The sarissa or sarisa was a long

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

about in length. It was introduced by

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

and was used in his

Macedonian phalanx The Macedonian phalanx () was an infantry formation developed by Philip II from the classical Greek phalanx, of which the main innovation was the use of the sarissa, a 6-metre pike. It was famously commanded by Philip's son Alexander the Grea ...

es as a replacement for the earlier

dory Dory most commonly refers to: * Dory (boat), a small, shallow-draft boat * Dory, the common name of several fish; see List of fishes known as dory * Dory (''Finding Nemo''), a fictional character Dory may also refer to: Arts and entertainmen ...

, which was considerably shorter. These longer spears improved the strength of the phalanx by extending the rows of overlapping weapons projecting towards the enemy. After the conquests of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, the sarissa was a mainstay during the

Hellenistic era In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the Roma ...

(4th–1st centuries BCE) by the

Hellenistic armies The Hellenistic armies is a term that refers to the various armies of the successor kingdoms to the Hellenistic period, emerging soon after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, when the Macedonian empire was split between his successors, k ...

of the

diadochi The Diadochi were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period from the Mediterran ...

Greek successor states of Alexander's empire, as well as some of their rivals.

Composition and utility

The sarissa is made of two core parts: a long wooden shaft and a metal tip. A third part that may have existed for some sarissas was a metal spear-butt at the reverse end. The metal butt of the sarissa could be used to safely stow it in the ground without damaging the shaft when not in use. Two types of wood are favored as likely candidates for the shaft:

ash wood ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergr ...

combines length, flexibility, and being lightweight, while cornel wood is shorter but stronger. The shaft was probably slightly tapered, narrowing some toward the end. The size of the tip is disputed; much scholarship from 1970–2000 favored a comparatively large and heavy spearhead shaped like a leaf on the basis of an archaeological find by

Manolis Andronikos Manolis Andronikos () (October 23, 1919 – March 30, 1992) was a Greek archaeologist and a professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Biography Andronikos was born on October 23, 1919, at Bursa (). His father originated from th ...

of such an implement in a Macedonian tomb at

Vergina Vergina (, ) is a small town in Northern Greece, part of the Veria municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. Vergina was established in 1922 in the aftermath of the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, population exchanges after t ...

, long. 21st-century scholarship has been more skeptical this was really a sarissa head that was found. Nicholas Victor Sekunda favors the metal tip being smaller at around , made of iron, and diamond shaped. Ancient writers say that the sarissa was capable of piercing both shield and armor, which suggests to Sekunda the use of a small but focused spearhead rather than a broad one. Additionally, the

Alexander Mosaic The ''Alexander Mosaic,'' also known as the ''Battle of Issus Mosaic'', is a Roman mosaic, Roman floor mosaic originally from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, Italy. It is typically dated between and Anno Domini, BC 100 and depicts a battle be ...

seems to show small spearheads, and small spearheads match what later medieval pikemen found to work the best. Ancient authorities are unanimous in saying the sarissa was distinguished by its great length, which made it difficult for opposing soldiers to safely engage phalangites. Exactly how long this length was is less clear, as different authors give varying descriptions, ancient units of measurement were not always consistent nor precise, and the wood used to create the Hellenistic sarissas has long since rotted away making archaeological evidence lacking. Many historians consider

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

the most trustworthy account, as he had actual experience with observing the Hellenistic phalanx and his accounts are accurate elsewhere. Polybius writes that "the length of the sarissae is sixteen

cubit The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding Noah ...

s according to the original design, which has been reduced in practice to fourteen," presumably referring to the 2nd century BCE

Antigonid Macedonia Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

n sarissa in context. The second most compelling surviving account is from

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

, writing in the late 4th century BCE and early 3rd century BCE, who lived during the time of Alexander the Great. Theophratus, in an off-hand remark in ''

Enquiry into Plants An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the w ...

'', mentions that the longest sarissa was 12 cubits long. Based on this, many historians have assumed that both accounts were basically correct, and that the sarissa grew longer during the post-Alexander Hellenistic era from the 12 cubits Theophratus reports to the 14 cubits that Polybius observed. However, other historians have offered different theories; Peter Connolly suggests that the lengths were basically the same. Converted to modern units, this would suggest around for the sarissa in the time of Alexander in the 4th century BCE, and around if the 3rd–1st century BCE sarissas really did become even longer. In the scholarship based on Andronikos' discoveries and his and Markle's journal articles, it is thought that the sarissa was heavy for a spear, weighing approximately . Later reconstructions have suggested that this was too heavy—Peter Connolly was able to reconstruct an infantry spear 5.8 meters long of cherry wood that weighed only , and an ash-wood spear would have been even lighter. One possibility considered by some scholars is that to make such prodigiously long pikes, two separate tree branches were joined by a metal tube. This theory rested on the identification of such a tube in Andronikos's Vergina finds as perhaps being the middle part of a sarissa, along with cornel wood being difficult to grow out to the longest lengths described. This theory has largely been discarded, though, as making an unwieldly weapon that is likely to break.

