Leading from the front: Alexander and the Companions

In all of his famous battles, Alexander rode with his famous Hetairoi of Companion Cavalry. We find Alexander leading these men at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, when he was only eighteen, and he led them at the Granicus, the Issus, Gaugamela, and after. The Companions were used by Alexander as a spearhead, delivering charges into gaps in the enemy formations created by his battlefield manoeuvres. Despite their shock-tactics on the battlefield, however, they nor their horses were particularly heavily armoured. There were eight squadrons of Companions, each called an ile (plural ilai), and drawn from a different region of Macedonia, each of 200-300 men, and so only consisting of (only) 1800-2000 men; ‘only’ because the remarkable battlefield accomplishments of this force were achieved by so few men.…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVI.6

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