Phalanx

“ The middle and ungueal phalanx, as well as the portions of armour, are given of the natural size, in Pl. XXXII. The upper and outer surface of the phalanx, is shown in fig. 2. It is smooth and flat; joins the inner surface by a sharp edge, which runs along the upper and inner side of the bone; and passes by a gradual convexity to the under surface; the ridge corresponding with the base of the claw, is feebly developed at the under and lateral parts of the base of the claw. Below the double trochlear joint for the middle phalanx, there are two articular surfaces for two large sesamoid bones. ”

“ The whole phalanx starts forward like one man, and the enemy seem springing to meet it. The tossing color, the flashing arms and armor, make it a sight for men and gods. If the enemy has a powerful archery force, as had the Persians at Marathon, then the phalanx is allowed to advance on the run,—for at all costs one must get through the terrible zone of the arrow fire and come to grips; but if their bowmen are weak, the hoplites will be restrained,—it is better not to risk getting the phalanx disorganized. ”

“ When the band of Phalanxes, proceeding into desert and free air, no more allow art to rendezvous in cities, I can take one of the nearest radiating railroads and rush from my solitude into the healthily-peopled and cityish-countrified Phalanx. ”

“ Besides the phalanx and the bodies of Gauls, there was a troop of elephants in Antigonus's army. Their position, as it would seem, was between the phalanx and the Gauls. This being the state of things, and Pyrrhus coming up to the attack in the rear, would, of course, encounter first the Gauls, then the elephants, and, lastly, the most formidable of all, the phalanx itself.
The elephants overpowered. ”

“ The Macedonian phalanx was the most perfect instrument of warfare the world had yet seen, and the Roman legions had never yet been brought into collision with it.
The Romans, under LAEVÍNUS, were defeated, more by the surprise of a charge of elephants than by the tactics of the phalanx. However, they retired in good order. Pyrrhus is said to have been much impressed by the heroic conduct of the foe, and to have said, "Another such victory will send me back without a man to Epirus." He recognized the inferior qualities of his Greek allies, and determined to make a peace. ”

“ Every charge of the enemy was repulsed by the steady gallantry of General Emory's brigade and the black Phalanx, who saved the army from annihilation against a foe numbering three to one. During this memorable campaign the Phalanx more than once met the enemy and accepted the face of their black flag declarations. The confederates knew full well that every man of the Phalanx would fight to the last ”

“ When it was acting on the defensive, it was virtually impenetrable. Its disadvantage was in its lack of individual initiative; the soldiers were machines rather than fighting men. It was heavy in its movements and could be thrown into disorder more easily than the older Greek phalanx with its looser formation. The élite corps, the hypaspists, were more lightly armed than the men in the phalanx, and so moved more freely. In Alexander’s battles they were the connecting [62] link between the cavalry and heavy mass of the phalanx, which advanced slowly forward. ”

“ The ordinary depth of the phalanx was of sixteen ranks. The men who stood too far behind to use their [20] sarissas, and who therefore kept them raised until they advanced to fill a vacant place, still added to the pressure of the mass. As the efficacy of the phalanx depended on its compactness, and this again on the uniformity of its movements, the greatest care was taken to select the best soldiers for the foremost and hindmost ranks—the frames, as it were, of the engine. The bulk and core of the phalanx consisted of Macedonians; but it was composed in part of foreign troops. ”

“ Many considerations may easily convince us that, if only the phalanx has its proper formation and strength, nothing can resist it face to face or withstand its charge. For as a man in close order of battle occupies a space of three feet; and as the length of the sarissae is sixteen cubits according to the original design, which has been reduced in practice to fourteen ”

“ Phalanx i. of digit II. always supports two quills, the “middigitals,” while the remaining feathers—one or two—are borne by the last phalanx of digit II. and are known as pre-digitals, while the whole series of primaries are known as the metacarpo-digitals.
In their relation one to another the remiges, it must be noted, are always so placed that they overlap one another, the free edge of each, when the wing is seen from its upper surface, being turned towards the tip of the wing. ”

