Following his untimely death, the 'Diadochi' - Alexander's 'Successors' - continued to use and further refine pike phalanx combat. Thusly, the Macedonian attack, whilst slow-moving, could also be unstoppable: if coordinated and disciplined, it simply steamrollered its enemies from the field. Arrows were caught up in the raised pikes and fell harmlessly to the ground, where they could be repurposed by the deadly Cretan archers fielded to support the pikes. Defensively, the Macedonian phalanx could not only withstand and repel any cavalry or infantry charge to the front, it could also deflect incoming arrows, as the back rows kept their pikes vertical until needed. Presenting a wall of pikes from five files of men, it protected more of the front ranks and created a much bigger killing zone than the traditional hoplite phalanx. First introduced to the army by Alexander the Great’s father, Phillip II, the sarissa was cumbersome but created an almost impregnable phalanx formation. Historically, the Macedonian phalanx innovated the use of the fearsome sarissa: a pike of up to 21 feet in length.
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