Shields

Infantry sarissa wielders in a phalanx generally also used a shield. An inscription in the Lindian Temple Chronicle records a gift of "ten ''peltai'', ten ''sarisai'', and ten helmets" dedicated to King

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

, suggesting that the Macedonians viewed the sarissa and the bronze

pelta A ''peltast'' (, ) was a type of light infantry originating in Thrace and Paeonia and named after the kind of shield he carried. To make it easier to carry when both hands were occupied, a neck strap may have been used to help hold the shield and cover the left shoulder. However, other scholars suggest that larger shields were used in the Macedonian phalanx, ranging from . Some light-infantry peltasts in the Antigonid army appear to have been closer to a more mobile phalanx than the Alexander-era skirmishers, and they may have used a combination of smaller shields along with smaller sarissas to improve their mobility.

Cavalry version

The Macedonian army of Alexander's time featured a unit of light cavalry (''

prodromoi In ancient Greece, the ''prodromoi'' (singular: ''prodromos'') were skirmisher light cavalry. Their name (ancient Greek: ''πρόδρομοι'', ''prοdromoi'', lit. "pre-cursors," "runners-before," or "runners-ahead") implies that these cavalry 'm ...

'') called the

sarissophoroi The ''sarissophoroi'' (, bearers; singular: ''sarissophoros'' ), also called '' prodromoi'', were a unit of light cavalry in the ancient Macedonian army. Overview In the primary sources Arrian mentions that the Macedonian officer Aretes command ...

who also wielded sarissas, albeit somewhat shorter versions. However, the term "sarissophoroi" eventually stops showing up in literature in the later Hellenistic age. Most surviving depictions of Macedonian cavalry depict it wielded under-arm, but it probably could have been wielded over-arm as well.

Minor Markle Minor Millikin Markle III (1935 – May 30, 2016) was an American scholar of ancient history, in particular the archaeology of Ancient Macedonia. He worked with the Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos and wrote a number of papers interpre ...

thought that based on ancient depictions, the cavalry sarissa would have been about . He also does not think that the cavalry always equipped themselves with sarissas; for scouting missions, they probably just carried two javelins and a sword instead, reserving the sarissa for use in major battles. Peter Connolly also researched the matter. Connolly wrote that the cavalry spear was depicted as a primary weapon (rather than a Roman ''

pilum The ''pilum'' (; : ''pila'') was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about long overall, consisting of an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by eith ...

'' which could be thrown once, like a javelin) and thus should be able to be used repeatedly. Connolly arranged for a modern horse rider to test out reconstructed spears of several of the possible lengths, and found it plausible that a cavalry spear as long as could have been used. He thought that tactically, the longer (4.5 meters+) version would make for a more devastating initial charge, but that a spear would be easier to use in a prolonged melee. Both Markle and Connolly write that the cavalry sarissa, unlike the infantry sarissa, was almost certainly wielded one-handed, as a full heavy two-handed impact would probably knock the sarissa-wielding rider off their own horse. While Hellenistic cavalry frequently wielded spears, whether their weapon is best classed as a shorter version of the sarissa or as a

xyston The xyston ( "spear, javelin (weapon), javelin; pointed or spiked stick, goad), was a type of a long thrusting spear in ancient Greece. It measured about long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands. It had a wooden shaft and a sp ...

() is disputed. Nicholas Victor Sekunda argues that the Macedonian cavalry spear was more properly classed as a xyston. The xyston was made of cornel wood, was shorter than an infantry sarissa, and had a larger and wider spearhead than the infantry sarissa. He also notes that Ancient Macedonians may have used the term "sarissa" broadly in the sense of any spear, even if other Greeks meant specifically the Macedonian variety.

