Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

166 SPACE OCCUPIED BY PHALANX.alryman had a good seat. There is nothing as perfect inequestrianism as the seat of the riders on the frieze of theParthenon. There must have been perfect riders or thispiece ofart could not have been produced.Philip had kept a reserve of veterans, a sort of "OldGuard," the early pezetaeri, ready to act at the decisive moment.By some authorities many of the members of the agemawhich went over to Asia are said to have been veterans of sixtyto seventy years.Alexander preferred to use his Companioncavaliy as an old guard. This, composed of the sons of thefirst families of the land, drilled and exercised from theiryouth up in all the habits of war, always responded to hisdemand.The agema was more richly and fully armed thanthe rest, and each individual enjoyed the king's confidence.boot.Alexander's cavalry does not appear to have ridden boot toThe men were ranked slightly apart, but neverthelesskept good alignment.Just how much space man and horseoccupied in the ranks cannot be given. Usually a cavalrymanoccupies ten feet by forty inches. The depth of the ileof four to a file was probably not far from the same as thelochos, say fifty feet. How much front it occupied is not certain.Given six inches between horses, the ile would takeINISKhslrotaPtLTASTs—I51 IV CAVAcRY«..»50fT.--* » eoo FT * •--•aso rT--»Simple Phalanx.up some sixty feet, the hipparchy four hundred and eightyfeet. With its full complement of cavalry, one hipparchyon each flank, in say two lines, the simple phalanx wouldcover something like a quarter of a mile, the seven thousandfoot occupying less than two thirds the space ; the one thou-