Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Our first guest is Dr. Graham Wrightson, from South Dakota State University, is the leading expert on the Macedonian sarissa, including reconstructing them and experimenting with how they might actually have functioned.
https://www.sdstate.edu/directory/graham-wrightson
VIDEOS OF THE SARISSA IN ACTIONS:
facebook.com/watch/?v=284609168631375
My 2023 experimental history class and the public day at its end was featured in the local news: listen.sdpb.org/arts-life/2023-06-01/sdsu-history-class-brings-ancient-infantry-to-life
youtube.com/shorts/Yt1Jz9gEh20
The recent deployment of them at UNO in September of 2024:
SOME OF DR. WRIGHTSON'S PUBLICATIONS:
The Third Macedonian War and Battle of Pydna: Perseus' Neglect of Combined-arms Tactics and the Real Reasons for the Roman Victory. Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2023.
penandswordbooks.com/9781526793508/the-third-macedonian-war-and-battle-of-pydna
The Battles of Antiochus the Great: the failure of combined arms at Magnesia. Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2022.
penandswordbooks.com/9781526793461/the-battles-of-antiochus-the-great
Combined Arms warfare in Ancient Greece: from Homer to Alexander the Great and his Successors. London and New York: Routledge, 2019.
routledge.com/Combined-Arms-Warfare-in-Ancient-Greece-From-Homer-to-Alexander-the-Great-and-his-Successors/Wrightson/p/book/9781032093581
“The nature of command in the Macedonian sarissa phalanx.” AHB 24 (2010): 71-92.
ancienthistorybulletin.org/downloads/graham-wrightson-the-nature-of-command-in-the-macedonian-sarissa-phalanx
“To use or not to use: The practical and historical reliability of Asclepiodotus’ ‘philosophical’ tactical manual.” In Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research (IAWC vol. 1) edited by G. Lee, H. Whittaker, & G. Wrightson, 65-93. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2015.
cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-7035-1
“The Macedonian heavy infantry of Philip II and Alexander the Great: professionals in a world of amateurs.” In Brill's Companion to the Campaigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great, edited by Edward Anson. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
brill.com/display/title/71317
Our first guest is Dr. Graham Wrightson, from South Dakota State University, is the leading expert on the Macedonian sarissa, including reconstructing them and experimenting with how they might actually have functioned.
https://www.sdstate.edu/directory/graham-wrightson
VIDEOS OF THE SARISSA IN ACTIONS:
facebook.com/watch/?v=284609168631375
My 2023 experimental history class and the public day at its end was featured in the local news: listen.sdpb.org/arts-life/2023-06-01/sdsu-history-class-brings-ancient-infantry-to-life
youtube.com/shorts/Yt1Jz9gEh20
The recent deployment of them at UNO in September of 2024:
SOME OF DR. WRIGHTSON'S PUBLICATIONS:
The Third Macedonian War and Battle of Pydna: Perseus' Neglect of Combined-arms Tactics and the Real Reasons for the Roman Victory. Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2023.
penandswordbooks.com/9781526793508/the-third-macedonian-war-and-battle-of-pydna
The Battles of Antiochus the Great: the failure of combined arms at Magnesia. Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2022.
penandswordbooks.com/9781526793461/the-battles-of-antiochus-the-great
Combined Arms warfare in Ancient Greece: from Homer to Alexander the Great and his Successors. London and New York: Routledge, 2019.
routledge.com/Combined-Arms-Warfare-in-Ancient-Greece-From-Homer-to-Alexander-the-Great-and-his-Successors/Wrightson/p/book/9781032093581
“The nature of command in the Macedonian sarissa phalanx.” AHB 24 (2010): 71-92.
ancienthistorybulletin.org/downloads/graham-wrightson-the-nature-of-command-in-the-macedonian-sarissa-phalanx
“To use or not to use: The practical and historical reliability of Asclepiodotus’ ‘philosophical’ tactical manual.” In Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research (IAWC vol. 1) edited by G. Lee, H. Whittaker, & G. Wrightson, 65-93. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2015.
cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-7035-1
“The Macedonian heavy infantry of Philip II and Alexander the Great: professionals in a world of amateurs.” In Brill's Companion to the Campaigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great, edited by Edward Anson. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
brill.com/display/title/71317
