#48 What is the sarissa?

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Your faithful writer,
Dr. Daniel Smith

Today’s concept comes from a topic close to my heart: ancient history.

If that sounds boring, you’re going to love the topic itself: the sarissa, a spear that was deployed by the armies of Alexander the Great and his father in the 4th century BC.

Historians have credited the sarissa — and the Macedonian phalanx tactic that it enabled — with the extensive military conquests of Alexander.

It all sounds very normal, but the interesting thing about the sarissa is that it’s extremely long. Check out this shot from a YouTube video recorded at the 2012 Gallo-Roman festival — plus a fantastic comment I saw below the YouTube video.

What is the Sarissa?

Historians have long credited the sarissa spear with the military success of Alexander the Great, who was able to conquer much of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, and India before dying at the ripe old age of 32.

Alexander’s father was known for developing and perfecting the Macedonian phalanx (pictured below). The Macedonian phalanx, which was a formation of 16×16 men, became the definitive military tactic of the Hellenistic age that began with Alexander’s death in 323 BC.

The first five rows would point their spears out, creating a very pointy wall that would deter horsemen or soldiers from advancing on the phalanx.

Other soldiers at the time typically wielded shorter spears and shields, and the length of the sarissa made it difficult for them to fight against the Macedonian phalanx in the open field.

The men in the phalanx could march steadily toward the enemy, as seen in the re-enactment photo below:

The sarissa can be seen in the famous Alexander Mosaic, a Roman floor mosaic found in Pompeii.

Sarissa History

The leading authority on the sarissa was historian Minor Markle III, who may have known more about the sarissa than any other human during his life.

In his articles The Macedonian Sarissa, Spear, and Related Armor (1977) and Use of the Sarissa by Philip and Alexander of Macedon (1988), Markle wrote that most of the soldiers in Alexander's army would have been wielding the traditional spear and hoplite shield that most soldiers of the era used.

According to a post on the Roman Army Talk forum by historian Duncan Campbell, Markle passed away in 2016.

Campbell, himself a historian of warfare in ancient Greece and Rome, noted that Markle had retired to a country home in his adopted country of Australia that he himself built in the Greek monumental style. A quick Google search led me to find this picture of the house (and its magnificent library):

ART OF THE DAY

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Yours,
Dan