Companion Cavalry : Alexander's Finest Horsemen

Companion cavalry were famous bodyguards of Alexander the great and accompanied him in his successive campaign in Asia. They were from the Macedonian noble class and renowned horsemen. Their skill neutralized their Persian counterpart throughout his campaign in Persian empire. They played their role as bodyguard very well and saved Alexander's life in many occasions. Alexander always preferred to fight on the frontline. So, he endangered himself sometimes in battles. Most famous of them was in Gaugamela in 330 BC. There he was saved by one of his bodyguards.

Companion Cavalry

Origin : Macedon had a reputation for its cavalry long before Alexander's father Phillip of Macedon. But before Phillip became king most of them presumably died with his brother Perdiccas III in his war against Illyrians. To fill up the vacuum Phillip granted nobility to his supporters and conscripted them in companion cavalry. He also conscripted cavalry from other Greek states like Thessaly and Crete to increase the size of the cavalry and infantry. So, we can say that, he rebuilt the companion cavalry. He made some new changes in training and tactics of the cavalry. The result was outstanding when he used them against Illyrians in 357 BC and won. Young Alexander also led these companions in battle during Phillip's campaign against the Greek states. After Phillips's assassination Alexander became the king. He also made some small changes in equipment designs of his Companion cavalry.

Companion Cavalry Charge

Equipment : The primary weapon of companion cavalry was a 2 meter long lance called "Xyston". The secondary weapon was a short sword called "Kopis". For armor they used bronze or leather cuirass along with bronze greaves and iron helmet. The preliminary design of the helmet was Phrygian but in later stages it was modified to Boetian style. They also wore bronze gorgets around neck.

Companion Helmet

Structure : The structure of companion cavalry was a 200 horsemen unit called "Ile". Names of the Iles were based on the home regions of those horsemen. Every Ile had one squadron commander. Among the Iles one was consist of 300 horsemen. That was royal squadron or "Basilike Ile"

Tactics : Phillip introduced wedge formation to his companion cavalry which he learned from the Illyrians during his war with them. This formation was triangular shaped. The formation had one big advantage. Because of its arrow headed shape, it could exploit any gap on enemy line and devastate the enemy formation. Though it was useless against solid line. So, it needed help from infantry to form the gaps. The best and famous example of its devastating effect was in Gaugamela, where Alexander charged on the gap of Persian center and devastated it.

Wedge Formation

Famous Battles : The companion cavalry fought many famous battles during Alexander's Persain campaign and proved their effectiveness. Most famous was in Gaugamela, which I mentioned earlier. They also saved the day for Alexander in Battle of Issus, where they routed the Persian left flank and attacked Persian center from behind.

Legacy : After Alexander's death the name "Companion" cavalry was changed. The successor kingdoms had different names for their companion cavalry. The equipment also changed according to the factions. Like Seleucid companion cavalry had more armors and heavier than Alexander's version. Similarly, Antigonid and Ptolemaic companion cavalry used large shields which Alexander's cavalry didn't use. So, the name companion cavalry mainly belonged to Alexander's finest horsemen.

Companion Cavalry

         
   

Issus : Alexander's Second Major Victory in Persia

Battle of Issus (333 BC) was the second major victory of Alexander in his Persian campaign. Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC) was famous because it was the last battle between Darius III and Alexander the great where later won a stunning victory but Issus was the first battle where Alexander first time faced Darius and a big Persian army. So, we can say it was the true beginning of his conquest of Persian empire.

