The phalanx¹ was a military formation used by armies from roughly 2500BC till around 200BC. It remained a favoured formation throughout these years.

Right up to more recent historical events such as the English Civil war, regiments of soldiers armed with long thrusting weapons called Pikes saw limited use against cavalry and mounted formations as well as protecting riflemen, but these formations bore little resemblance to the phalanx.

The basic phalanx.

The phalanx is a large formation of tightly packed men, deployed in a rectangle with the largest face towards the enemy. Each person in the phalanx would be armed with a sword or dagger for close quarter fighting, then a main thrusting weapon which was either a spear, long spear, or sarissa (depending on the era). Each person in the phalanx was able to fight over the person in front of him depending on the the length of the weapon. This could be anywhere between two and five fighting ranks, making it a formidable prospect to face.

Some phalanges were also equipped with shields. This afforded great protection in the front rank, which was the most vulnerable. The shields used were often large enough to protect the entire torso of the user, and members of the front rank would overlap their shields to form a wall against attackers. If equipped with shields, the unit carried them in their left arm, holding their thrusting weapon in the favoured right hand.

The main weakness of the phalanx was its right flank. This was also its main thrusting side however, and it was known for Phalanges to push each other anti-clockwise in an attempt to beat each other with their more powerful side².

The origins of the phalanx.

The first phalanges have been seen depicted on Sumerian inscriptions. The Sumerians first adopted the phalanx in roughly 2500BC. In this instance, the Sumerian phalanx adopted an eleven wide by six deep formation, allowing it to fight easily in the large land battles of the era. The troops would usually be armed with spears, swords and shields, as well as body armour which varied from unit to unit. With only spears, the Sumerians would fight in only two ranks, forcing themselves closer to the enemy, making for closer, bloodier conflicts.

The Greek phalanx.

The ancient Greeks were the first people to develop the phalanx into a deeper formation. They also equipped their soldiers with armour and occasionally shields. The Greeks trained their soldiers, known as Hoplites, to use this formation. Greece was one of the first places to train troops in such a fashion. However, the Hoplites themselves were still drawn from the populace and consisted of people of all walks of life. Because of this, military campaigns were usually restricted to summer, so that the farmers could sustain themselves at other times of the year.

The training reached its height in Sparta, where a large proportion of the populace was dedicated to warfare. This class were known as Homoioi³. These elite soldiers were trained from an early age, and remained in the army for most of their lives. Each Spartan was fully equipped with a long spear, sword, heavy armour and round shield called a Hoplon. This high degree of training was used to great effect by the Spartans, allowing them to conquer their neigbours, the Messenians, and at one point to control much of Greece.

This high degree of training influenced many, including the fledgling nation of Rome.

The height of the phalanx in warfare.

The final evolution of the phalanx came in the form of the Macedoian phalanx in 359BC, when its creator came to the throne of Macedonia⁴. He was Phillip II, father of Alexander III⁵. The formation consisted of a group of Phalangites⁶. These would be armed with a weapon called a sarissa. This was a four metre long, two-part spear, assembled before the battle allowing the formation to quickly march across country. The Phalangites were armed with only daggers, and wore no armour (with only the front rank carrying small shields if any). This was due to the fact that the formation relied on the enemy being kept at such a distance, thought the use of the Sarissa, that armour was unnecessary. In effect, the formation could fight five ranks deep, meaning there were more attackers than available targets.

Neither Phillip nor his son relied on these formations to win them battles, instead employing the phalanx to hold opponents in position allowing light cavalry to sweep into the vulnerable flanks.
The Macedonian phalanx was so succesful, that Alexander was able to extend his realm right up to the borders of India.

Post-Macedonia phalanges

After the rise of the Roman legion as the supreme military formation, the phalanx saw limited use. The days of phalanx against phalanx warfare was over. Now came the time where the phalanx would see an alternate use.

The phalanx had always been a good defensive formation, and between 202BC and 218BC the Carthaginian general, Hannibal Barca, proved this by using Libyan troops equipped as phalangites throughout his campaign against Rome⁷, and used them to great effect at the battle of Cannae (216BC), where he faced the early beginnings of what was to become the Roman legion⁸. By placing his Libyian phlangites on the left flank, he was not only able to anchor and protect it, he was also able to lap round the Romans and surround them with superior numbers.
Later in the campaign however, the Roman short sword was developed (known as the Gladius). This was used to great effect and marked both the end of the phalanx and the beginings of the legion.

Conclusion

With the unification of Greece by Phillip II, and the adoption of the Macedonian phalanx by most of Greece, also came its downfall. This inflexibility, and its reliance on enemies being either similarly armed or being only able to attack from the front, made it useless against the newest formation on the battlefield - The Roman legion. This heavily armoured, extremely manoeuverable formation, crushed the phalanx formation, in all its forms, on most occasions. The unarmoured Phalangities were no match for the close fighting preferences of the Roman legionnaire.

The phalanx in a way destroyed itself. Had it not been for the Spartans, who possessed one of the most powerful phalanges at the time Rome was coming into being, then perhaps Rome would never have been encouraged to train its forces, and in turn the Roman legion would never have existed.