mule laden with silver could find entrance. It has been said that he was a merchant rather than a conqueror; that it was not Philip, but his gold, which subdued Greece; and that he bought its cities rather than took them. He had pensioners in all the commonwealths of Greece, and retained those in his pay who had the greatest share in the public af. fairs. And indeed he was less proud of the success of a battle than that of a negociation, well knowing that neither his generals nor his soldiers could share in the honour of the lat. ter. Philip had married Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, The latter was son of Alcetas, king of Molossus, or Epirus. Olympias brought him Alexander, surnamed the Great, who was born at Pella, the capital of Macedonia, the first year of the 106th Olympiad. † Philip, who at that time was absent from his kingdom, had three very agreeable fadvices brought him; that he had carried the prize in the Olympic games; that Parmenio, one of his generals had gained a great victory over the Illyrians; and that his wife was delivered of a son. This prince, terrified at so signal a happiness, which the heathens thought frequently the omen of some mournful catastrophe, cried out, great Jupiter, in return for so many blessings, send me as soon as possible some slight misfor ture." 66 § We may form a judgment of Philip's care and attention with regard to the education of this prince, by the letter he wrote a little after his birth to Aristotle, to acquaint him so early, that he had made choice of him for his son's preceptor. "I am to inform you," said he, " that I have a son born. "I return thanks to the gods, not so much for having given "him to me, as to have given him in the time that Aristotle lived. I may justly promise myself that you will make him Callidus emptor Olynthi. Juv. Sat. xii. 1. 47. Philippus majore ex parte mercatore Græciæ, quam victor. + A. M. 3648. Ant. J. C. 356. Plut. in Alex p 666. Justin, 1, xii, c, 16. Plut. in Apophth. p, 187. Plutarch supposes that this news was brought him immediately after the taking of Potidæ, but this city had been taken two years before, § Aul. Cel. I, ix, C, 3. 66 a successor worthy of us both, and a king worthy of Mace"donia." What noble thoughts arise from the perusal of this letter, far different from the manners of the present age, but highly worthy of a great monarch and a good father! I shall leave the reader to make such reflections on it as he shall think proper, and shall only observe, that this example may serve as a lesson even to private persons, as it teaches them how highly they ought to value a good master, and the extraordinary care they should take to find such an one; for every son is an Alexander to his father. It appears that Philip + put his son very early under Aristotle, convinced that the success of studies depends on the foundation first laid; and that the man cannot be too able, who is to teach the principles of learning and knowledge in the manner they ought to be inculcated. A DESCRIPTION OF THE MACEDONIAN PHALANZ. This was a body of infantry, consisting of 16,000 hea vy-armed troops, who were always placed in the centre of the battle. Besides a sword, they were armed with a shield, and a pike, or spear, called by the Greeks sarissa. This pike was 14 cubits long, that is, 21 French feet; for the cubit consists of a foot and a half. The phalanx was commonly divided into ten corps, or battalions, each of which was composed of 1600 men, 100 feet in rank, and 16 in file. Sometimes the file of 16 was doubled, and sometimes divided according to occasion; so that the phalanx was sometimes but eight, and at other times 32 deep but its usual and regular depth was of 16. The space between each soldier upon a march was six feet, or, which is the same, four cubits; and the ranks were also about six feet asunder. When the phalanx advanced towards an enemy, there was but three feet distance between each soldier, and the ranks were closed in proportion. In fine, when the phalanx was to receive the enemy, the men who composed it drew still closer, each soldier occupying only the space of a foot and a half, * Fingamus Alexandrum dari nobis, impositum gremio, dignum tanta cura infantem. (quanqum suus cuique dignus eft.) Quintil, 1, i, c, I. + An Phillippus Macedonum rex Alexandro filio suo prima literatum elementa tradi ab Aristotele summe ejus ætatis philosopho voluis et,aut ille suscepisset hoc officium, si non studiorum initia a perfectissimo quoque optime tractari, pertinere ad summam credidisset? Quintil. ibid, Polyb. 1, xvii, p, 764–767, Id. 1, xii, p, 664."Aclian,de Instruend, Acrib. Decem et sex milla Peditum more Macedonum armati fuere, qui phalangitæ appellabantur. Hæc media acies fuit in fronte, in decem partes divisa Tit, Liv, 1, xxxvii, n, 40, This evidently shows the different space which the front of the phalanx took up in these three cases, supposing the whole to consist of 16,000 men, at 16 deep, and consequently always 1000 men in front. This space, or distance, in the first case was 6000 feet, or 1000 fathoms, which make ten furlongs, or half a league. In the second case it was but ha as much, and took up five furlongs, or 500 fathoms.* And, in the third case, it was again diminished another half, and extended to the distance of only two furlongs and a half, or 250 fathoms. Polybius examines the phalanx in the second case, in which it marched to attack the enemy. There then was three feet in breadth and depth between each soldier. We observed above, that their pikes were 14 cubits long. The space between the two hands and that part of the pike which projected beyond the right, took up four, and consequently the pike advanced ten cubits beyond the body of the soldier who carried it. This being supposed, the pikes of the soldiers placed in the fifth rank, whom I will call the fifths, and so of the rest, projected two cubits beyond the first rank; the pikes of the fourths, four; those of the thirds, six; those of the seconds, eight cubits; in fine, the pikes of the soldiers who formed the first rank, advanced ten cubits towards the enemy. The reader will easily conceive, that when the soldiers who composed the phalanx, this