Battle of Issus

Prelude : After invading the Persian empire in 334 BC, Alexander won one major victory in Battle of the Granicus (334 BC) against Persian satraps. He subdued the local satraps of west Asia Minor but didn't meet Darius yet. He knew before meeting the main Persian army under Darius, he must neutralize the strong Persian navy. So, he started conquering the coastal cities one by one. This way the Persian navy had to withdraw from that area. On the other hand Darius was started assembling a big army to drive away the Macedonian invaders. After receiving that news Alexander sent his general Parmenion with a portion of his army to block the mountain passage to the Issus (A small city in southern Anatolia ) to prevent Darius from taking it. Alexander followed with his army and took Issus. Now he moved towards Parmenion and joined their forces. Darius knew about the Macedonian presence in western passage so he took the northern route and retook Issus. Here he killed the wounded and sick Macedonian soldiers who were left by Alexander. Alexander was expecting Darius from east so after hearing the news he turned north to meet him. Darius didn't aware that Alexander and Permenion already joined so he also marched towards Alexander believing that he would face the divided Macedonian force. When he realized that he was going to face the main Macedonian army, it was too late to maneuver for the big army he had. So, he occupied the western side of the Pinarus River and started deploying his forces. Alexander soon reached the eastern side of the river and saw Darius was already deployed his forces and was waiting for him. So he also deployed his forces and the battle began.

Armies : Alexander had nearly 40000 men. Around 22000 were Macedonian phalangites and Greek hoplites, 13000 peltasts and nearly 6000 of his Companion cavalry and Greek Thessalian cavalry. On the other hand Darius had nearly 100000 men including 10000 Greek mercenary hoplites, 10000 Persian immortals and nearly 11000 cavalry. The rest were Persian spearmen and archers.

Macedonian Phalangites

The Battle : Because of the narrowness of the terrain, Darius couldn't deploy his army properly. He deployed all his cavalry on his right flank (The beach side) for charge. In the center he deployed his infantry in two lines including himself. Alexander deployed his troops with cavalry on two flanks. On his left flank was Parmenion with his Thessalian cavalry. The Macedonian phalangites and Greek hoplites were placed in center. On his right flank he placed himself with his Companion cavalry. The battle began with Persian cavalry charge on Parmenion's line. Alexander ordered his infantry to cross the river and attack the Persian center and he charged on Persian left flank. The Macedonian center started advancing in rain of arrows and attacked the Persian center. Parmenion's line was holding but started taking losses because he was heavily outnumbered. Alexander succeeded on breaking the Persian left and routed them. Form there he saw that his center and Parmenion's line were taking heavy losses. He needed to act quickly otherwise his army would route. He turned west and attacked the Persian center from behind and left. The panic broke out in Persian line and Darius himself fled the battlefield. Soon, the Persian center broke and routed. The Persain cavalry was in better position against Parmenion but when they saw Darius fled, they also fled the battlefield. Alexander chased Darius but stopped and called off the pursuit. 

The Battle

Aftermath : Alexander executed all the captured Greek mercenaries who were fighting on the Persian side. He started advancing towards Persian capital after this victory. Darius was defeated first time in his life but he didn't give up. He soon started assembling a massive force to crush the Macedonians. Both armies met each other again in Gaugamela, the last battle of Darius. 

Alexander the Great

          

Ipsus : Stepping Stone of Seleucid Empire

Battle of Ipsus (301 BC) was the main and final battle of Fourth  Diadochi War between the successor kingdoms of Alexander the great's empire. This battle was the end of Antigonus I Monophthalmus's influence and life. After this battle the Antigonid dynasty survived but lost the dominance they had before. The battle was fought between Antigonus and his son Demetrius against the coalition forces of Cassander, Lysimachus and Seleucus.

