horn of Ammon struck in high relief. Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΥΣΙΜΑXΟΥ and KA monogram. Helmeted goddess Athena Nikephoros enthroned left, her right hand extended holding winged Nike crowning Lysimachus' name, leaning on a shield below her propped against throne, transverse spear in background.neighbouring Thracians and Scythians ” were also drawn.
The coming of the Celts: Kassander and the migration of the Autariatae The good fortune of the Autariatae following the Macedonian military campaigns against the Thracians, Triballi, Getai, Dardanians and Illyrians was of short duration. Twenty years after Alexander’s return from the Danube their country underwent a great disaster: it was struck by such a plague of frogs that the inhabitants had to flee and seek new homes. Ancient sources enable us to place the Autariatae migration caused by the plague of frogs in a definite historical setting.In Macedonia Kassander, going to the help of the Paionian king Audelon, who was at war with the Autariatae, saved him from danger, but the Autariatae with the women and children who accompanied them – were about twenty thousand of them – he settled beside the mountain called Orbelus ” (20.19.1). In Justin we find the account of the frogs as the cause of the Autariatae migration combined with the information about Kassander’s contact with the Autariatae. “Returning from Apollonia, Kassander came upon the Autariatae who, as they had just left their country because of a plague of frogs and rats, were seeking new settlements; fearing that they would occupy Macedonia, he made a treaty with them and adopted them as allies, and gave them land on the very border of Macedonia ” (15.2.1; cf. Oros. 3.23, 26).some of Lysimachos’ soldiers – two thousand Autariatae and about eight hundred Lycians and Pamphylians – fled from their winter quarters to Antigonos. Antigonos, behaving himself with humanity towards them, gave them the pay which they said Lysimachos owed them, and also honoured them with gifts ” (20.113.3). Not quite as chronologically precise is the note we read in Polyaenus’ Stratagems: “When the Autariatae, in the battle against Demetrius at Lampascus, lost all their train and baggage, Lysimachos, fearing lest the barbarians should revolt because they had lost all their possessions, led them out of the camp as if to deal out corn and at a given signal had them all slaughtered. There were five thousand men ” (4.12.1).were first conquered by the Scordisci, and then by the Romans, who, also conquered the Scordisci themselves, who had been powerful for a long time ” (7.5.11). This piece of information reveals the causes of the decline and disappearance of the once mighty tribes: internecine wars, and wars with the Romans. The Autariatae who remained in the land and survived the great disaster which struck them about the years 310 BC, were a few decades later exposed to the attacks of the Scordisci, who, retreating from Greece, came to settle about the confluence of the Save and Danube. This is indeed the last historical evidence which has been preserved about the Autariatae.
King Lysimachos and the Getai Following the revolt of the West Pontic cities in 313 BC, the next we hear of Lysimachos in the north of Thrace is connected to the wars between him and Dromichaetes, the king of the Getai. The evidence available about these wars, although attested in a number of ancient authors , remains incomplete and contradictory. The two fragments of Diodorus that offer the most detailed account of the events suggest two campaigns: during the first the Getai captured Agathokles the son of Lysimachos, but later set him free with many gifts in order to ensure the peaceful return of occupied territories (Diod. 21, frg. 11); during the second Lysimachos himself was taken prisoner with his whole army, and then released under similar conditions (Diod. 21. frg. 12). A passage in Pausanias which mentions the two occasions (the capture of Agathokles and that of Lysimachos himself by the Getai) seems to imply, however, that they are just parallel versions of one and the same event.Then Lysimachos made war against his neighbours, first the Odrysae, secondly the Getae and Dromichaetes. Engaging with men not unversed in warfare and far his superiors in number, he himself escaped from a position of extreme danger, but his son Agathokles, who was serving with him then for the first time, was taken prisoner by the Getae. Lysimachos met with other reverses afterwards, and attaching great importance to the capture of his son made peace with Dromichaetes, yielding to the Getic king the parts of his empire beyond the Ister (Danube), and, chiefly under compulsion, giving him his daughter in marriage. Others say that not Agathokles but Lysimachos himself was taken prisoner, regaining his liberty when Agathokles treated with the king on his behalf. On his return he married to Agathokles Lysandra, the daughter of Ptolemy, son of Lagus, and of Eurydike ”(1.9.6). was serving with him… for the first time ”. During the campaign against the Getai, who were not “unversed in warfare and far his superior in number ”, Lysimachos was drawn into a dangerous situation and narrowly escaped, while his son Agathokles was taken prisoner. The Getai subsequently inflicted other defeats, but as the overall strategic position had changed with the agreement of the kings after Ipsos, they lost hope of a military victory and treated with Lysimachos, setting his son free “with many gifts ” in order to receive back the disputed lands – “that part of their territory which Lysimachos had seized ”. According to Pausanias, these lands were across the Danube; he also mentions the marriage of Dromichaetes to an anonymous daughter of Lysimachos, in all probability one born from the marriage with Nicaea, the daughter of Antipater.
