Gregory Aldrete

The ancient world, sort of from the Greeks through the Romans, there's this consistent line of focusing on heavy infantry. So going back to Greece, when they're fighting, let's say, Persia, which at the time was the superpower of the ancient world and vastly richer, vastly larger than ancient Greece, you know, tons more men.

The ancient world, sort of from the Greeks through the Romans, there's this consistent line of focusing on heavy infantry. So going back to Greece, when they're fighting, let's say, Persia, which at the time was the superpower of the ancient world and vastly richer, vastly larger than ancient Greece, you know, tons more men.

But the Persians tended to be archers, tended to be light horsemen, tended to be light infantry. Whereas the Greeks specialized in what are called hoplites, which is a kind of infantrymen with very heavy body armor, a helmet, a spear, and a really big heavy shield.

But the Persians tended to be archers, tended to be light horsemen, tended to be light infantry. Whereas the Greeks specialized in what are called hoplites, which is a kind of infantrymen with very heavy body armor, a helmet, a spear, and a really big heavy shield.

But the Persians tended to be archers, tended to be light horsemen, tended to be light infantry. Whereas the Greeks specialized in what are called hoplites, which is a kind of infantrymen with very heavy body armor, a helmet, a spear, and a really big heavy shield.

And they would get in that formation where you kind of make the shields overlap and just form this solid mass bristling with spear points and just slowly kind of march forward and grind up your enemy in front of you. And so that's that sort of block of heavy infantry. The advantages head on against other things, they tend to win. The disadvantages, it's slow moving.

And they would get in that formation where you kind of make the shields overlap and just form this solid mass bristling with spear points and just slowly kind of march forward and grind up your enemy in front of you. And so that's that sort of block of heavy infantry. The advantages head on against other things, they tend to win. The disadvantages, it's slow moving.

And they would get in that formation where you kind of make the shields overlap and just form this solid mass bristling with spear points and just slowly kind of march forward and grind up your enemy in front of you. And so that's that sort of block of heavy infantry. The advantages head on against other things, they tend to win. The disadvantages, it's slow moving.

It's vulnerable from the sides and the rear. So you got to protect those. But if you can keep frontally faced, it's pretty much invincible. And that's taken even further by Alexander the Great, who comes up with the idea, well, what if we even give them a longer spear? So Greek spears were six to eight feet long.

It's vulnerable from the sides and the rear. So you got to protect those. But if you can keep frontally faced, it's pretty much invincible. And that's taken even further by Alexander the Great, who comes up with the idea, well, what if we even give them a longer spear? So Greek spears were six to eight feet long.

It's vulnerable from the sides and the rear. So you got to protect those. But if you can keep frontally faced, it's pretty much invincible. And that's taken even further by Alexander the Great, who comes up with the idea, well, what if we even give them a longer spear? So Greek spears were six to eight feet long.

Alexander the Great arms his armies with the sarissa, which is this 15-foot, almost a pike, this extra long spear. And so when the spear is that long, you don't even hardly need the shields anymore. So it's just this incredibly powerful thing in frontal attack. And that's what he uses to make himself ruler of the known world.

Alexander the Great arms his armies with the sarissa, which is this 15-foot, almost a pike, this extra long spear. And so when the spear is that long, you don't even hardly need the shields anymore. So it's just this incredibly powerful thing in frontal attack. And that's what he uses to make himself ruler of the known world.

Alexander the Great arms his armies with the sarissa, which is this 15-foot, almost a pike, this extra long spear. And so when the spear is that long, you don't even hardly need the shields anymore. So it's just this incredibly powerful thing in frontal attack. And that's what he uses to make himself ruler of the known world.

He goes and conquers the Persian Empire and makes himself the Persian king of kings with this phalanx of troops armed with the sarissa. So that's very powerful. The Romans go a little bit different route. They have heavy infantry, but they focus more on fighting with short swords. So it's get up close and kind of stab. And the other thing the Romans do is they focus on –

He goes and conquers the Persian Empire and makes himself the Persian king of kings with this phalanx of troops armed with the sarissa. So that's very powerful. The Romans go a little bit different route. They have heavy infantry, but they focus more on fighting with short swords. So it's get up close and kind of stab. And the other thing the Romans do is they focus on –

He goes and conquers the Persian Empire and makes himself the Persian king of kings with this phalanx of troops armed with the sarissa. So that's very powerful. The Romans go a little bit different route. They have heavy infantry, but they focus more on fighting with short swords. So it's get up close and kind of stab. And the other thing the Romans do is they focus on –

flexibility, and subdividing their army. So Alexander's phalanx was a mass of, let's say, 5,000 guys, and it was one unit. The Roman army is organized in an ever-decreasing number of subunits. So you have a group of eight guys who are a contubernia, the men who share a tent. You take 10 of those, and they form a century of 80 men. You take a bunch of those, and you form a cohort.

flexibility, and subdividing their army. So Alexander's phalanx was a mass of, let's say, 5,000 guys, and it was one unit. The Roman army is organized in an ever-decreasing number of subunits. So you have a group of eight guys who are a contubernia, the men who share a tent. You take 10 of those, and they form a century of 80 men. You take a bunch of those, and you form a cohort.

flexibility, and subdividing their army. So Alexander's phalanx was a mass of, let's say, 5,000 guys, and it was one unit. The Roman army is organized in an ever-decreasing number of subunits. So you have a group of eight guys who are a contubernia, the men who share a tent. You take 10 of those, and they form a century of 80 men. You take a bunch of those, and you form a cohort.