Battle of Ipsus

Prelude : After Alexander's death his empire was divided between his generals. Soon the rulers started fighting each other for more territory. After three Diadochi wars, Antigonus became the most powerful. After a series of conflicts with other rulers he expanded his territories in Asia and Greece. His next target was Macedonia under the rule of Cassander. After some humiliating defeat by the hand of Demetrius, Antigonus's son, he feared about the fall of Macedon. So, he sought help from Lysimachus, who got Thrace as his share of the empire. They were afraid about the growing power of Antigonus. So, asked other rulers of the successor kingdoms to join in a coalition against Antigonus. Ptolemy and Seleucus were invited. Ptolemy accepted it and mobilized his troops. Lysimachus invaded Asia with his army and captured a vast territory in Syria. Cassender also sent a portion of his army with the invasion force. After getting the news of invasion Antigonus quickly mobilized his troops to face Lysimachus. Lysimachus avoided  the battle and was waiting for Seleucus's reply. Seleucus was in the eastern region of his kingdom fighting Chandragupta Maurya. The war didn't go well for him and he had to give up his Indian territories in exchange of 500 Indian war elephants. In his return path the messenger reached him and he marched towards Lysimachus to join him. Hearing the news of Seleucus's joining in the coalition, Antigonus called for his son Demetrius in Greece. Demetrius joined his father where as Seleucus joined Lysimachus and both armies retreated to their winter quarters. After the end of winter they met in battle near Ipsus (Near Phrygia).

Successor Kingdoms Before Ipsus

Armies : The Antigonid army was around 70000 infantry and 10000 cavalry with 70 war elephants. While the allied army had nearly 64000 infantry, 15000 cavalry, 100 Scythed chariots and the war elephants Seleucus brought with him.

The Battle : Both armies deployed their forces with infantry in middle and cavalry on the flanks. Antigonus deployed his all elephants in front of infantry line. Seleucus also did that but he kept the major portion of his elephants in reserve. The Antigonid army was much more experienced compared to the allied army. The battle started with the elephant charge from both sides. After that both armies advanced their infantry line to meet each other. Demetrius was on the right flank with his cavalry. He attacked the allied left flank. Soon the allied left flank was routed and Demetrius was in hot pursuit. Antigonus was on the left flank of his army and attacked by Lysimachus. The allied center was started to crumble under heavy pressure from more experienced Antigonid center. At that moment Seleucus played his masterstroke. He saw that Demetrius was returning after chasing the allied cavalry. He intercepted Demetrius with his reserve elephants. Demetrius failed to pass that barricade of elephants and was unable to return to the fight in center. Then Seleucus attacked the Antigonid center from the right side with his light ranged cavalry. The Antigonid line soon broke and the infantry routed after taking heavy losses. After that Seleucus attacked Antigonus who was still hoping that Demetrius would return and turn the tide of battle. Soon the remaining soldiers were killed including Antigonus himself at the age of 81.

Aftermath : This battle ended the Antigonid dominance but the Diadochi Wars continued. We can say this battle was the stepping stone of Seleucid empire. Seleucus soon expanded his territory in most of the Asian parts of Alexander's empire and the conflict with other rulers started again. Demetrius fled to Greece and still continued fighting and eventually took Macedon. I will cover the main battles of Diadochi Wars in my future posts.

Seleucus I Nicator

Marathon : The Rise of Athens

The Battle of Marathon was fought in 490 BC during first Persian invasion of Greece. Athens won a stunning victory against numerically superior Persians. That stopped the invasion and increased the prestige and influence of Athens because Sparta didn't fight in this battle. Usually Athens was a naval power but this battle showed the Greek world that Athens could win land battles too without any help from Sparta. This battle increased the rivalry between Athens and Sparta which started the war between these two powers in later stages (Peloponnesian War from 431 to 404 BC).

Battle of Marathon

Prelude : After the Athenian interference in Ionian revolt against Persian Empire, the Persian emperor Darius I wanted to teach Athens and the Greeks a lesson. Athenians not only supported the Ionian revolt, they also tried to influence the other Greek cities within the Persian Empire to revolt. Darius I now wanted to subjugate all Greece specially Athens. So, after crushing the Ionian revolt, he built an armada and sent it to acquire Greek lands for foothold which could be used as base of operation for further invasion. The armada reached Marathon and started landing the troops there. Marathon was not far from Athens so Athenians marched hastily towards Marathon with a small allied force provided by Greek city Plataea. They blocked the two paths of entrance. Terrain of Marathon was mostly marshy and hilly which favored the Athenian tactics of blocking.

