A hypaspist ( el, Ὑπασπιστής "shield bearer" or "shield covered") is a squire, man at arms, or "shield carrier". In Homer, Deiphobos advances "" () or under cover of his shield. By the time of Herodotus (426 BC), the word had come to mean a high status soldier as is strongly suggested by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...

in one of the earliest known uses: A similar usage occurs in

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...

's play '' Rhesus'' and another in his '' Phoenissae''.

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of ...

was deserted by his

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million ...

in a particularly sticky situation. A hypaspist would differ from a

skeuophoros A ''skeuophoros'' ( el, Σκευοφόρος "Βaggage carrier") was a slave or servant who carried baggage in Ancient Greece. Herodotus records that every hoplite was followed on campaign by a servant as a ''skeuophoros''. In Aristophanes' play ''T ...

in most cases because the "shield bearer" is a free warrior and the "baggage carrier" was probably usually a slave. The word may have had Homeric and heroic connotations that led

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the a ...

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 An aspis ( grc, ἀσπίς, plural ''aspides'', ), or porpax shield, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a hoplon ( el, ὅπλον) (a term actually referring to the whole equipment of a hoplite), was the heavy wooden shield used by the in ...

) and a spear (

Dory A dory is a small, shallow- draft boat, about long. It is usually a lightweight boat with high sides, a flat bottom and sharp bows. It is easy to build because of its simple lines. For centuries, the dory has been used as a traditional fishi ...

), in addition to spolas or linothorax body-armor, hoplite's helmet,

greave A greave (from the Old French ''greve'' "shin, shin armour") or jambeau is a piece of armour that protects the leg. Description The primary purpose of greaves is to protect the tibia from attack. The tibia, or shinbone, is very close to the ski ...

s and a

xiphos The ''xiphos'' ( grc, ξίφος ; plural ''xiphe'', grc, ξίφη ) is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin ...

or kopis sword (though their equipment was likely more ornate than main-line soldiers).. In contrast, the main Macedonian Phalanx consisted of the pikemen known as phalangites. These men were armed with the

Sarissa The sarisa or sarissa ( el, σάρισα) was a long spear or pike about in length. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in his Macedonian phalanxes as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. The ...

, a pike of between 4 to 6.7m, a small flat shield and a shortsword called a

Xiphos The ''xiphos'' ( grc, ξίφος ; plural ''xiphe'', grc, ξίφη ) is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin ...

as a secondary weapon. 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 Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. 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 Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

and cavalry. Their job was to guard the flanks of the large and unwieldy pike phalanx. The armored Phalangites with their sarissas 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

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefiel ...

because the

Macedonian phalanx The Macedonian phalanx ( gr, Μακεδονική φάλαγξ) was an infantry formation developed by Philip II from the classical Greek phalanx, of which the main innovation was the use of the sarissa, a 6 meter pike. It was famously commande ...

was all but invulnerable from the front, and was, with five layers of iron spikes moving in unison, used as the

anvil An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked"). Anvils are as massive as practical, because the highe ...

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 Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or ...

, would have been impossible (or at least much less effective) if performed by the phalangites. It is worth noting that all the references to a unit called "Hypaspists" are much later than the period of Philip, and modern historians have to assume that later sources, like

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

(1st century BC) and

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

, had access to earlier records. Arrian's phrase ) has frequently been rendered as 'lightest armed', although Brunt 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 raised from the whole 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 In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

, hypaspists apparently continued to exist, albeit in different capacities and under different names. The name lived on in the

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the M ...

, Ptolemaic and

Antigonid The Antigonid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιγονίδαι) was a Hellenistic dynasty of Dorian Greek provenance, descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-Eyed") that ruled mainly in Macedonia. History ...

kingdoms, yet they were now seen as royal bodyguards and military administrators. Polybius mentions a hypaspist being sent by

Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon aga ...

, after his defeat at the

Battle of Cynoscephalae The Battle of Cynoscephalae ( el, Μάχη τῶν Κυνὸς Κεφαλῶν) was an encounter battle fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Phil ...

in 197 BC, to

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

to burn state papers. The actual fighting unit of hypaspists seems to have lived on in Macedonia as the corps of

peltasts A ''peltast'' ( grc-gre, πελταστής ) was a type of light infantryman, originating in Thrace and Paeonia, and named after the kind of shield he carried. Thucydides mentions the Thracian peltasts, while Xenophon in the Anabasis distin ...

, whose status, equipment and role seems to have been almost exactly the same as that of the hypaspist under Philip. Originally consisting of 3,000 men, by the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman ...

there were 5,000, most likely to accommodate their elite formation, the Agema.Polybius. V.25.1

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