''Chalkaspides'' () is a poetic term used by writers of

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

to refer to a

Macedonian phalanx The Macedonian phalanx () 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-metre pike. It was famously commanded by Philip's son Alexander the Grea ...

. The most notable group called ''chalkaspides'' was the main phalanx force of the Antigonid Macedonian army in the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

. The group were

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( ) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the sold ...

s who fought in phalanx formation using long

sarissa The sarissa or sarisa 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. These longer spears imp ...

s and bronze shields, either a '' pelta'' or an ''

aspis An ''aspis'' (; : aspides, ) or ''porpax'' shield was the heavy wooden shield used by the infantry in various periods of ancient Greece. Construction An ''aspis'' was deeply dished and made primarily of wood. Some had a thin sheet of bronze ...

''. They may have been supplemented by another Antigonid force called the '' Leukaspides'' ("White Shields") when more manpower was necessary, although the ''leukaspides'' are less well-attested to in ancient sources. The ''leukaspides'' may have been very similar to the ''chalkaspides'' and also fought as a phalanx, or they might be a term for non-Macedonian allies and mercenaries who used wooden thyreos shields rather than the bronze ''pelta''. King Antigonus Doson armed the citizens of

Megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...

as "Bronze Shields" for the Sellasia campaign in 222 BC. These units fought in the various

Macedonian Wars The Macedonian Wars (214–148 BC) were a series of conflicts fought by the Roman Republic and its Greek allies in the eastern Mediterranean against several different major Greek kingdoms. They resulted in Roman control or influence over Ancient ...

against the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. Plutarch records 1,200 wagons filled with bronze shields taken as spoils after the Roman victory at the

Battle of Pydna The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back ...

in 168 BC, presumably from the defeated ''chalkaspides''. The term ''Chalkaspides'' is found in other Hellenistic armies, as well. The historian

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

records a military parade by the

Seleucid army The Seleucid army was the army of the Seleucid Empire, one of the numerous Hellenistic states that emerged after the death of Alexander the Great. As with the other major Hellenistic armies, the Seleucid army fought primarily in the Greco-Maced ...

of the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

, a suburb of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

, in 165 BCE. The Seleucid phalanx seems to have been formed into two corps: 10,000 '' Chrysaspides'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Χρυσάσπιδες "Golden Shields") and 5,000 ''Chalkaspides''. While the Seleucids clearly heavily used phalanxes in their wars, if a separate corps was meant by Polybius with the reference to ''chalkaspides'', little else is known specifically about that corps. A reference in

1 Maccabees 1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest hi ...

refers to bronze shields present at the Battle of Beth Zechariah in 162 BC. The

Achaean League The Achaean League () was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era confederation of polis, Greek city-states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea (ancient region), Achaea in the northwestern Pelopon ...

's phalanx are also sometimes called ''chalkaspides''.

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

writes of

Mithridates VI of Pontus Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...

fielding a corps of ''chalkaspides'' against

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

at the Battle of Chaeronea (86 BCE).Plutarch, Life of Sulla, 16.7

References

Bibliography

*Plutarch. ''

Parallel Lives * Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero ...

''. ''Aemilius Paullus, c. 20'', ''Sulla, c. 16 & c. 19'' * * {{cite book , last1=Sekunda , first1=Nicholas Victor , author-link=Nicholas Victor Sekunda , date=2013 , title=The Antigonid Army , location=Gdańsk , publisher=University of Gdańsk , series=Akanthina No. 8 , isbn=978-83-7531-266-9 Ancient Greek military terminology Military units and formations of the Hellenistic world Infantry units and formations of Macedon Ancient Greek infantry types

See also

References

Bibliography