The infantry itself was organized into two components, one was the phalanx (taxeis), a force of 1,536 pikemen that stood sixteen fifteen deep. They stood shoulder to shoulder with an 18-20 foot sarissa, they did not carry the heavy body armor of Greek infantry which made them extremely manoeuvrable on the battlefield. They were largely equipped with leather jackets, leather helmets and a small shield which was worn around the shoulder and they stood in close formation the first six ranks their spears pointed out and the back ten ranks held their spears at an angle to deflect any arrows, slings, or javelins that were hurled their way. This force would then pin the enemy front and the cvalry would encircle and you would have a battle of encirclement with the object of complete annihilation of the enemy. The objective was not to break the enemy and pursue it which was the technique of the old form of hoplite
The infantry itself was organized into two components, one was the phalanx (taxeis), a force of 1,536 pikemen that stood sixteen fifteen deep. They stood shoulder to shoulder with an 18-20 foot sarissa, they did not carry the heavy body armor of Greek infantry which made them extremely manoeuvrable on the battlefield. They were largely equipped with leather jackets, leather helmets and a small shield which was worn around the shoulder and they stood in close formation the first six ranks their spears pointed out and the back ten ranks held their spears at an angle to deflect any arrows, slings, or javelins that were hurled their way. This force would then pin the enemy front and the cvalry would encircle and you would have a battle of encirclement with the object of complete annihilation of the enemy. The objective was not to break the enemy and pursue it which was the technique of the old form of hoplite