11. An Unstoppable Military Machine
Philip also created a corps of engineers to design and build new war instruments. Additionally, he coordinated different troop types to support each other, creating combined arms tactics. Heavy infantry, light skirmishers, archers, slingers, cavalry, and engineers, all worked together. That made their whole greater than the sum of their parts. Philip’s signature tactic came to be known as the “hammer and anvil”, with the phalanx fixing an enemy in place (anvil), and the cavalry closing in with shock tactics, acting as a hammer to shatter the foe. Philip’s army was unstoppable, and by 338 BC, he had mastered Greece. He then began preparations for his life’s ambition: invading the Persian Empire. However, just before setting out to conquer Persia, Philip was assassinated at a wedding. It would be his son, Alexander the Great, who would use Philip’s military machine and tactics to become the Ancient World’s greatest conqueror.
