Symmerian phalanx

The Symmerian Phalanx was an infantry formation used by the Ancient Symmerian Army and its successors, the Symmerian Khanate and the [[Rioni Union], from roughly the 4th Century BCE to the 18th Century CE. It was derived from the hoplite phalanx of the Kydonian League during the age of Classical Syara, and diverged in the 3rd Century, most notably with the adoption of the six-meter long Sarissa pike and its subsequent usage by Orestes II to form the Symmerian Empire. The Sarissa remained in use until the 4th and 5th Centuries CE, when it was gradually replaced by a variety of polearms following the Symmerian Recession. The final iteration of the phalanx as a pike formation emerged following the conquest of Symmeria by the Adamdar Empire, and it continued to see usage up until the mass adoption of firearms and the combination of the musket and bayonet by the Army of the Rioni Union in the 17th Century. Throughout its' heyday the phalanx was a symbol of Symmerian military might and was employed against a wide array of opponents. The phalanx encapsulated the organized and corporate form of warfare emblematic of Hellenic Syara and was predicated on usage by highly trained professional soldiers, a sharp contrast to the vast levy and conscript armies typically fielded by the Symmerian army. The soldiers of the phalanx, known as phalangites, were often the only ethnically Symmerian soldiers in ancient Symmerian armies. The term phalanx remains in use in modern Syara as a term for a strong-bonded or resolute force or group.