Hypaspists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

A rendition of Hypaspists

Hypaspistai, or hypaspists (shield bearers), were elite foot hoplite^[1] guardsmen as used by Alexander the Great's Macedonian army.

They often fought on the right of the Foot Companions; the right was the position of honor in most Greek armies, due to the nature of the Phalanx; a soldier in a phalanx would rely on the shield of the soldier on his right to cover his right side and his own shield to cover his left and, as mentioned, the right side of the soldier to his left. (Note that in the pike phalanxes, who needed their second hand to steady the long pike, the shield was strapped to the upper and lower arm, and not gripped as with the hypaspists). Thus the right side of any phalanx unit was always weakest, since they had no shield on their right to protect them.

To counter this, traditionally in Greek armies, the best men of the unit would be picked to fight on the right wing. This can also be applied to the overall battle-line, as well as each unit, thus the hypaspists were able to turn to face enemies attempting to flank the line because of their shorter spears and larger, gripped shields (compared to the pike phalanxes who could only turn with difficulty due to the length and weight of their pikes). Due to these factors, hypaspists were perfectly suited for protecting the ever-vital right flank of a phalanx battle line, such as used by Alexander the Great.

Their mobility was exploited tactically, to good effect, in the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC).

Arrian's phrase tous kouphotatous te kai ama euoplotatous (eg atIV 28 viii) has frequently been rendered as 'lightest armed' although Brunt Appendix XIX paragraph 9 concedes it is more properly translated as 'nimblest' or 'most agile'.

The hypaspists were raised from the whole kingdom rather than on a cantonal basis; they were the King's Army rather than the army of the kingdom. Alexander was subsequently to reorganise the whole army along these lines in order to strengthen his authority over the otherwise powerful local allegiance felt by his men.

In battle they were probably armed just like the foot companions with aspis (shield), spolas, helmet, greaves and a xiphos although their equipment would be more ornate.