Hellenistic warfare

Hellenistic warfare comprised the armies, tactics, technology, and campaigns of Greek-ruled kingdoms from Alexander the Great’s conquests to Rome’s conquest of the eastern Mediterranean.

Macedonian phalanx: A dense infantry formation whose soldiers used long pikes called sarissas to hold ground and resist attack. Its sarissa-armed ranks formed the core of many Hellenistic armies.
Battle of Ipsus: A 301 BCE battle in which the coalition of Seleucus and Lysimachus defeated Antigonus I and Demetrius. Its elephants and cavalry helped decide a struggle among Alexander’s successors.
Macedonian army: The army developed by the kings of Macedon, combining infantry, cavalry, and specialized units. Its organization and methods provided the principal military model inherited by Hellenistic kingdoms.
Seleucus I Nicator: A successor of Alexander who founded the Seleucid Empire and ruled from 305 to 281 BCE. His campaigns and use of elephants helped establish Seleucid military power.
Roman legion: The principal Roman military formation, organized into smaller units able to maneuver independently. Its flexibility contrasted with the phalanx’s dependence on an aligned front.
Hellenistic cavalry: Mounted forces used for shock attacks, pursuit, reconnaissance, and flanking in Hellenistic armies. Cavalry supplied the mobility and striking power that the phalanx lacked.
Battle of Raphia: A 217 BCE battle in which Ptolemy IV defeated Antiochus III near Gaza during the Fourth Syrian War. It is a rare, detailed example of two Hellenistic armies meeting with elephants on both sides.
Philip II of Macedon: The king of Macedon from 359 to 336 BCE who expanded and reorganized its military power. His reforms gave Alexander the army that launched the conquests behind Hellenistic warfare.
Pyrrhus of Epirus: A Greek king and general whose campaigns brought him into conflict with Rome in Italy and Sicily. His costly victories against Rome became a lasting example of Hellenistic battlefield success at unsustainable cost.
Roman manipular tactics: A Roman battlefield system that arranged infantry in separate maniples with space to maneuver. At battles such as Cynoscephalae, its unit structure could exploit broken phalanx lines.

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