The Getai Some authors have placed the kingdom of the Getai specifically in the Bessarabian steppe, between the Danube delta and the Dniester, with the occasional addition of adjacent areas in the forest steppe zone of Moldavia, in north-eastern Muntenia or across the Danube in Dobruja. Others have defended a location in the Wallachian Plain, either in the Baragan steppe and elsewhere in eastern Muntenia, or further west around the Arges valley. Unfortunately, neither the ancient sources or archaeology confirm beyond dispute any of these theories. The Bessarabian version is at variance with the evidence of a traditionally strong Scythian presence in the area in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, and the lowlands of the Wallachian Plain crossed by numerous rivers are far from the desert area described in the sources.
The fall of King Lysimachos, 284-281 BC But the aged King Lysimachos swiftly fell from power. His royal court at Lysimacheia was split by a vicious factional quarrel in the 280s. One faction was led by Lysimachos’ new and ambitious queen Arsinoe, the daughter of King Ptolemy I Lagos and Berenice of Egypt. Opposed to Arsinoe was Lysimachos’ eldest son and heir Agathokles. Agathokles was married to Lysandra, a daughter of Ptolemy I and Eurydike; Eurydike was a daughter of Antipater. Agathokles had earlier distinguished himself in the war of 296-294 BC in Asia-Minor against Demetrius I Poliorcetes. A prominent member of Agathocles’ circle was the exile Ptolemy Keraunos (“Keraunos” = “thunderbolt”), the eldest son of Ptolemy I and Eurydike, and therefore Lysandra’s full brother and Arsinoe’s half-brother. Ptolemy Keraunos had been Ptolemy’s heir until 285 BC, when he was disinherited in favour of his younger half-brother Ptolemy II Philadelphus (son of Bernice).
Family Tree of Arsinoe The trigger for this quarrel was the decision of Ptolemy I of Egypt in 285 BC to install his son by Bernice, Ptolemy II, as his co-ruler and heir (Paus. 1.6.8; Porphyry F 2(2)). The mother of Ptolemy II was Berenice, whereas Lysandra and Ptolemy Keraunos were born to Ptolemy I by Eurydike. This changed the status of Arsinoe at the court of Lysimachos in Sardeis, as she was now sister to the future ruler of Egypt, whereas the line of Eurydike had no political importance at all. If Agathokles came to power, he would have had no family connections to the mighty Ptolemaic dynasty – the most important international ally of King Lysimachos.
Ptolemy Keraunos as King of Macedon, 281-279 BC The coup of Ptolemy Keraunos was thorough. After murdering Seleukos I Nikator, he rushed to the camp of the army, and declared himself King of Macedon, his claim based on the lineage of his mother, a daughter of Antipater. The army of Seleukos – now incorporating the contingents that had recently supported Lysimachos – acknowledged Ptolemy Keraunos as King.
Family Tree of Ptolemy Keraunos The wedding of Ptolemy Keraunos to Arsinoe II shocked Greece; they were half-siblings, both being children of Ptolemy I of Egypt, and such a union was taboo among the Greeks (but not the Egyptians). As soon as Ptolemy Keraunus had secured custody of Kassandreia and at least two of the children of Arsinoe II and Lysimachos, he betrayed his new wife. Ptolemy Keraunos slew both children (the third, also named Ptolemy, escaped), and Arsinoe was expelled from the kingdom. She fled to safety, going to the court of her brother Ptolemy II of Egypt at Alexandria (where she soon displaced his wife Arsinoe I, a daughter of the dead Lysimachos, and married her full-brother Ptolemy II, hence becoming Arsinoe II, queen of Egypt).