Armies : The Athenian and Plateau forces were mostly consist of hoplites and fight in traditional Greek style phalanx formation. The estimated number was 10000 in total. On the other hand the Persians were consist of their archers and spearmen. Because of the marshy terrain Persians were unable to use their cavalry to flank the Athenians on side or rare. The Persians deployed nearly 25000 infantry for the battle as per modern estimate.

Persian Spearmen

The Battle : The battle started after Persians tried to push back the Athenians by breaking their formation which guarded the path by their shield wall. They deployed their infantry and archers to break it. On the other hand Athenians started deploying their own strategy to encircle the Persians from three sides. Their plan was to force the bulk of the Persian troops to fight in the middle. This way they could attack them from three sides and crush them. The Athenian plan worked. After being encircled from three sides panic broke out in Persian army and they routed. Athenians followed them with warcry and heavy fighting started on the beach. Athenians started burning the anchored Persian ships. Many ships were burnt and others fled in panic. The casualties on Persian side was far greater than the Athenians. According to modern estimation, Persians lost nearly 5000 soldiers and 7 ships while the Athenians lost nearly 1000 men. The Athenian casualties mainly occurred during the fight on the beach and on the ships.

The Map

Aftermath : This victory hampered Darius's plan to subjugate Greece. This defeat was a slap on Persian invincibility. He built another huge army for second invasion but a revolt started in Egypt so he had to cancel the plan. After his death his son Xerxes started the second invasion of Greece. On the Athenian side this victory proved their capability in land battles. It increased their prestige and influence on other city states throughout Greece and the coastal city states in Aegean Sea. The battle of marathon still remembered today by the Marathon Run event in Olympics. The messenger who delivered the news of victory from Athens to Marathon died after delivering it from exhaustion. We all know the name Marathon and this the history behind Marathon. 

Marathon Race

Myeongnyang : The Greatest Naval Victory in History

Battle of Myeongnyang (1597) was the turning point of Japanese Invasion of Korea (1592-98). In this naval battle Korean navy under Admiral Yi Sun Sin defeated and destroyed the Japanese moral. He won the stunning victory with 13 warships against 333 Japanese ships. This battle made him a legend and became the national hero of Korea still now.

Battle of Myeongnyang

Prelude : After the japanese invasion of Korea started in 1592, Koreans were fighting for their homeland with everything they had. The admiral of Korean navy was Yi Sun Sin. He reorganized the navy, introduced turtle ship (A fully armored ship) and increased the strength of Korean navy. He prevented any Japanese supremacy in sea. But in the middle of the war he was impeached and imprisoned and almost put to death thanks to the internal politics of Korean court. The admiral who replaced him was a total failure in that role and lost the battles after battles and the Korean navy was almost wiped out in his command. In this dire situation the emperor released and reestablished Yi Sun Sin as the admiral again though only 13 warships were remained when he took the charge. He knew he cant win against 330 ships strong Japanese navy in open sea battle. So, he devised a brilliant and desperate plan to crush the Japanese navy with his 13 ships. That plan made him the greatest admiral of history.

The Map

The Plan : He chose Myeongnyang Strait as the place of battle. This strait was situated in southern Korea. It was full with current, whirlpool and had a narrow shape. The area was usually covered with mist most of the time so that would also give him the advantage. Because of the narrowness of the straight the Japanese couldn't do any flanking move to outflank him. He just needed to lure the Japanese in that straight and force them to battle him there. The Japanese knew him very well and as long as he lived Japanese supremacy on sea would be challenged every time. So, that would be the perfect bait which lure them to him.