Tactics

The standard Hellenistic army deployment was to have a heavy infantry

phalanx The phalanx (: phalanxes or phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together. The term is particularly used t ...

in the center, cavalry on the sides capable of threatening to flank the enemy or to attack weak spots, and light infantry skirmishers such as slingers or javelineers in the front. Of these, the infantry phalanxes wielded sarissas, and the cavalry wielded somewhat shorter spears of which may or may not have qualified as a "sarissa". While marching and maneuvering, infantry sarissas were held vertically. Once the sarissas were leveled (that is, pointed horizontally forward for battle), the phalanx could advance straight forward, but turning the phalanx would be more difficult and require training and discipline. The sarissa was already so long that thrusting them forward likely didn't extend their range much, comparatively — perhaps around an additional . The sarissa-bearing phalanx would usually march to battle in open formation to facilitate movement. Before the charge, it would tighten its files to close formation or even compact formation (synaspismos). The tight formation of the phalanx created a "wall of pikes", and the pike was so long that there were fully five rows of them projecting in front of the front rank of men—even if an enemy got past the first row, there were still four more to stop him. The back rows bore their pikes angled upwards in readiness, which served the additional purpose of deflecting incoming

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

s. The Macedonian phalanx was considered practically invulnerable from the front. Another phalanx could perhaps wear a phalanx down in a long battle from exhaustion, but this was far from guaranteed. The best way to defeat one was generally by one of a loss of morale from killing the enemy commander, breaking its formation, or outflanking it. For example, the Romans used a flanking tactic at the

Battle of Cynoscephalae The Battle of Cynoscephalae () was an encounter battle fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Philip V, during the Second Macedonian War. It was ...

(197 BC) to defeat the Antigonid Macedonians. A few years later, the Seleucid phalanx held up well at the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Polis, Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it wa ...

(191 BCE); a Roman surprise flanking force caused the army to lose formation and retreat. Livy writes on the Roman victory at the

Battle of Pydna The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back ...

(168 BCE) against the Antigonid Macedonian army that: One possible technique that could have been used with a sarissa is planting them directly in the ground if an enemy charge was thought to be imminent. However, the only source that reports this tactic is the satirist

Lucian of Samosata Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syria (region), Syrian satire, satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with whi ...

, writing centuries after the sarissa's prominence, so if it was a real technique, it seems to have been a rare one. Phalangites would carry a backup weapon, generally a

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

. If a phalanx broke formation, or if a lone soldier found himself in close combat, the sarissa was nearly useless as a weapon, and the backup weapon would be used instead.

History of use

The adoption of the sarissa by the Macedonian infantry is usually credited to Philip II, father of

. Alexander used the sarissa armed phalanx in his wars across Asia, where he conquered

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Persian Egypt The history of Persian Egypt refers to the two periods when ancient Egypt was controlled by the Achaemenid Empire: * Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt (525–404 BC), established by the first Achaemenid conquest of Egypt. * Thirty-first Dynasty of ...

, the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

's homelands in Babylonia and Persia, and the

Pauravas The Pauravas were an ancient tribe in the northern Indus valley, to which Raja Porus may have belonged. Origins The origins of the Pauravas are still disputed. The Pauravas may be related to the Puru tribe, due to the closeness of the names. ...

(northwest India). The sarissa-wielding phalanxes were vital in every early battle, including the pivotal

Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Gaugamela ( ; ), also called the Battle of Arbela (), took place in 331 BC between the forces of the Ancient Macedonian army, Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Army, Persian Army under Darius III, ...

where the Persian king's scythe chariots were utterly destroyed by the phalanx, supported by the combined use of companion cavalry and

peltast A ''peltast'' (, ) was a type of light infantry originating in Thracians, Thrace and Paeonia (kingdom), Paeonia and named after the kind of shield he carried.

s (javelineers). During his later campaigning, Alexander gradually reduced the importance of the phalanx and the sarissa, as he modified his combined use of arms to incorporate Asian weapons and troops, not specifically trained in Macedonian battle tactics. The sarissa remained the core of

of the

Diadochi The Diadochi were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period from the Mediterran ...

successor states to Alexander's empire. The word remained in use throughout the Byzantine years to sometimes describe the long spears of their own infantry. Long pikes would eventually come back into vogue due to changing circumstances in the

late medieval The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the period of European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

and

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

period (~1300–1700); scholars of military history have used reports of how

Swiss mercenaries The Swiss mercenaries were a powerful infantry force constituting professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of th ...

, German

Landsknecht The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was ...

, and English and Irish pikemen fought to analyze how the similar Macedonian sarissa was likely used. In his 1521 book ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is compos ...

'', Niccolo Machiavelli wrote that "I conjecture that a Macedonian Phalanx was nothing else than a battalion of Swiss is today, who have all their strength and power in their pikes." Preserved English pikes from this period tend to be long, and there are reports of pikes as long as . These reports suggest that usage of such long pikes by the Macedonians was plausible and militarily viable.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Photos of Hoplite spear compared to Macedonian sarissa
{{Authority control Ancient weapons Greek inventions Pikes (weapon) Ancient Greek military terminology Ancient Macedonian military equipment Philip II of Macedon Phalanx