The ‘Celtic Catastrophe’ During the years of the Diadochi Wars, Celtic migrations into the Danube Valley from the north-west had the effect of greatly weakening long-standing tribal powers in the Central Balkans, particularly the Autariatae and Triballi. During the years 310-281 BC it seems that Celtic invaders conquered and overran the Autariatae lands in the Central Balkans, and soon threatened the reduced territories of the Triballi and Dardanians. Further afield, Celtic raiders and warbands soon began to threaten South Thrace, Paionia and the borders of Macedonia.
When word reached Macedonia and the southern Balkans of the advancing horde of Celts, the King of the Dardanoi offered King Ptolemy Keraunos an alliance to confront them. Ptolemy Keraunos arrogantly refused the offer, and so to spare his lands being ravaged, the King of the Dardanoi instead made alliance with the invading Celts. When Brennus and his forces reached Macedonia in 279 BC, Ptolemy Keraunos refused to await any reinforcements from the Macedonian levy, and instead led his army to immediately confront Brennus. In a major battle the army of Macedonia was annihilated; "the whole Macedonian army was cut to pieces " (Diod. 22.3). Ptolemy Keraunos was captured and beheaded, and his head adorned the standard of the victorious Celts (Justin, 17.2.9).Brennos was a powerful influence on their general councils and individually on all the men in authority, calling for a campaign against Greece, and pointing out the weakness of the Greeks at that time, their great public wealth, and the even greater wealth in the sanctuaries in dedications and in coined silver and gold. He persuaded the Gauls to march on Greece, and among the fellow-commanders he chose from the great men of Gaul was Akichorios " (Pausanias, 10.5).
Under the shadow of the Celtic horde, the Greek states hurriedly reached a series of peace treaties on the basis of everybody keeping what they had; in this way Athens secured its independence and kept its port at Pireaus (Antigonos II Gonatas would only re-capture Piraeus in 272 BC following the death of King Pyrrhos of Epiros), and Antigonos II kept Euboea (Chalkis) and Corinth.regimental soldiers " from Aetolia, 500 Athenian cavalry and 1,000 Athenian infantry, all supported by an Athenian-led fleet. Antigonas II Gonatas sent a contingent of mercenaries led by Aristodemos of Macedon. After heavy fighting Brennos finally succeeded in turning the Greek position at Thermopylae (Pausanias, 10.21-22); the Greek army was evacuated by the Athenian fleet before it could be surrounded and destroyed (Pausanias, 10.22.5).Scordisci were Celts, who, after the great invasion and plundering of Macedonia and northern Greece in 280-279 BC returned to the north of the Balkans and settled in the broad valleys of the Danube and Great Morava rivers. After the middle of the 3rd century they firmly established themselves in the territory delineated in Maps 1 and 2; after their defeat in 85 BC by L. Cornelius Scipio Asiagenes, they withdrew en masse to the north of the Danube. From the first half of the 2nd century BC, they became so powerful and belligerent that even the Dardanian regions situated between them and Macedonia fell under their control. Archaeological evidence reveals that they established several strongholds and settlements along the rivers on the natural route towards the southern Balkans as far south as Scupi (modern Skopje), where there previously had been a Dardanian fortress situated close to the northern frontier of Macedonia.Scordisci intermingled with some indigenous ethnic groups and were sometimes mentioned as “the Celts who live among the Illyrians and Thracians ” (Strabo, 7.3.11, for the time of Burebista). Yet their distinctive culture most strongly influenced the local milieu by introducing the Late Iron Age culture of the late La Tčne type, with features typical of the Celtic and Celticized populations spread over a vast region from the British Isles to Asia Minor. That the Scordisci lived in fixed abodes is indicated by the archaeological remains of numerous villages, several larger settlements with earthen ramparts (such as Židovar, Gomolava, Gradina-on-the-Bosut, Slankamen) and necropoleis, which are densely clustered along the Danube and Great Morava rivers. The geographer Strabo mentions that they had two towns, Heorta and Capedunum, which still have not been identified with any of the known large settlements ; however, the extant literary sources provide no information about the political organization and economic structure of the Scordiscan society.
