Phillip,the father of Alexander the Great,began the internal and military reforms of the state of Macedonia in the mid 4th century BC.Situated to the north of Greece,Macedonia had always been influenced by Greek culture.By the end of Phillips reign he had forced Greek unification and was in the process of an invasion of Asia to conquer the empire of the Archaemenid Persians.After his fathers death,Alexander proceeded with this plan and carved out one of the largest empires the world has ever seen.The backbone of the army was the "Phalangite" or pikeman.Highly disciplined,well armoured blocks of infantry would (usually) roll over their opponents.Much use was made of light troops and shock cavalry.Co-ordination ot these arms,effective sub commanders and a good administration of conquered territory saw the start of a "hellenising" of Asia that lasted for 500 years.After Alexanders death in 323BC. the empire was divided between the surviving generals and these Successor states prospered or fought each other for the next 200 years until they eventually succumbed to Rome.
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