“ This force was of enormous value in a war against Asiatic tribes, for the lie of the land hampered only too often the full use of the phalanx, and it was often essential to attempt surprises, quick marches, and strokes of all sorts for which the phalanx was not sufficiently mobile nor the light troops sufficiently steady. For occupying heights, forcing the passage of rivers, and supporting and following up cavalry charges, these hypaspists were admirably adapted. Their numbers amounted to six thousand men. ”

“ If he gave way tactically before it and availing himself of gaps penetrated it by groups, still there was no mêlée or mixture of ranks. The wedge entering into a mass does not become intermingled with it.
With a phalanx armed with long pikes against a similar phalanx there was still less confusion. They were able to stand for a long time, if the one did not take the other in flank or in rear by a detached body of troops. In all ancient combat, even in victory achieved by methods which affected the morale, such methods are always effective, for man does not change. ”

“ Pedal phalanx ANSP 15541 (Figure 7a) is from a bird the size of T. priscus. This specimen is much longer and more slender than phalanx 1 of digit II in Burhinus vermiculatus but has almost exactly the shape and proportions of the same element in Presbyornis (Figure 7b) , although being much smaller. Although its assignment to Telmatornis is very tentative, the length of this element seems to indicate a wading bird as opposed to one with the terrestrially adapted shorter toes of the Burhinidae.
Genus Anatalavis, new genus
Type-Species.—Telmatornis rex Shufeldt, 1915. ”

“ Phalanger, fā-lan′jer, n. a genus of small arboreal Australasian marsupials. [Fr.,—L. phalanx.]
Phalanx, fal′angks, or fā′-, n. a line of battle: a square battalion of heavy-armed infantry drawn up in ranks and files close and deep: any compact body of men: one of the small bones of the fingers and toes:—pl. Phalan′ges, or Phal′anxes. [L.,—Gr. phalangks.]
Phalarope, fal′a-rōp, n. a genus of wading birds, forming a sub-family of the snipes. [Gr. phalaris, a coot, pous, a foot.] ”

“ The Macedonian phalanx was as important a part of Philip’s army as the elephants had been in that of Hannibal. It was formed by sixteen thousand men in close order, sixteen rows deep, and the men were armed with long spears. ”

“ He returned to Matho and took him by the arm.
“Master, at present the Carthaginians are sure of their victory. You have quite an army which has not fought, and your men obey you. Place them in the front: mine will follow to avenge themselves. I have still three thousand Carians, twelve hundred slingers and archers, whole cohorts! A phalanx even might be formed; let us return!”
Matho, who had been stunned by the disaster, had hitherto thought of no means of repairing it. He listened with open mouth, and the bronze plates which circled his sides rose with the leapings of his heart. ”

“ The latter weapon in the interval between Alexander and the time of Polybius had been increased to a length of 21 ft. (Polyb. xviii. 12) , a proportion inconsistent with any degree of mobility; once more indeed the phalanx of the 2nd century seems to have become a body effective by sheer weight only and disordered by unevenness of ground. The Antigonid kings were never able from Macedonian levies to put in the field a phalanx of more than 20,000 at the utmost (Liv. xlii. 51) ; Antigonus Doson takes with him to Greece (in 222) one of 10,000 only. ”

“ You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet, Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone? Of two such lessons, why forget The nobler and the manlier one? You have the letters Cadmus gave— Think ye he meant them for a slave? ”

“ He immediately ordered the heavy lancers of his own guard to dismount, and form square before the feebler and less perfectly equipped soldiers of the legions of the line. With this phalanx, presenting its closely serried shields and long lances to the repeated charges of the kataphraktoi, he foiled every attack of the victorious Persians, and saved his army. ”

“ They formed a veritable phalanx round his corpse, defying the outraged relatives, confronting his enemies, and entreating for him the right of embalming, of holy sepulture, so that his body might be kept pure and undefiled from decay, ready to once more receive the soul, when it had concluded its wanderings in the shadowland where dwelleth Anubis and Hor, and Ra, the Most High. ”

