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The Mecedonian Phalanx was creation of Philip II father of Alexander though some traces it's begining to Epaminodas of Thebes where he lived in childhood as a hostage. The few important things is that it was made(designed or evolved) in a way to allow for new recruits being deployed withought much training. That was a kind of RMA comparable to one at the time of Nepolion.
So this made possible to feild Large armies(of the time) in such a short period in which they were feilded. Still it was a professional army in comparison to the other contemporary armies which were not professional. Yet the role of the phalanx was never supposed to be decisive in the battle. The battles of Alexander owe their victories to Companion Cavalry. The role of the phalanx was to pin and hold the enemy center or to shape it so the cavalry can role over the flank or break through a weak point or gap. The decisive component was always CAVALRY and never phalanx other than giving a finishing touch. Moreover there were light troops used to fill the gaps in the phalanx during movement.
In short the Mecedonian phalanx was a part of a combined arms army not a kind of army in itself. When it was being used alone this fact came to the surface. like at the Battle of Pydna where cavalry did nothing and the phalanx was simply rolled over the flanks and even broken through the gaps not filled by the light troops.
Moreover Alexander's quick conqest depended a lot on the fact that due to his professional army he had a lot more strategic mobility than his contemporaries.
The phalanx evovled as the possibility to raise a big professional army with little training, while roman legions on the other hand were very well trained professionals. The structure and role of phalanx was such that more training would not be of more utility either. Yet the roman owe much of their victories to their rivals using phalanx in isolation and not as a component in the spectrum of combined arms approach.
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