The Autariatae now disappeared, replaced by the Celtic ‘Scordisci’, who now inhabited the middle Danube Valley, with Singidunum (Belgrade) as their chief settlement. The Scordisci overran the western portion of the Triballi territory, who disappeared at this time from the Central Balkans (fragments of the Triballi population may have later appeared as Moesians in the ancient histories) . Another Celtic kingdom was established at Tylis, in southern Thrace. The Odrysai kingdom had been shattered by the Celtic invaders, and henceforth southern Thrace was inhabited by several minor Thracian tribes which included the Odrysai, Bessi, Thyni, Dii and Maidi. The Celts extorted the nearby Greek cities of Byzantion and Apollonia Pontike into paying them tribute, and were not overrun by the Thracians until 212 BC. Other Celts, known to historians as the ‘Galatai’, established themselves in Asia Minor. The term Galatai was named for the immigrant Celts from Thrace, who became the ruling elite in this part of Asia Minor in the 3rd century BC. A small nucleus of perhaps only 10,000 Celts established themselves as rulers over a larger Phrygian population, and hence many early scholars referred to the Galatians as "Gallo-Graeci " and Galatia as “Gallo-Graecia ".
The Central and Western Balkans, 6 AD Footnotes 39. Fanula Papazoglu, The Central Balkans in Pre-Roman Times. Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians , Adolf M Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1978, pp. 87-88.The Central Balkans in Pre-Roman Times. Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians , Adolf M Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1978, pp. 87-108.Phoenix , Vol. 52, No. 3/4, Autumn – Winter, 1998, pp. 257-281.Journal of Near Eastern Studies , Vol. 61, Jan. 2002, pp. 39-47.The Classical Quarterly , New Series, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2000, pp. 384-401.The Central Balkans in Pre-Roman Times. Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians , Adolf M Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1978, pp. 122-123.The Classical Quarterly , New Series, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2000, pp. 384-401.The Classical Quarterly , New Series, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2000, pp. 384-401.The Classical Quarterly , New Series, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2000, pp. 384-401.Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies , Vol. 47, 2007, pp. 135-149.Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies , Vol. 47, 2007, pp. 135-149.The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Vol. 54, Part 1, 1934, pp. 26-39.Alexander to Actium, The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age , University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1990, p. 134.Scordisci : Pausanias, 1.4 and 10.19-23; Diodorus, 22.3-5 and 9; Justin, 24.4-8 and 32.3.6-8. For a survey on the eastward migrations of Celts in the 3rd century B.C.Scordisci mentioned as Thracians); see F. PAPAZOGLU 1978, pp. 294-303 for commentary on these sources.Monnaie et espace , Le monde Greco-romain, Vol. XVII, No. 3-4, 2002, pp. 7-41.megalophron ) by nature, took care that the traders sailing to Pontos enjoyed great security (pollen men asphaleian ), and at the same time he rendered great services to the Byzantians in their wars against the Thracians and the Bithynians” (Polyb. 8.22).
Dynasty of Antigonos Hetairoi The Hetaroi are the elite shock cavalry of the Macedonian kingdom, recruited from among the king’s companions and their clients, well mounted on strong horses, and equipped with the most lavish equipment. Hetaroi are carefully nurtured by Macedonian kings. The Argead king Philip II provided his companions with rich estates in Macedon, Thrace and elsewhere, so that they might possess the income needed to fight equipped as heavy cavalry. These men are professional warriors, and typically accompany the king and royal court, always ready for battle!
Pezhetairoi The Pezhetairoi, or Foot Companions, are the formidable line infantry of Macedonia, and are modelled on the pikemen of Phillip II and Alexander the Great. The phalanx of Pezhetairoi form the core of Macedonian armies, arrayed in a deep phalanx formation bristling with pikes.sarissa ), some 18-24 feet long, enabling them to outreach the traditional Greek hoplites and stave off enemy cavalry. The phalangite wore lighter armour, enabling longer endurance and forced marches. In order to wield the sarissa with two hands, the phalangite carried a smaller “Macedonian shield” rather than the larger, heavier apsis or hoplon of the traditional hoplites. poleis (city-states). The Macedonian phalanx remained dominant on the battlefields of the Hellenistic Period until they were finally displaced by the Roman Legion.syntagma ) was the strength of the Macedonian system. The pikes of the first five rows of men all projected beyond the front of the formation, so that there were more spearpoints than available targets at any given time, providing a daunting line of attack bristling with pikes. Once engaged with the enemy, the syntagmae were nearly unstoppable as long as their flanks were protected by cavalry. The Macedonians would advance at a steady, unrelenting rate, mowing down attacking cavalry and infantry alike until the battle was won. For close fighting, the phalangite carried a short double-edged sword, the xiphos.