“ The fact remains, that from the battle of Cynoscephalæ, of which anon, to the end of ancient history, it was an admitted fact that, unless on a very narrow and perfectly level field, where both its flanks were securely covered, the phalanx could not receive battle from the legions with a chance of success; and that as to delivering battle on wide, open plains, where rapid manœuvring and counter-marching could be resorted to, such an idea was preposterous. ”

“ Fought June 22, 168 B.C., between the Romans, under Æmilius Paulus, and the Macedonians, under Perseus. The Macedonian phalanx attacked the Roman line, and drove them back on their camp, but becoming disordered by the uneven ground, was broken by the legionaries and cut to pieces. The result was a total defeat of the Macedonians, with a loss of 20,000 killed and 11,000 204prisoners. The phalanx here fought its last fight and perished to a man.
Pyramids (French Invasion of Egypt) . Fought July 21, 1798, when the Mameluke army, under Murad Bey, endeavoured to arrest Napoleon's march on Cairo. ”

“ In charging, therefore, against the phalanx, every single Roman, as he has two Macedonians opposite to him, has also ten spears, which he is forced to encounter. But it is not possible for a single man to cut down these spears with his sword, before they can take their effect, against him. Nor is it easy on the other hand to force his way through them. For the men that are behind add no weight to the pressure, nor any strength to the swords of those that are in the foremost rank. ”

“ Under Alexander the phalanx consisted of an aggregate of eighteen thousand men, who were divided into six brigades of three thousand each. These were again subdivided into regiments and companies; and the men were carefully trained to wheel, to face about, to take more ground, or to close up, as the emergencies of the battle required. Alexander also arrayed in the intervals of the regiments of his phalangites, troops armed in a different manner, which could prevent their line from being pierced, and their companies taken in flank, when the nature of the ground prevented a close formation ”

“ The new laws made a change in the phalanx; relieved the old citizens from the duty of serving as foot soldiers; and granted them immunities for serving as horsemen. In laying the burthen of the foot-service on the plebeians, they also at the same time gave them corresponding privileges, and thereby the means of upholding their freedom. In this manner they divided the population into horsemen and footmen, without however excluding the commonalty from the cavalry. The military array of all the European nations in ancient times was analogous to the Greek phalanx. ”

“ Besides the phalanx, Alexander had a considerable force of infantry who were called shield-bearers: they were not so heavily armed as the phalangites, or as was the case with the Greek regular infantry in general; but they were equipped for close fight, as well as for skirmishing, and were far superior to the ordinary irregular troops of Greek warfare. They were about six thousand strong. Besides these, he had several bodies of Greek regular infantry ”

“ Tarsus longer than middle toe with claw; outer toe with second phalanx entirely free from middle toe, the first phalanx also often partly free. e. Basal phalanx of middle toe partly free from outer toe; bill more subulate or terete, with culmen more or less distinctly curved (at least terminally) , the mesorhinium more or less rounded or else much compressed; wing relatively shorter and more rounded, the longer primaries exceeding secondaries by less than length of exposed culmen; no tuft on sides of neck; smaller forms (wing less than 80 mm.) (Synallaxeæ.) f. Rectrices 12. g. ”

“ These commands Aemilius gave to his captains, and they to their soldiers; and no sooner had they entered the spaces and separated their enemies, but they charged them, some on their side where they were naked and exposed, and others, making a circuit, behind; and thus destroyed the force of the phalanx, which consisted in common action and close union. ”

“ Elephanti enim, ab rectoribus ad litus acti, exeuntes obterebant 25 elidebantque.
Livy, xliv. 41, 42.
1 In medio . . . immissa = On the centre the second legion charged (immissa) , i.e. into the interstices of the phalanx, which was not preserving its usual close order.—Rawlins.
4-6 fluctuantem . . . vires sunt = first demoralised the phalanx so as to make it waver, (fluctuantem) , and then shattered it. Its (aggressive) force, so long as it keeps close order and bristles with couched (intentis) spears, is irresistible (intolerabiles) . ”