great and unwieldy machine, every part of which bristled with pikes, as we have seen moved all at once, presenting their pikes to attack the enemy, - that they must charge with great force. The soldiers, who were behind the fifth rank, held their pikes raised, but reclining a little over the ranks who preceded them; thereby forming a kind of a roof, which, not to mention their shields, secured them from darts discharged at a distance, which fell without doing them any hurt. The soldiers of all the other ranks beyond the fifth, could not indeed engage against the enemy, nor reach them with their pikes, but then they gave great assistance in battle to those in front of them; for by supporting them behind with the utmost strength, and propping them with their backs, they increased in a prodigious manner the strength and im petuosity of the onset, they gave their comrades such a force. as rendered them immoveable in attacks, and at the same time deprived them of every hope or opportunity of flight by the rear; so that they were under the necessity either to Conquer or die. • Five stadia: And indeed Polybius acknowledges, that as long as the soldiers of the phalanx preserved their disposition and order as a phalanx, that is, as long as they kept their ranks in the close order we have described, it was impossible for an en. emy either to sustain its weight, or to open and break it.And this he demonstrates to us in a plain and sensible manner. The Roman soldiers (for it is those he compares to the Greeks in the place in question,) says he, take up in fight three feet each. And as they must necessarily move about very much, either to shift their bucklers to the right and left, in defending themselves, or to thrust with the point, or strike with the edge, we must be obliged to suppose the distance of three feet between every soldier. In this every Roman soldier takes up six feet, that is, twice as much distance as one of the phalanx, and consequently opposes singly two soldiers of the first rank; and for the same reason, is obliged to make head against ten pikes, as we before observed. Now it is impossible for a single soldier to break or force his way through ten pikes. This Livy shows evidently in a few words, where he describes in what manner the Romans were repulsed by the Macedonians at the siege of a city. The consul, says he, made his cohorts to advance, in order if possible to pene trate the Macedonian phalanx. When the latter, keeping very close together, had advanced forward their long pikes, the Romans having discharged ineffectually their javelins against the Macedonians, whom their shields, pressed very close together covered like a roof and atortoise; the Ro mans, I say, drew their swords. But it was not possible for them either to come to a close engagement, or cut or break the pikes of the enemy; and if they happened to cut or break any of them, the broken piece of the pike served as a point; so that this range of pikes with which the front of the phalanx was armed, still existed. Paulus Æmilius, owned that in the battle with Perseus, the last king of Macedon, this rampart of brass, and forest of pikes, impenetrable to his legions, filled him with terror and astonishment. He did not remember he said any thing so formidable as this phalanx; and often afterwards declared, It was before said, that each soldier of the phalanx took up three feet when he advanced to attack the enemy, and but half as much when he waited his coming up. In this last case each Roman soldier was obliged to make head against 20 pikes. + Liv. 1, xxxii, n, 17. Plut. in Paul. Æmil. p, 265. that this dreadful spectacle had made so strong an impressiou upon him, as almost made him despair of the victory. From what has been said above, it follows, that the Macedonian phalanx was invincible; nevertheless, we find by history that the Macedonians and their phalanx were vanquished and subdued by the Romans. It was invincible, repiiedPolybius,so long as it continued a phalanx, but this happened very rarely; for in order to its being so, it required a flat even spot of ground of large extent, without either tree, bush, intrenchment, ditch, valley, bill or river. Now we seldom find an even spot of ground, of 15, 20, or more furlongs in extent; for so large a space is necessary for containing a whole army, of which the phalanx is but a part. But let us suppose (it is Polybius who still speaks) that a tract of ground, such as could be wished, were found; yet of what use could a body of troops drawn up in the form of a phalanx be, should the enemy, instead of advancing forward and offering battle, send out detachments to lay waste the country, plunder the cities, or cut off the convoys? That in case the enemy should come to battle, the general need only command part of his front, the centre for instance, to give way and fly, that the phalanx may have an opportunity of pursuing them. In this case it is manifest the phalanx would be broke, and a large cavity made in it, in which the Romans would not fail to charge the phalanx in flank on the right and left, at the same time that those soldiers, who are pursuing the enemy, may be attacked in the same manner. This reasoning of Polybius appears to me very clear, and at the same time gives us a very just idea of the manner in which the ancients fought; which certainly ought to have its place in history, as it is an essential part of it. Hence appears, as Mr. Bossuett observes after Polybius, the difference between the Macedoniant phalanx formed of one large body, very thick on all sides, which was obliged to move all at once, and the Roman army divided into small bodies, which for that reason were nimbler, and conse Three quarters of a league, or a league, or perhaps more. Statarius uterque miles; ordines servans; sed illa phalanx immobilis, et unius generis; Romana acies distinctior, ex pluribus partibus constans; facilis partienti quacumque opus esset, facilis jun genti. Tit. Liv. ), ix, n, 19. Erant pleraque sylvestria circa, incommoda phalangi, maxime Macedonum, quæ, nisi ubi prælongis hastis velut vallum ante clypeos objecit, quod ut fiat, libero campo opus est, nullius admodum usus est. Id, l,xxxi, n, 39. |