Ancient Greek warfare of the phalanx to its logical completion, arming his 'phalangites' (for they were assuredly not hoplites) with a fearsome pike, the 'sarissa'. Much more lightly armored, the Macedonian phalanx was not so much a shield-wall as a spear-wall. The Macedonian phalanx was a supreme defensive formation, but was not intended to be decisive offensively; instead, it was used to pin down the enemy infantry, whilst more mobile forces (such as cavalry) outflanked them. This 'combined arms' approach was furthered by the extensive use of skirmishers, such as peltasts. Tactically, Phillip absorbed the lessons of centuries of warfare in Greece. He
Greek units of measurement Greek units of measurement A number of units of measurement were used in Greece to measure length, mass, area, and capacity. In Greece, the metric system has been used since 1836 and was made compulsory in 1922. One "piki" varied from 0.640 m to 0.670 m. 1 "pic" was equal to 1 piki. The "small piki" of Constantinople (also known as the "endeze") was equal to 0.648 m The "large piki" of Constantinople (also known as the "arsin") was equal to 0.669 m A masonry "piki" (also known as the "meimar zire") was equal to 0.750 m. Two types of