Asthetairoi The Asthetairoi (singular Asthetairos) were the elite of the Macedonian line infantry. They were equipped with the sarissa (21 feet long pike), the small pelte shield, and a short sword. The Asthetairoi were equipped with expensive metal muscle cuirass, a thracian helmet and metal greaves.astoi and hetairoi , meaning ‘townsmen companions’. sarissa -equipped infantry – phalangites – were the Macedonian answer to the Greek hoplite and were the mainstay of the Hellenic armies for generations. The Graeco-Macedonian phalangite was the soldier of the “Macedonian phalanx”, an infantry formation developed by King Phillip II of Macedonia, and then deployed by his son Alexander the Great to conquer Greece and the Persian Empire. taxeis – comprised of six syntagma for a total of some 1,500 men.sarissa . The sarissa was a double-pointed pike which by the time of the Successors had grown from its original 18 feet to up to 24 feet by 300 BC. The sarissa was so large and heavy that it was wielded with two hands, and so the phalangite carried a small, less concave bronze shield only 2 feet in diameter. This small shield (pelte) lacked a rim, and had an elbow sling, and was suspended over the shoulder with a baldric. At close range the sarissa was of little use, but an intact phalanx was a formidable force, keeping its enemies at bay and capable of an irresistible advance. The pikes of the first five rows of men all projected beyond the front of the formation, so that there were more spearpoints than available targets at any given time. For close fighting, the phalangite carried a short double-edged sword, the xiphos.
Thureophoroi The Thureophoroi were flexible light infantry, adept as skirmishers and ambushers, but also able to form a tighter formation and serve in the main battle line.Theurophoroi were rated among the light troops, the "euzoni ", and were used as skirmishers, steadily eclipsing the peltasts in the Hellenistic Period. The thureophoroi were used to support skirmishers, to protect the vulnerable flanks of the heavy phalanx formation, and to screen heavier troops in difficult country or on the march. They were an “intermediate” class of soldier, ranked between the heavy phalanx and the lighter skirmishers. Though capable of fighting hand-to-hand with other light infantry, they could not long stand up to a pike-phalanx.Theurophoroi carried the oval thureos , from which they derived their name. The thureos was modeled on the standard Keltoi ("Galatian") shield, which the Greeks encountered in 280-275 BC, and which became popular thereafter in the third century among the Greeks and Illyrians, called in Greek the "thureos ". The shield is painted, with a spined boss and central handgrip. thureophoroi wear a common linen cuirass, with pteruges ('feathers'), as well as a simple red-brown short cloak. The other protection is the Macedonian helmet, with a short horsehair crest. thureophoroi was the javelin, and they went into battle with a bundle of these javelins. The secondary weapon of the thureophoroi was a short, straight sword.thureophoroi with enthusiasm, particularly after encountering the Keltoi invasions of 280-275 BC. A further stimulus were the campaigns of King Pyrrhos of Epiros in Italy and Sicily (280-275 BC), where the maniple-style warfare of the native Romans and Oscans was encountered, and spread to northern Greece.
