The Makedonian phalanx -- why such depth?

[PMBardunias]

We are therefore left with the model I have suggested or...............??????

Or they deployed into a phalanx at the spacing intended for the charge, which could be 16,8, or 4. You ascribe far too much to Xenophon's telling us his troops were arrayed in battle. He was not entering battle, but trying to get a Queen's blood pumping for his boss. Thus he has to tell us that he arrayed them in an order that is like battle order because he is NOT going into battle. He is specifically telling us that this was no parade of troops, but a simulation of the charge of a phalanx. Greeks may well have formed in 4 ranks when facing lighter asian troops whose large numbers would present an even greater threat of outflanking than back home, but clearly he had little fear that the Queen and her handmaidens were going to break through his line and was free to array it in any manner that would look most impressive.

The only thing worse than being outflanked is being broken through. Whether physical push is invoked or we fall back on moral cohesion or simple replacement, depth has great value on a battlefield.

My guess is that these guys below would love some more depth (though of course they are reenacting and shedding far less blood than an actual push of pike):