Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son ... - Historia Antigua

98 PHILIP AND ALEXANDER AT WAR
of the 360s B.C., including the account of the army organization. It
would not have gone beyond 360–59.
There is, however, a major objection. According to Anaximenes,
the author of the army organization, as the text supposedly reads,
“accustomed the most illustrious to serve as cavalry and termed
them Companions” ( τοὺς μὲν ἐνδοξοτάτους ἱππεύειν συνεθίσας
ἑταίρους προσηγόρευσε ). This has evoked a chorus of derision. It is
ridiculous, so it is alleged, to suggest that the Macedonians, who had
a long-standing reputation as expert cavalry, needed to be trained to
fi ght on horseback. According to G. T. Griffi th, “A writer of stuff like
this perhaps was capable of a rather unusual silliness.” 38 This is an
excellent example of sawing off the branch one is sitting on. We can
hardly dismiss our principal source as an idiot and then use him as
primary evidence. On Griffi th’s view, Anaximenes held that it was
Alexander the Great who widened the application of the term “Companions”
to all the cavalry and infantry, and then “embellished these
facts with cliché nonsense.” In my opinion it would be preferable to
accept that Anaximenes did know what he was writing about and is
correctly reported by Harpocration and other lexicographers. What,
then, is Anaximenes saying? For Griffi th, the passage should be construed
“having trained the upper class as cavalry, he called them
Companions.” 39 But there is no allusion in the text to training or
even to an “upper class.” My translation would be “having accustomed
those of highest repute to serve as cavalry, he termed them
Companions ( hetairoi).” On this interpretation, there is no suggestion
that the Macedonian cavalry are to be taught to fi ght. They are
already expert horsemen, but they are not as yet steeped in battle
experience. Now they are to be accustomed to service around the
king’s person as a permanent corps d’élite, to be constantly open to
call in the face of a military emergency and as a standing bodyguard
in time of peace. It would be an earlier version of the ilē basilikē, the
Royal Squadron, which was the spearhead of Alexander’s cavalry in
the major battles. As the king’s horsemen, they were permanently in
his entourage, not simply a reserve to be called upon in time of crisis;
and it would take some time for them to become accustomed to
their role at court. It is no surprise that they were singled out to be
the Royal Companions. The rest of the cavalry would, as before,
serve when they were called upon.
There is a similar dichotomy with the Foot Companions. As we
have seen, at some stage the phalanx infantry was organized on a basis
of fi les ten deep and was collectively given the title of pezhetairoi.
There was, however, a smaller group. According to Theopompus of
Chios 40 the largest and strongest of all the Macedonians were s elected