Pezhetairos
Sign in to saveThe pezhetairoi (Greek: , singular: pezhetairos) were the backbone of the Macedonian army and Diadochi kingdoms. They were literally "foot companions" (in Greek, pezos means "pedestrian" and hetairos means "companion" or "friend").
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- military unit
- Country
- Macedonia
- Military branch
- Ancient Macedonian army
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Description
- Asthetairoi
- Battalions
- See also
- Notes
- References
The pezhetairoi (Greek: , singular: pezhetairos) were the backbone of the Macedonian army and Diadochi kingdoms. They were literally "foot companions" (in Greek, pezos means "pedestrian" and hetairos means "companion" or "friend").
The Macedonian phalanxes were made up almost entirely of pezhetairoi. Pezhetairoi were very effective against both enemy cavalry and infantry, as their long pikes could be used to impale enemies charging on horseback or to keep enemy infantry with shorter weapons at bay.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pezhetairos” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.