I didn’t know this fact from the list: (I hope it’s accurate!)
What makes the sarissa special is its length. While the Greeks used 7-9 foot spears in their phalanx, Phillip II of Macedon equipped his soldiers with pikes 13-20 feet in length depending on need and usage. As such, when he went on to conquer the Greeks, Athenians and Spartans alike could do nothing in the face of this walking wall of spiked death. Their spears were too short to reach the Macedonians.
Shaka’s assegai, a shortened spear, belongs in here somewhere. His impis used it as a stabbing weapon while advancing in line, pretty much the same way the Romans used the gladius. See Gladiator and Shaka Zulu for visuals. Shaka, who was as mad as a hatter, somehow managed to channel both Caesar and Hannibal.
Phillip and his boy were prodigies who combined arms better than anyone before Gustavus Adolphus (who figured out how to make cannon mobile).
Totally agree, although I think the author was looking at a more global effect.
PR
The sarissa was really only effective in groups as described. If you have a single soldier with a sarissa, he wouldn’t do so well against a faster opponent.
I’m surprised they didn’t include a flail of some sort. That was the anti-shield weapon.
Literally the weapon that allowed Alexander to be “great”. Phillip never got to put his tactics to the real test.
I luv me a good seax, but it shouldn’t be on this list. It was a camp knife/back-up weapon ranging fro 3 to 24″ and never intended to be a main weapon.
PR
You could sub the francisca, the Frank throwing axe. Saw a couple in the Imperial War Museum (I could spend a week in that place). Thrown in a volley to stick in or shatter shields immediately before an advamce, they also could bounce unpredictably when they hit the ground and take out a leg or worse- (think Bouncing Betty).