Battle of Myeongnyang

The Execution : As per the plan Yi Sun Sin sent a fast war ship to lure the Japanese fleet towards him. That ship ventured near the harbor where Japanese fleet was anchored and lured them to the place of battle. The Japanese thought that was a scout ship and followed that to catch Yi Sun Sin and remove the Korean navy totally this time. 333 Japanese ships entered the straight by following that ship. There they found Admiral was waiting for them with 13 ships. Because of the current the Japanese ships couldn't aim at the Korean ships properly and the current forced the ships to collide with each other. On the other side the Korean ships were raining fire from their canons constantly. The current in this strait changed in every three hours interval. After the northern current had stopped the southern current started. In Yi's order the Korean ships started ramming the japanese ships. Nearly 30 ships were drowned including Japanese admiral Kurushima's ship. His head was hanged in the mast to demoralize the Japanese further. The other ships were all damaged and out of shape and capacity to build up any fight. The loss on the Japanese side was heavy. Almost half of their sailors and marines died in that battle. on the other side Yi lost only 10 men and few wounded and lost no ships. This battle turned the tide of war.    

Yi Sun Sin

Aftermath : The victory over Japanese fleet hampered the Japanese supply line to the land units in Korean peninsula. The land army was demoralized and forced to retreat from their advanced positions. It also opened the way for Chinese navy to reinforce the Korean navy against the Japanese threat. It destroyed the Japanese naval power and supremacy in yellow sea and reduced the chance of future invasions. This victory made Yi a legend and the greatest admiral of human history. Yes greater than world famous Horatio Nelson.     

Zama : Last Battle of Hannibal

Battle of Zama (202 BC) was the last battle of Second Punic War. It was Carthaginian general Hannibal's last battle. It ended a magnificent and brilliant career of one of the greatest general in history. The battle was fought in Zama, North Africa. It ended Hannibal's legacy but made another person a legend. Publius Cornelius Scipio became famous as Scipio Africanus or Scipio the Great after that.

Battle of Zama

Prelude : After some major and humiliating defeats in battles against Hannibal, Romans started reorganize their army and fighting tactics. Scipio was one of the few who could escape from Battle of Canae in 216 BC. Canae was the turning point of his life. After Canae he got the command of Roman offense in Spain and successfully acquired many Carthaginian strongholds there. The tide of war started turning on roman side. After returning from Spain he was granted the governorship of Sicily. He wanted to invade North Africa to defeat Carthage in their soil. So, he started raising army and soon raised almost 7000 men. That got the attention of the senate who were not interested in that invasion idea earlier but after witnessing Scipio's effort granted him an army for that invasion. Scipio landed in North Africa with his legions and cavalry. Carthaginian did what they could. They called their best general Hannibal to defend their homeland. Hannibal came with his Gallic mercenaries and the Carthaginian army. These Carthaginian veterans were with Hannibal in his Italian Campaign and fighting with him for last 16 years. Carthage provided him new recruits and 80 war elephants for the showdown. Both army met near Zama.

Major Battles of Second Punic War

The Armies : Scipio had nearly 35000 men. Among them 29000 were infantry and 6100 cavalry (Roman and Numidian). Hannibal couldn't bring back all his cavalry with him because of emergency. Somehow he had near 4000 cavalry and 80 war elephants provided by Carthage. He had 36000 infantry. Among them nearly 12000 were newly recruited, nearly 10000 were Gallic mercenaries and rest were Hannibal's veteran and most experienced army of the war.

Troops formation of both sides

The Battle : Hannibal placed his troops in three lines with elephants in front. Gallic mercenaries were on first line. New recruits and inexperienced soldiers formed the second line and his veteran and most experienced troops formed the third line. He placed his cavalry on the flanks. Scipio placed his infantry in three lines also but he placed them with gaps between them and filled them with his skirmishers on first line. He also placed his roman cavalry on his left flank and allied numidian cavalry on right flank. Battle started with elephant charge from Carthaginian side but almost half of the elephants were newly trained and became panicked by javelin and arrows and turned on Hannibal's left flank. Numidian cavalry saw that opportunity and charged on left flank too. Soon Carthaginian cavalry of left flank routed and Numidians were in hot pursuit. The cavalry on the right flank was also charged by roman cavalry and routed too with Romans on their tail. The remaining elephants made it to the roman line but the light infantry retreated from the first line and created gaps which those elephants followed and were trapped and killed. Now Hannibal forwarded his first line of Gallic mercenaries against the roman first line. both sides fought violently but soon Romans started pushing them back. Now the Carthaginian second line killed the routing mercenaries and reinforced the first line. Roman first line soon reinforced by the second line also and the Carthaginians line started crumbling and men started routing. The Carthaginian third line didn't break a sweat in this entire battle while Romans were already fought and exhausted. Now Scipio reorganized his troops and formed one single line and both sides clashed with each other. The battle was in a stalemate position and when it was starting in favor of Carthage the roman cavalry returned and attacked Hannibal from behind. Soon, the Carthaginian army broke and first time in his entire career Hannibal was defeated.

