"Macedonian Pike Helmets" Topic

I did some research and it seems rather scant as to the type of helmets actually worn by Macedonian phalanx's. Some sources stated helmets were based upon the region the soldiers came from and after Alexander becoming king he changed unit composition so they were no longer comprised of men from a certain region.

Others had stated helmets were issued by the state; noting records state the pilos was what was issued.

Victrix and Warlord have their Macedonians with a phrygian helmet. The Warlord 'Macedonian Royal Guard' box set comes with metal phyrigian helmets with decorations flowing along the sides. The Victrix 'Macedonian Phalanx' set has the same decorated helmets, but not their Successor set.

Do we really know what helmets were used by whom? What units? Royal Guards having the extra decorations, but not other units?

From "Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars"
The helmet from Phillip's tomb is a combination of Thracian (aka Phrygian) and Attic styles. Coins show Alexander wearing a Thracian style helmet. The sarcophagus hos him in a lion helmet and the helmets worn by other Macedonian soldiers. The illustration of the Hypaspist has the additional side plumes at the top of the helmet. Additional helmet plumes also designated officers and maybe file leaders. The Seleucids used Attic and Thracian helmets and an unusual one shown on the coins of Tryphon. Abtigonid infantry are shown with a low crested Thracian style helmet. The Bactrian-Greeks had their own style of helmet.

The above book also includes illustrations of various shield patterns used.

While a lot of "Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars" is still valid, it is more than thirty-five years old, and a lot has been found and written since then.

The latest theory on Macedonian infantry helmets, which I don't think any of the figure manufacturers have yet caught up with, is that Alexander at some stage in his career standardised on the pilos helmet for his phalanx. This idea was originally put forward in Pierre Juhel's article "The Regulation Helmet of the Phalanx and the Introduction of the Concept of Uniform in the Macedonian Army at the End of the Reign of Alexander the Great" in Klio 91(2) (2009). Juhel bases his argument on the explicit statement of the Roman-era author Julius Africanus that the Macedonians used the Lakonian pilos; and on the fact that the earliest examples of pilos-and-shield Macedonian coins date to Alexander's reign.

If correct, the use of the pilos might extend to later armies as well. Certainly some Hellenistic renderings of phalanx infantry – the Pergamon bronze battle-scene plaque (see link ) and some Antigonid-era grave stelae – show the pilos.

Other representations of infantry show Macedonian/Thracian style helmets (the men with Argive shields on the Alexander Sarcophagus, the infantry in the Agios Athanasios tomb); if ordinary infantry did wear the pilos, it is possible that these might represent guard troops in helmets more expensive than the simple pilos.

The Pilos helmet was definitely one of many used as it was easier to make than the others and less costly for a state issued helmet. The other types are known from Archeological and numismatic evidence. They would likely have continued in use to avoid the cost of replacing them.

It is difficult to say that the other types of helmet are known to have been used by phalanx infantrymen.

My guess is that despite the glorious coolness of crests, that phalangites would probably prefer the nice smooth bullet shaped pilos. The fancy Thraco-Phrygian with its curved metal hooks and prongs seems like the perfect place to befoul the back rankers poles.

It does seem that as time goes on there is more evidence for the pilos. Even the Alexander Sarcophagus seems to have hoplite style shields- which at the least makes them likely hypaspists, and the fancier helmets then make sense.

What shocks me is that AMPW is thirty five years old. Still kicking strong. Thanks Duncan!

Thanks!

One of the materials I read was 'An Invincible Beast: Understanding the Hellenistic Pike Phalanx in Action' by Christopher Matthew.

link

I guess it's the olde 'Just make them the way you want them".