The Makedonian phalanx -- why such depth?

[Paullus Scipio]

In fact,hypaspist is an earlier word that meant "servant", the one who carries your shield untill you're about to fight. They were not a unit. It s more likely that the macedonian hypaspist took their name from their service under the king himself than from the usage of any particular kind of shield. For one,the hypaspist were a unit trained to fight in different ways.
Khaire
Giannis

Absolutely. "Local" kings had their "hypaspists" prior to Philip II as is attested in the literary sources. The notion that these are definitely "hoplite" aspis carriers is a nonsense. It would appear that, under Philip II and Alexander III, these troops (pezhetairoi under Philip) as the guard corps of dominant Macedonian kings, became the hypaspists of the time.

Hypaspist would appear - as you say - to be a traditional nomencalture.

...it seems you two have wandered off-topic and on to the nature of the "hypaspists" armament. 'Hypaspist' does indeed translate literally as 'aspis-bearer', or more generically as 'shield-bearer', but NOT 'servant'.Perhaps Paralus would care to specify where in literature guard units of "local Kings" (local to where?) are referred in literature as Hypaspists? I can think of only one off-hand - The 'King' of Paeonia had a 'Hypaspist' guard, contemporary with and clearly an imitation of Macedonian Hypaspists.

Furthermore, the nomenclature is hardly 'traditional' - the use of this name for Macedonian Guards cannot be traced before 350 BC, and it is possible they were raised and named around 356 BC.

Nor did 'Hypaspists' fight in "different" ways......what evidence suggests this, beyond the fact that, as an elite Guard unit, they were frequently chosen for special missions?

I think you would agree that the sculptural and painting evidence shows that before and during Philip and Alexander's reign, the 'Aspis' was definitely carried and used by some Macedonian troops ( e.g. the 'Alexander sarcophagus' , the Veria relief, the Aghios Athenasios frieze, various tomb paintings etc). Since there is ample evidence that the Phalanx was armed with the sarissa and a rimless 'pelta' c. 73 cm in diameter, which troops carried the larger ( c.95 cm) rimmed 'Aspis'?

There can, in reality, be only one probable candidate - the obvious one - the 'Aspis-Carriers'/Hypaspists. ( and please let us have no nonsense and red herrings about 'asthetaroi', since whoever they were, they were members of the sarissa and pelta armed Phalanx).

...and if a 'clincher' were needed, the shields found in the 'Philip' tomb ( probably that of Philip Arrhidaeus, Alexander's half-brother) were indeed 'aspides', and if a Macedonian King fought on foot, where else but among his body-guard, the Hypaspists?

This is really an old debate going back to Berve, Kromayer and Veith and Tarn etc. However the evidence and consensus ( see e.g. Markle) in recent years seems to be that the 'Hypasists' were just that - 'Aspis-carriers'.

P.S. If the tomb is that of Philip Arrhidaeus, then it is further evidence ( along with depictions of the Aspis on Macedonian coins) that Macedonian troops continued to use the Aspis after Alexander's death, as you would expect....hence I believe the former Hypaspists, renamed 'Argyraspides' continued to carry it.. D