- Pike
Macedonians deploy the pike in the phalanx.
A major weapon advancement in the complicated history of ancient warfare, the invention of the pike in 400 B.C.E. is credited for the Macedonian takeover of Greece, Egypt, and parts of Asia.
Philip 2 of Macedonia (382-336 B.C.E.), father of the famous Alexander the Great, is credited with adopting the pike (also called the sarissa), as well as the Macedonian phalanx, a type of infantry formation of soldiers. The pike was around 20 feet (6 m) long, and this great length enabled soldiers to strike while they were themselves out of range of shorter weapons. The phalanx consisted of a tight formation of soldiers and pikes. The men in the front of the phalanx would hold their pikes straight out, creating an equivalent depth of about five rows of men.
Before Philip's invention, the Macedonian army was considered ill-equipped and ill-trained. The combination of the pike and the phalanx formation ensured that the soldiers were well defended the phalanx arrangement only failed if the formation was broken or outflanked, which happened rarely. The
pike was an effective weapon only when used in the phalanx, and was essentially useless outside of it. Awaynfrom the phalanx formation, Philip's men used javelins. They were adept in the use of both types of weapons, an impressive military feat since the skills required to use each of them are quite different.
Alexander the Great inherited Philip's military tactics with the pike and phalanx and used them to conquer Egypt, Persia, and what is now northern India. Versions of the pike were still being used in military operations up until the eighteenth century. While the phalanx may seem an unwieldy fighting unit today, it was able to act like a modern-day tank, breaking away to crash into enemy ranks with impunity.
SEE ALSO: SPEAR, METALWORKING, SWORD, HELMET, CHAIN MAIL
- Pipe Organ
Ktesibios reinvents a primitive instrument.
Long before the development of the pipe organ, it's essential musical element-a set of pipes of different sizes that resonate at different pitches when air is passed through them-existed in the form of the syrinx. This simple instrument was used widely throughout the eastern Mediterranean region.
However, in 240 B.C.E., Ktesibios (c. 285-222 B.C.E.), a Greek engineer, developed a way of supplying a steady flow of air to the pipes. He attached them to a closed box into which air was pumped using pressurized water, creating and maintaining steady air pressure in the box. The pipes were opened or closed to the air source by a simple switch system operated from a keyboard. This device was originally caller hydraulis, later organum, and produced loud sounds, clearly audible outdoors and ideal for use at games and processions. The instrument appears in paintings, mosaics, and writings throughout Byzantium.
The pipe organ is the oldest musical instrument still used in classical music. It was developed in the Byzantine Empire, and was adopted by the Christian church in the first century C.E. The hydraulic system was replaced by bellows in the following century.
SEE ALSO: METALWORKING, ELECTRIC GUITAR, SPEECH SYNTHESIS, ELECTRONIC SYNTHESIZER