In the last two posts I mostly covered the Persian empire's second invasion of Greece, and the victory Greece won. Now we will look at God's providence and guidance in the campaigns and histories of Alexander the Great, and his terrific army.
Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC, he was tutored by Aristotle and was raised in Macedon, under his father King Philip. After his father's reign, Alexander succeeded him as King. Philip of Macedon brought just about all of the city states in Greece, except for Sparta, who was being reluctant, together and made them into one single nation. Sadly, Philip was assassinated. When Alexander took the throne he calmed the startled Greeks and continued in his father's footsteps.
Alexander had a brilliant strategic military mind, and constantly repelled attacks made by the Persian Empire, under King Darius III. His father, Philip, had greatly modified the Greek style of fighting, and had made additions to the efficient Phalanx. the Greeks had one of the most powerful and disciplined armies in the world.
In addition to the older Hoplite weapon, the 8 to 10 foot dory spear was replaced with the 18 to 20 foot sarissa spear, it was so big, it was held with two hands, and the smaller shields, which had about a 2 foot radius, were strapped on to their arms. These were now called Phalangites, they used less armor then the older Hoplites, and were a bit quicker. They still used the sword as their secondary weapon, the double edged, leaf-bladed Xiphos and also the Kopis, a single-edged sword that curved inward. Also used by the Macedonian cavalry, it is said that the hacking power of the Kopis could actually split a bronze shield, and helmet.
Now that the Phalanx had been so greatly modified, this Phalanx relied on the distance and spear length, instead of the shorter, versatile spear version relying on heavy armor and close distance. Between the lines, the Phalangites could be further separated, and now that they had a powerful cavalry, they could work together.
The Macedonian cavalry used a 12 foot spear called a Xyston, like a modified Sarissa, it was made a bit shorter so it wouldn't throw the cavalry rider off balance. The cavalry had very skilled riders, the stirrup had not been invented yet, so a lot of skill was absolutely essential. Macedonia is also famous for its particularly fast and powerful horses. Alexander had tamed the mighty horse Bucephalus, and used him as his horse in many of his battles.
The Macedonian army also had archers and javelin-men. The people who used the javelin, a type of throwing spear, were called peltasts. The archers were also a new addition to this style of fighting. The army of Macedon also probably had slingers, who used the sling and stone, a very simple, but effective weapon, made of usually wool and leather, with the leather pouch in the middle.
Although the army had changed somewhat, they still had rather heavily armed troops called Hypaspists. They looked more like the older hoplites, and were an elite and effective group of soldiers.
This was a very powerful and effective fighting force, but they also had another kind of weapon, artillery. The ballista, and gastraphetes two very effective long range weapons were similar and a bit different. The word ballista basically means "throw" and for a pretty good reason. It basically was a giant crossbow, and so big you would have to roll it on wheels. The cords of the bow were made of rope, or twisted horsehair, and it could fire a missile that could be about two feet, it was a very effective siege weapon.
The gastraphetes was a bit smaller, and it was hand held. You would hold it at your hips and aim and position with your hands. Gastraphetes means "belly bow", to reload it, you could prop it up against something, and wind back the cords, and place in the missile. Alexander used both of these weapons at various times in his campaigns.
Alexander had always wanted to conquer the world. And he started with Persia, the world's most powerful empire at the time.
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