View source for Hypaspists

{{Short description|Ancient Macedonian military unit also known as a shield-bearer}}
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{{More citations needed|date=July 2007}}
{{weasel|date=February 2016}}
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[[File:Hypaspist.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A Hypaspist|alt=]]
A '''hypaspist''' ({{langx|el|Ὑπασπιστής}} "shield bearer" or "shield covered") is a squire, [[man at arms]], or "shield carrier". In Homer, Deiphobos advances "{{lang|grc|ὑπασπίδια}}" ({{lang|grc-Latn|hypaspídia}}) or under cover of his shield.<ref>''Iliad''. Book 13, line 158</ref> By the time of Herodotus (426&nbsp;BC), the word had come to mean a high status soldier as is strongly suggested by [[Herodotus]] in one of the earliest known uses:

{{blockquote|Now the horse which [[Artybius]] rode was trained to fight with [[infantrymen]] by rearing up. Hearing this, [[Onesilus]] said to his hypaspist, a [[Carians|Carian]] of great renown in war and a valiant man&nbsp;...<ref>Herodotus, ''Histories'', 5.111</ref>}}

A similar usage occurs in [[Euripides]]'s play ''[[Rhesus (play)|Rhesus]]''<ref>Euripides. ''Rhesus'', line 2</ref> and another in his ''[[Phoenissae]]''. [[Xenophon]] was deserted by his hypaspist in a particularly sticky situation.<ref>Xenophon, ''Anabasis''. 4.2.20</ref>{{Clarify|date=September 2023|reason=How is this sentence related to the topic?}} A hypaspist would differ from a [[skeuophoros]] in most cases because the "shield bearer" is a free warrior and the "baggage carrier" was probably usually a slave.{{Citation needed|reason=weasel words|date=February 2016}}

The word may have had Homeric and heroic connotations that led [[Philip II of Macedon]] to use it for an elite military unit. This unit, known as the '''Hypaspistai''', or '''hypaspists''', was probably armed in the [[hoplite]] manner, with a large concave shield ([[Aspis]]) and a spear ([[Dory (spear)|Dory]]), in addition to [[spolas]] or [[linothorax]] body-armor, [[hoplite]]'s helmet, [[greave]]s and a [[xiphos]] or [[kopis]] sword (though their equipment was likely more ornate than main-line soldiers).<ref>Macedonian Warrior Alexander's elite infantryman, page 41, {{ISBN|978-1-84176-950-9}}, 2006</ref>

In contrast, the main Macedonian Phalanx consisted of the pikemen known as [[phalangite]]s. These men were armed with the [[Sarissa]], a pike of between 4 and 6.7m, a small flat shield and a shortsword called a [[Xiphos]] as a secondary weapon.<ref>
 Gabriel, Richard A. (2010). Philip II of Macedonia: Greater Than Alexander. Washington, DC: Potomac Books. pp. 62–72</ref> The divergence in equipment and tactics between the traditional Greek Hoplite phalanx and the Macedonian Phalanx is attributed to Philip II of Macedon, the father of [[Alexander the Great]].

In set piece battles, the Macedonian Hypaspists were positioned on the flanks of the [[phalangite]]'s phalanx; in turn, their own flanks were protected by [[light infantry]] and [[cavalry]]. Their job was to guard the flanks of the large and unwieldy [[pike (weapon)|pike]] phalanx. The armored Phalangites with their [[sarissa]]s were not particularly agile or able to turn quickly, so hypaspists would prevent attacks on the vulnerable sides of the formation. Their role was vital to the success of Philip's [[Military tactics|tactics]] because the [[Macedonian phalanx]] was all but invulnerable from the front, and was, with five layers of iron spikes moving in unison, used as the [[anvil]] in a [[hammer and anvil]] tactic, where the [[Companion cavalry]] was the hammer that smashed the enemy against an anvil of thousands of iron spikes. As such an important yet vulnerable part of the Macedonian army, it needed protection for its main vulnerability, the flanks. The protection/remedy for this vulnerability was the Hypaspists, who were able to conduct maneuvers and use tactics, which, owing to their [[hoplite]] panoply of weapons and [[armor]], would have been impossible (or at least much less effective) if performed by the phalangites.

All the references to a unit called "Hypaspists" are much later than the period of Philip, and modern historians have to assume{{Citation needed|date=February 2016}} that later sources, like [[Diodorus Siculus]]<ref>Diodorus Siculus. Book 19.40</ref> (1st century BC) and [[Arrian]],<ref>Arrian's ''Anabasis''. Book 2, line 4 and following</ref> had access to earlier records.

Arrian's phrase {{lang|grc-Latn|tous kouphotatous te kai ama euoplotatous}}<ref>''The Campaigns of Alexander''. Book IV, 28, viii</ref>) has frequently been rendered as 'lightest armed', although Brunt <ref>''The Campaigns of Alexander''. Appendix XIX, paragraph 9</ref> concedes it is more properly translated as 'nimblest' or 'most agile'.

There has been a great deal of speculation by military historians ever since the late Hellenistic period about the elite units of Philip's army. The hypaspists may have been{{Citation needed|reason=weasel words|date=February 2016}} raised from the whole [[monarchy|kingdom]] rather than on a cantonal basis; if so, they were the king's army rather than the army of the kingdom.

In the [[Hellenistic period]], hypaspists apparently continued to exist, albeit in different capacities and under different names, like [[Agema]]. The name lived on in the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] ([[Agema#The agema in the Seleucid army|agema of the hypaspists]]), [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic]] and [[Antigonid dynasty|Antigonid]] kingdoms, and they were now seen as royal bodyguards and elite infantry as well as military administrators. Polybius mentions a hypaspist being sent by [[Philip V of Macedon]], after his defeat at the [[Battle of Cynoscephalae]] in 197&nbsp;BC, to [[Larissa]] to burn state papers.<ref>Polybius. XVIII.33.1–7</ref>

The actual fighting unit of hypaspists seems to have lived on in Macedon as the corps of [[Antigonid peltasts]], whose status, equipment and role seems to have been almost exactly the same as that of the hypaspist under Philip.<ref>Polybius. V.26.8</ref> Originally consisting of 3,000 men, by the [[Third Macedonian War]] there were 5,000, most likely to accommodate their elite formation, the [[Agema]].<ref>Polybius. V.25.1</ref>

==See also==
*[[Skeuophoros]]
*[[Amyntas of Lyncestis]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Kambouris Manousos Dr, "''[https://koryvantesstudies.org/studies-in-english-language/page220-2/ The Hypaspist Corps, One identity three units and many functions]''", [https://koryvantesstudies.org/studies-in-english-language/page220-2/ koryvantesstudies.org]

[[Category:Ancient Greek military terminology]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Hellenistic world]]
[[Category:Infantry units and formations of Macedon]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of ancient Greece]]