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