As weaponry and armour advanced through the years in different city-states, the phalanx became complex and effective. This would suggest that the Greek phalanx was rather the culmination and perfection of a slowly developed idea that originated many years earlier. Two of the basic tactics seen in earlier warfare include the principle of cohesion and the use of large groups of soldiers. Īnother possible theory as to the birth of Greek phalanx warfare stems from the idea that some of the basic aspects of the phalanx were present in earlier times yet were not fully developed due to the lack of appropriate technology.

This is further evidenced by the Chigi vase, dated to 650 BC, identifying hoplites armed with aspis, spear and panoply. It is perhaps more likely that the formation was devised in the 7th century BC after the introduction of the aspis by the city of Argos, which would have made the formation possible. Traditionally, historians date the origin of the hoplite phalanx of ancient Greece to the 8th century BC in Sparta, but this is under revision. The principles of shield wall and spear hedge were almost universally known among the armies of major civilizations throughout history, and so the similarities may be related to convergent evolution instead of diffusion. Historians have not arrived at a consensus about the relationship between the Greek formation and these predecessors of the hoplites.

Homer used the term to differentiate the formation-based combat from the individual duels so often found in his poems. The first usage of the term phalanx comes from Homer's ' φαλαγξ', used to describe hoplites fighting in an organized battle line. Ancient Egyptian infantry were known to have employed similar formations. Here the troops seem to have been equipped with spears, helmets, and large shields covering the whole body.

The earliest known depiction of a phalanx-like formation occurs in a Sumerian stele from the 25th century BC. 6 Classical decline and post-classical use.This article focuses on the use of the military phalanx formation in Ancient Greece, the Hellenistic world, and other ancient states heavily influenced by Greek civilization. Many spear-armed troops historically fought in what might be termed phalanx-like formations. Therefore, this term does not indicate a standard combat strength or composition but includes the total number of infantry, which is deployed in a single formation known as a 'phalanx'. The term itself, as used today, does not refer to a distinctive military unit or division (e.g., the Roman legion or the contemporary Western-type battalion), but to the type of formation of an army's troops. In Greek texts, the phalanx may be deployed for battle, on the march, or even camped, thus describing the mass of infantry or cavalry that would deploy in line during battle. Arrian uses the term in his Array against the Alans when he refers to his legions. The term is particularly used to describe the use of this formation in ancient Greek warfare, although the ancient Greek writers used it to also describe any massed infantry formation, regardless of its equipment. The phalanx ( Ancient Greek: φάλαγξ plural phalanxes or phalanges, φάλαγγες, phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. 2400 BC, from detail of the victory stele of King Eannatum of Lagash over Umma, called the Stele of the Vultures

Hoplite shield coloring designs