Hello and welcome to another ancient warfare podcast.

Today, I've been told it's Salacia Day or Celassia episode.

It's episode 2-22, but we're not going to discuss Salasi,

even though that's one of the last times.

The Spartan phalanx gets his butt kicked.

We are going to talk pointy spears, long sticks, very long sticks.

The introduction of very long sticks, we are going to talk about the rise of Macedon

in the 4th century BC, which should be easily enough to keep us going.

And of course, if you want to read more about this topic, check out Ancient Warfare Issue 156, which deals with it.

I'm pretty sure that we don't discuss the first question on my list, which is, was Philip a military genius implementing his own ideas, or did he surround himself

with smart people? Who wants to pick that one up?

Well, I think, I think absolutely Philip is a military genius, and I think the tendency of scholars

to credit Parmenion, especially with the tactics that Philip uses in his early battles,

is why Parmenion? Permian doesn tactics that Philip uses in his early battles is why Parmenion?

Permian doesn't do anything of note later on under Alexander and in fact is unsuccessful in Asia Minor

when he goes ahead of Alexander. So why give him credit for successful tactics earlier?

So Philip seems to develop a system whereby, according to Diodorus and

Plutarch, once he unexpectedly becomes king in 359, he suddenly implements a change in the organization of the Macedonian infantry.

We're told that he holds meetings and introduces drill, which is very vague, but that seems to be the moment where he has developed his thinking on what he would do if he was put in charge and remarkably

both of his older brothers get killed and he is put in charge and of course he's been a hostage

in Illyria and he's been a hostage in Thebes at various points in time in Macedon's changing

sort of fortunes in the in the three 70s and 360s.

...