To win a battle one needs weapons and troops (amongst other things). But to be truly effective and potent one must be able to control the troops in order to be triumphant. Alexander's army is a perfect example of flawless control of soldiers. The discipline within this army was so great and so proscribed it was almost a dream. It started with Alexander's father King Philip, who was the first to start making the job of the soldier a well paying job. Before men would join up until crop season then drop out to grow crops. This was somewhat of a pain because they could only fight a war nine months a year, then go home for crop season. So Philip decided to make military a profession. By doing this a majority of the men stayed all year. This brought unity and brotherhood

The army was made into two basic parts: infantry and cavalry. The infantry was the majority of the army, doing most of the work. It was here that some of the greatest battle tactics and weapons were born. First was the formation of the troops, depending on the situation there were different ways. In battle the soldiers would fight in the standard "wall" formation, where everyone would arrange into columns and move forward. But then King Philip developed the phalanx; this would be exploited by Alexander and become the greatest tactic of war. "The Phalanx, a box formation for infantry soldiers from eight to thirty-six men deep" , the front men carried long spears (4 to 8m) and held the spears vertical. This prevented the enemy from seeing the happenings behind and also to hide the true numbers of the army. Alexander's men took to this like a fish in water; they would be able to hold off any attack from horses to men. This was the basis for the Roman Legion. If they were traveling they would walk in two lines so they were able to defend if ambushed. In most of the major battles this not only proved itself as a super-effective battle tactic for the soldiers but it was also much safer and had a significantly less number of casualties: "The battle on the Granik River Persians lost 1000 cavalry and 18000 infantry. The Macedonians lost only 85 cavalry and 30 infantry. The battle at Is the Persians lost 110,000 men while the Macedonians lost no where near that." The cavalry was another strong point of the army, with highly skilled riders, fearless horses and unconventional formation. Alexander's cavalrymen rode into battle in a wedge shaped formation, different from the traditional box. It was a major part of the battle plans. Before any hand to hand combat took place the cavalry would ride in, in the wedge and nine times out of ten split the opposing troops into smaller groups, making it easier for the infantry. There were also masters of the flank. Alexander used them more for flanking the enemy, preventing a retreat leaving only surrender into slavery or complete annihilation. The cavalry was a major asset of Alexander's army because of its mobility, the cavalry could be called to any part of the battlefield, get there fast and cause large amounts of deaths. All of these reasons are very important to prove Alexander's army was a great army, but there is one reason that stands in a league of its own and without this no army can become great. That is Alexander.

A perfect example of this discipline and loyalty towards Alexander was when the soldiers followed Alexander into Asia Minor. Using all the money of the kingdom and going in debt 200 talents to keep the troops. "When one of his generals asked what he had kept for

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Approximate Word count = 1844
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)