Hypaspists The Hypaspists were the 'shield-bearers', and formed the elite infantry royal guard of the kings of Macedonia. They are first-class professional spearmen, recruited from among the best families of the kingdom.hypaspists became famous in the time of Alexander the Great. Macedonia had always been short of hoplitai on the classical battlefields, and so, even when the Macedonian levy were trained to fight as pikemen, these 'shield-bearers' remained equipped in the prestigious hoplite panoply. Later, in the time of the Antigonids, the hypaspists are often referred to as the 'agema' , the 'bodyguard'. hypaspists serve as the ‘hinge’, keeping the Macedonian phalanx ‘in touch’ with the cavalry on the wing, and either assisting the cavalry or protecting the weak flanks of the sarissa-armed phalanx line as required. For these reasons, the hypaspists are often found working in conjunction with light-armed troops such as archers and peltasts. hypaspists often formed the 'shock-troops' for fast-moving Macedonian columns. Rather than summon the full Macedonian levy to war, the Antigonids kings often struck swiftly with small, fast-moving columns comprised of their full-time, professional soldiery; hypaspists , hetaroi ('companions'), Agrianian peltasts, and mercenaries. Alexander the Great and Philip V were both famous for this.hypaspists are armed in the traditional equipment of the hoplites, which traditionally few Macedonians could afford. The weapons and gear of these soldiers is of the finest quality; the large, round shield with offset rim (aspis ), greaves, a ‘linothrax ’ linen corselet with shoulder-pieces and pteruges (‘feathers’) to protect the body, and a xiphos sword for close-fighting when the thrusting spear (doru ) was broken or even thrown. The thracian-style helmet of these hoplites reflects the proximity of the Macedonians to the fighting styles and gear of their Thracian, Illyrian and Epirote neighbours. The hoplite panoply achieved the balance between maneuverability, mobility and individual protection to enable them to perform their specialist task in a manner that the slower, inflexible ‘Macedonian-style’ phalanx could not. It is the large aspis shield that distinguishes the hypaspists from the pikemen of the phalanx, who are protected by their serried mass of pikes and small telamon shields.
Polis Hoplitai Paionian Cavalry(AOR) Paionian cavalry are valued by the Macedonian dynasties as tough, aggressive shock cavalry, who charge in formation with the spear, quick and agile. They are superb for attacking enemy mounted skirmishers and mounted archers.
Thessalian Cavalry(AOR) The traditional military arm of Thessaly was heavy cavalry. In training, fighting proficiency and morale, the Thessalian cavalry were virtually identical as the Companions (Hetaroi ). Whereas the Companions anchored the offensive right flank of the Macedonian army in the time of Alexander the Great, the Thessalians anchored the defensive left flank. The result was that they were frequently heavily outnumbered, having to engage a disproportionately large number of the Persian cavalry to assist Alexander’s attack on the right flank. It was a tribute to the fighting ability of the Thessalians that despite this frequent disparity in numbers they alwayd managed to hold their position.ilai (squadron) from Pharsalus was widely considered to be superior to all others in Thessaly’s cavalry force.xyston spear, and then wheel on the enemy centre.tagos , elected ruler and leader of military forces of all Thessaly, was recognised, and under a strong tagos Thessaly was able to dominate the hill peoples living around the Thessalian plain. Jason of Pherai, tagos in the 370s, estimated he could raise 6,000 cavalry and 10,000 hoplites. Jason’s successors could not keep power, and in the 360s Thebes intervened and reorganised Thessaly into a league of cities. Philip II, called in to help Thessaly against Phokis, was elected tagos , and restored the old organisation into four provinces, tetrarchiai , to give his aristocratic supporters more influence. Thessalian cavalry fought for Philip II and his son Alexander the Great took 1,800 of them with him to Asia. Most of Thessaly joined the Greek revolt of 321 BC, but thereafter remained subject to the Macedonian kings, and provided cavalry, till 196 BC when Rome freed part and gave the rest to Aitolia.
Agrianian Peltast(AOR) The Agrianes were a Paionian tribe not included in the Paionian kingdom, but with a king of their own. The Agrianes were a Balkan tribe residing in the foothills of the mountainous Strymon Valley, south of modern Sofia. The Agrianians provided elite light infantry to Macedon, an elite body of peltasts javelin troops recruited from the personal “shield-bearers” of the Agrianian king.Agrianes contingent formed the crack light infantry of the Macedonian army. The Agrianians were always one of the units selected by Alexander for a strategic forced march or a rapid tactical movement over rough terrain. They frequently served with the elite hypaspists , and in battle they usually formed part of the screening forces operating in front of the Companions (Hetaroi ). These tough men travelled exceptionally quickly, trained to fight alongside the cavalry like hamippoi . Once the battle started, the Agrianians would usually operate with the Companions in a combined-arms function to disorder enemy cavalry or to kill enemy horses and any dismounted riders. Agrianes continued to provide the kings of Macedonia with allied troops right up until the final defeat of Macedonia by Rome at the battle of Pydna in 168 BC (cf. Livy, 42.51).theuros -style shield, these men were superb fighters, relying on speed and tenacity. The Agrianes were used to defend passes, often fortified, or to attack similar positions. Such positions were hard to take frontally but could usually be outflanked.
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