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This video is a full historical analysis of the second episode of Alexander the making of a god, released on Netflix.
Here are the links to my review of the trailer and my review of the first episode.
Trailer
   • Netflix is a JOKE! Alexander The Grea...  
Episode 1
   • They Did WHAT!? Netflix Alexander the...  
Link to my video on the looks of bronze in the ancient period
   • Most of You Will Get This Wrong  

As I always premise these videos of mine, of course we understand it's a historically inspired work of
fiction but in this case this is a docuseries so differently from a fantasy setting, or a historically
inspired movie, a docuseries is right there underneath a full documentary. People watch it to learn
history and being entertained so a higher level of scrutiny in this case is I believe justified

The infantry has always been the most important part of the Macedonian war
machine. The Macedonians under Philip II had succeeded in imposing themselves on most of Greece
as a hegemonic force both because of their astute political choices and because they had completely
revolutionized the concept of infantry. Developing, perfecting and sublimating some elements that
had already been partly discussed and implemented by the Athenian Iphicrates and then by the
Theban Epaminondas, Philip II re-equipped his infantry transforming the previous canonical model of
the Greek warrior, the Hoplite, into a new type of warrior, the Pezhetairos, who no longer uses the
cumbersome hoplite shield, the aspis, and the thrusting spear, the dory, but the pelte, a small round
shield fastened to the arm, and the sarissa, a long pike wielded with two hands that at the time of
Alexander reached 5 meters. Thus armed, the Macedonian infantryman does not charge against the
enemy, like the hoplite, but advances towards them at marching pace, opposing them with a deadly
forest of pikes. The "steamroller" of the phalanx had proved deadly in the wars in Greece, and
Alexander sublimated his father's tactics by employing the cavalry to outflank enemy formations and
drive them against the forest of pikes of the infantry, devising the anvil and hammer tactic, which
requires synergy between the two corps, infantry and cavalry. One of the reasons that led Alexander
to improve the Macedonian cavalry and expand it, perhaps, was also in anticipation of facing the
Persian empire, whose army TRULY found its most important part in the cavalry. The Bactrian and
Sogdian cavalry squadrons were feared, and could easily hold their own against Alexander's cavalry,
while the Persian infantry, even those recruited from Greek mercenaries and subjects, certainly could
not match the phalanx. It is true that Alexander won many of his battles because he was able to
make good use of his cavalry, leading it in person and managing to hold his own against the Persian
cavalry, but precisely because it was the most critical confrontation.All the emphasis placed on the fact that Memnon must have been shocked by Alexander's initial
cavalry charge makes no sense. In reality, the first Macedonian assault led by officers Amyntas and
Socrates, who led the vanguards of the right wing, was met with a tremendous throwing of javelins
by the Persians, and then, as Arrian writes:
"The Macedonians, being far inferior in number, suffered severely at the first onset, because they
were obliged to defend themselves in the river, where their footing was unsteady, and where they
were below the level of their assailants; whereas the Persians were fighting from the top of the bank,
which gave them an advantage, especially as the best of the Persian horse had been posted there.
Memnon himself, as well as his sons, were running every risk with these; and the Macedonians who
first came into conflict with the Persians, though they showed great valour, were cut down, except
those who retreated to Alexander, who was now approaching."

Alexander's tactic is not "bizarre" in any way: having arrived to the aid of the forces of Amyntas and
Socrates, by now in disarray, with his cavalry he simply falls upon the Persian left wing. Some
historians interpret Arrian's description, the most detailed we have of the battle, as a charge by
Alexander towards the Persian center, but if we read the text carefully, Alexander falls where
Memnon has deployed the bulk of his horsemen, who in Arrian's previous passage are explicitly
placed on the left wing.


#alexanderthegreat #netflix #mythbusting