Roman tactics against elephants

Aftermath : The Carthaginian power broke totally after Zama. The battle ended the war and Carthaginians accepted peace on Roman terms. The terms eliminated the chance of Carthage to become a military power in future. Scipio became a legend of the roman world. It ended the brilliant career of Hannibal, who undoubtedly one of the best general of human history.   

               

Hammer & Anvil : Hannibal's Masterstroke

"Hammer & Anvil" was a brilliant tactics used by famous Carthaginian general Hannibal against the Romans in Battle of Cannae in 216 BC. By a clever use of this tactics he outsmarted and crushed the large and numerically superior roman army. That result planted fear in the heart of Rome. This tactics showed why Hannibal was one of the best generals in history.

Hannibal and Carthaginian Army

Prelude : After entering Italy through Alps Hannibal faced some smaller roman contingent in his path. He won every roman encounter and Rome started worrying by his success. Before Cannae they tried to stop him in Trebia and near Lake Tresemene but lost. So, this time they sent an army of 86000 under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro to stop Hannibal. They marched towards Hannibal and came face to face near Cannae. The Romans were confident because of their superior number and the reputation their infantry had. Hannibal had around around 50000 men. Among them 10000 were cavalry and 40000 infantry. He knew about the roman numerical superiority but he also knew their attacking pattern because of his long fighting experience against them. So, he came up with a brilliant plan.

Carthaginian Army

The Plan : Hannibal knew very well about roman tactics and pattern of fighting. He knew they relied on brute force rather than swift or cunning approach. So, he planned to use this roman predictability against them. His plan was to form a thin but long infantry line in center along with cavalry on the flanks. Carthaginian cavalry was superior in number and quality than its roman counterpart. So their task was to drive the roman cavalry away at the beginning of the battle and totally neutralize them. Hannibal placed himself in the center of his infantry line to lure the Romans towards him. He knew after seeing him in front line Romans could not resist to attack him. When the Romans attacked him, his line would start retreating slowly and to form a curved line like "U" to surround the Romans from three sides. That was the moment when his cavalry would return and attack the Romans from behind. His infantry would be the anvil and cavalry would be the hammer.

The Plan

The Execution : The battle started in 2nd August, 216 BC in the morning. As Hannibal predicted the Romans rushed towards his line to kill him and finish the conflict once and for all. His Carthaginian cavalry engaged the roman cavalry on flanks and soon routed them and started chasing them as planned. The Roman center attacked Hannibal's center with brute force and started pushing the Carthaginian line. They lost the discipline in the process and it was in total chaos. Carthaginian line started curving from roman pressure and soon formed that "U" shape. That was the moment when the Carthaginian cavalry returned and attacked the Romans from behind. The over enthusiast Romans soon found themselves surrounded from all sides with no escape route. Around 60000 to 70000 Romans died on that day (Approximate figure as per ancient historians). Only few managed to escape. Scipio the younger was among them who was destined to play a major role in future war against Carthage.

Hannibal

Aftermath : The Roman army in Italy was destroyed in this battle. The remaining army was demoralized and Romans allies in southern Italy started leaving Rome and joined Hannibal. It was a desperate time for Rome. Their invincibility and prestige hampered greatly and Rome itself was in danger. Hannibal became the biggest enemy Rome ever faced after Cannae.