#PRTO_Hypaspist
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^[Hypaspists] are the elite medium "auxiliary" foot soldiers of the ancient Macedonians. They move quickly and will [withdraw] from combat if they are losing (unless fighting another fast unit).
#DESC_PRTO_Hypaspist
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^When Alexander the Great became king of Macedon in 336 BC following the assassination of Philip II, he also inherited his father's army. The guards unit of this army was the Hypaspists (or "shield-bearers") and was an elite body of three 1,000 man units, the head unit being called the Agema (or "bodyguard"). Unlike the Macedonian Phalanxes, the Hypaspists was not formed from regional areas, but was instead a corps consisting of the very best soldiers from each phalanx. Later the Hypaspists were called Argyraspids (or "silver shields") following the new equipment they adopted during the Indian campaign. There is still much debate amongst historians about how these troops were equipped. Some scholars think that they were armed the same as the rest of the phalanx with a long two-handed pike, while others think that they were lighter armed, and used more like hellenistic Peltasts. Certainly they were used in the latter role by both Philip and Alexander, and are always mentioned whenever Alexander needed fast light troops for his many rapid flank marches. Also, Philip's feigned retreat at the battle of Chaeronea could not have been carried out by a slow ponderous phalanx, and much later when Macedon came in conflict with the Republic of Rome the Hypaspists seemed to have been brigaded with the Peltasts. Hypaspists disappear from history following the Roman conquest of Greece and Macedon in 168 BC.   
         

   