Welcome to the Ancient History thread, a thread to debate all matters pertaing to ancient history.
We begin today with the oft argued chestnut,
Who invented the Phalanx?
It is a common misconcepion that Alexander the Great invented the Phalanx military formation. While Alexander did indeed export it throughout the known world with outrageous success, it was in fact his auld fella, Phillip II (who was murdered in mysterious circumstances) who developed it from its primitave Sumerian origin into the all conquering battle juggernaut of its day.
Sumerian Phalanx from the time of King Eannatum of Lagash over Umma circa 2500 BC
Archtypal Greek Phalanx from the time of King Phillip II circa 350 BC
**Note of interest **
Although the 6 metre long spears look and serve the same essential function as pikes there were in fact called Sarrisa’s back in those days
Anybody hear of “Captivating History” books? They’re free to kindle and there’s an extensive list of them - Ancient history, Mesopotamia, Greeks, Romans etc, English history, tudors etc, American history, native americans, presidents, WW2 battles. If you have a kindle they’re certainly worth looking at
Doesn’t come under “Ancient History”, apologies @Lazarus, but The History Guy channel on YouTube is a worthwhile watch. This is his latest video:
Well Holy Fuck. Truly a man of high esteem @TheBlackSpot
Ive watched a few of them now but that ones my favorite. The Sumerians have to be the most underrated civilization in History. They fucking did it all bar invent sliced bread. That lad puts the History channel to shame. I’m in the market for a good doc now about Çatalhöyük if you every come across one
