World History Grade 9
World History Grade 9 Q4 W2 C1 Alexander The Great Macedonian Military
Greek city states, Persia and Macedon in 336 BCE Little did the Greeks know what was going to happen...
Macedonian Military Why did they win so easily?
1- Strategy and leadership
-Philip II of Macedon was a brilliant military leader -He used Greek styles of fighting but improved them -He would have attacked Persia too, but he was murdered in 336 BCE
2- Weapons -Unlike Greek hoplites, Macedonian soldiers had a 18ft (6m) spear called a sarissa and large shield -This made it almost impossible to attack them from the front -His soldiers were “sarissaphoroi”, or sarissa holders
18ft sarissa
Macadonian soldier
Greek Hoplite
3- Phalanx formation
-His military used the Greek phalanx formation in battle very successfully -Men fought very close together and always showed a wall of pointed spears to the enemy -This made them very difficult to attack from the front but had some disadvantages in movement -Unlike the Greeks, he also used archers to support them
3- Phalanx formation in action
https://youtu.be/xgl5gWh3lQk?t=125
4- Use of cavalry
-Also unlike Greeks, Macedonians used cavalry (horses) very effectively -The phalanx would hold the enemy in place at the front while the cavalry attacked them from the sides and behind -They attacked in wedge formation to easily break the enemy line of soldiers
Greek city states, Persia and Macedon in 336 BCE Little did the Greeks know what was going to happen...
Macedonian Military Why did they win so easily?
1- Strategy and leadership
-Philip II of Macedon was a brilliant military leader -He used Greek styles of fighting but improved them -He would have attacked Persia too, but he was murdered in 336 BCE
2- Weapons -Unlike Greek hoplites, Macedonian soldiers had a 18ft (6m) spear called a sarissa and large shield -This made it almost impossible to attack them from the front -His soldiers were “sarissaphoroi”, or sarissa holders
18ft sarissa
Macadonian soldier
Greek Hoplite
3- Phalanx formation
-His military used the Greek phalanx formation in battle very successfully -Men fought very close together and always showed a wall of pointed spears to the enemy -This made them very difficult to attack from the front but had some disadvantages in movement -Unlike the Greeks, he also used archers to support them
3- Phalanx formation in action
https://youtu.be/xgl5gWh3lQk?t=125
4- Use of cavalry
-Also unlike Greeks, Macedonians used cavalry (horses) very effectively -The phalanx would hold the enemy in place at the front while the cavalry attacked them from the sides and behind -They attacked in wedge formation to easily break the enemy line of soldiers
