Does anyone know where a video or animation of a Greek/Roman/Macedonian Phalanx could be found? I've already tried the Yahoo video search and Limewire, but neither of those turned up anything. A gameplay movie from Rome: Total War would work. The phalanx in the demo is kind of lame...

I want this for a school project, if anyone's wondering.

Thanks,
Lanscader

I found many photos, either of contemporary drawings or of military minatures that you could use (people who paint minatures tend to be highly accurate), but no videos that might be better than RTW. You might want to check out, though, some videos here:

http://www.twcenter.net/downloads/db/?act=mods&cat_id=12

Cheers,
John

Those were apparently in Rome: Total War format, but I don't have the game. Thanks anyway.

I did find some awesome vids of phalanxes I just searched for Rome total war.

The history channel is airing "rise and fall of the Spartans on Oct 25 maybe you can tape or get the vid. This is part 2. Hope it helps..

http://www.historychannel.com/thcsearch/thc_search.do

Remember that the Romans did NOT use a phalanx - it's a Greek form of warfare. The Romans used "acies triplex" - three lines of soldiers that rotated so that the first line was always fresh. The first episode of the current HBO series ROME has a good example of how it worked - with the centurian blowing a whistle to mark the change of front lines.

So stay away from anything Roman in your search.

Polybius distinguishes the two in his The Histories, Book XVIII, Chapters 28-32:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/polybius-maniple.html

However, he was talking about the later Legion; one may suppose that the early legions (prior the 4th century BCE) included formations composed of the wealthier citizens who could afford the best armor, and which closely resembled the Greek hoplite phalanx. It was from the Greeks, after all, that early Rome learned some of the finer points of war, and to their credit that they soon began to improve upon them.

Regards,
John

Sorry about that.. in the search box on this page type phalanx

http://www.historychannel.com/thcsearch/thc_search.do

Thanks for the help, but I'm probably presenting this Friday, and I already found what I need. I did use Rome: Total War stuff, and it is definately not an acies triplex. I think the phalanxes in the game are from the Greek factions or the remnants of Alexander the Great's armies. Either that, or they just got it wrong (which would not suprise me in a video game).

Thanks,
Lanscader

My husband says they do a good job of showing the Greek phalanx in the movie Alexander the Great. He's a military wargamer and is real picky about how Hollywood shows it and said they did a particulalry good job on the phalanx in that movie.