ABSTRACT
This chapter traces how Philip II of Macedonia created a hybrid military machine by synthesising military elements from both the Achaemenid and the Classical Greek military systems. Besides the Macedonian engineers, Alexander also enlisted specialists of siege warfare from Cyprus and Phoenicia. He deployed catapults in his horse transport ships and on his triremes to bombard the city. The Hellenistic generals (especially Demetrius) would later emulate this practice. Once the rams had battered the wall on the southern section, Alexander himself led his elite Hypaspists into the breach. No doubt the terrific Battle of Hydaspes and the fear of the Nanda war elephants to a great extent created the Beas Mutiny in the summer of 326 bce, which discouraged Alexander from moving further eastwards into India. Moving downward from Punjab into Sind, Alexander went back to Persia along the Makran Coast. In both China and India, professional bureaucratic armies emerged after 400 bce.
