WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -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.

Detailed explanation-2: -The phalanx (Ancient Greek: ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons.

Detailed explanation-3: -The shield wall: The soldiers in the front of the phalanx held their shields out in front of them, overlapping with the shields of the soldiers beside them. This created a solid wall of shields that was difficult for attackers to penetrate.

Detailed explanation-4: -The combat formation used by the Greeks and Romans was called the phalanx. This involved the soldiers standing side by side in ranks. Just before contact with the enemy, the soldiers moved in very close together so that each man’s shield helped to protect the man on his left.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Greek hoplite soldier provided his own weapon (a seven-or eight-foot spear known as a doru) and shield as well as a breastplate, helmet, and greaves. There was no official training for a Greek hoplite, and it was the responsibility of the individual commander to make sure his troops could fight in a unified form.

Detailed explanation-6: -Suitable men from the Macedonian peasantry were recruited into an infantry formation, called the phalanx. It was developed by Philip II, and later used by his son Alexander the Great in his conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. These infantrymen were called Pezhetairoi, which translates as ‘Foot Companions’.