12 Hypaspist Macedonians The Hypaspists were the flower of the Macedonian infantry. The were the most battle hardened unit within the army and followed Philip II and Alexander the Great into over a dozen full scale engagements. These heavily armed and opulently armoured units acted as an intermediary between the phalanx and the cavalry arm, many times charging headlong with Alexander into a breech in the enemy lines. Sometimes they fought as slow pikemen, like the Pezhetairoi with 18 foot "sarissas", and other times they fought as Hoplites with large aspides and 2.8 meter spears, or "dorata". In later times they became known as the Agryapides, or "Silver Shields" when Alexander bestowed upon them armor and shields plated in pure silver. 9.0 9.0 14.0 180 23.0 19.0 2.0 46.0 38.5 5.0 5.0 1500 8.5 17.5 temp/mace_su1_hypaspist.xml