Phalanx:
'in military science,
tactical formation consisting of a block of heavily armed infantry standing shoulder to shoulder in files several ranks deep. Fully developed by the ancient Greeks, it survived in modified form into the gunpowder era and is viewed today as the beginning of European military development.
The
ancient Sumerian army fielded a standard six-man-deep phalanx; the first line went into battle carrying large, rectangular shields, and the troops bore heavy pikes and battle axes. During the
7th century BC the Greek city-states adopted a phalanx eight men deep. The Greek hoplite, the heavy-armed infantryman who manned the phalanx, was equipped with a round shield, a heavy corselet of leather and metal, greaves (shin armour), an 8-foot pike for thrusting, and a 2-foot double-edged sword. Since the phalanx held in solid ranks and was divided only into the centre and wings, there was generally little need for an officer corps; the whole line advanced in step to the sound of the flute. Such a formation encouraged cohesion among advancing troops and presented a frightening spectacle to the enemy, but it was difficult to maneuver and, if penetrated by enemy formations, became little more than a mob.
From the founding of their city-state until the close of the 2nd century BC, the Romans found the Greek-style phalanx suitable for fighting in the plains of Latium. The basic weapon for this formation was a thrusting spear called the hasta; from this the heavy infantry derived its name, hastati, retaining it even after Rome abandoned the phalanx for the
more flexible legion.
'
Phalanx' is a Greek work, meaning 'battle array', nothing more!
2500BC first bronze spears and daggers in Mesopotamia
1700BC first bronze body armour in the Near East
1400BC heavy bronze slashing swords in Europe and the Near East
(source: 'Times Atlas of World Archaeology',1988)
'The Stele of the Vultures, dated
~2500BC, depicts Eannatum of Lagash leading his troops into battle, the hero at the head of his army, yet the infantry behind him is extraordinary indeed. Packed shoulder to shoulder, advancing behind a barrier of locked rectangular shields reinforced with bronze disks, and presenting a hedgehog of spearheads protruding from several rows back, this mass constitutes a full-fledged phalanx.(!) This is an important distinction since there is a decided tendency to overlook or discount the significance of this Sumerian development.
It is incredibly out of context, coming almost two thousand years before the "advanced" Greeks took up the formation. Moreover, rather than being the product of a sustained technical evolution, it appears to have burst virtually full-blown upon the scene. Why this is so is suggested by the behaviour of Gilgamesh's men. They are clearly people with a stake in society, the very types necessary for a style of warfare which demands that the participants both fight at close range and face danger in a cooperative fashion. Such qualities are impossible to bring out in any but highly motivated troops. Therefore, although the phalanx was clearly an innovation in the technical sense, it is perhaps better thought of as a sort of limited military option, available for those with the right kind of government but otherwise unusable. This type of absolute constraint, whether politically, economically, or sociologically based, would appear to have been a significant factor in the diffusion and development of weapons up to modern times.
So my conclusion is that the phalanx is first of all a tactical formation, and its use closely related to the social and political conditions in a given society. In fact the Greek phalanx was nothing new at all! Another argument for some sort of
recruitment system related to
domestic politics.
(source:
'***TECH TREE***: General Discussion' )
