The Antigonids (at least at Sellasia) seem to have put much more confidence in the (literal) weight of their phalangites

Though I’d say it maybe speaks to it being seen as not that necessary but it’s hard to judge, seeing that we’re missing any detail on how Macedonian-style phalanx vs phalanx battles went. It seems like a novelty that Ptolemy relied on the extra phalanx numbers at Raphia instead of cavalry though-

Do they mean the "amount" of armour? Are certain parts missing? Is it the cuirass-type they're wearing? (Probably not, because 3 obols difference would be quite shocking for something that small)
Who knows?

Won't deny that haha

One could even add the ambiguous "half-armoured" [ἡ̣μιθωράκιον] from the Aitolian-Akarnanian alliance inscription (IG_9.1².3), who - with 9 obols - make 3 obols less than a "πανοπλίαν" hoplite

How many really

Wasted opportunity to call one the Argo

Though it's Polyainos, so who knows where he got that from...

It's really complicated to quote something around the character limit lol

Though for Alexander's soldiers it's just the front:
Poly. 4.3.13
Alexandros gave the soldiers *hemithorakia* instead of *thorakon*, so that they were protected from the front [κατὰ πρόσωπον] holding their ground but if they fled, they would not be able to protect their back parts [τὰ ὄπισθεν μέρη]

All the more impressive how Boiotia and Athens can balance their armies (though I’m not sure how intentional it is for the Boiotians, but the Athenians at least subsidise their cavalry force, besides having a strong hoplite and naval force as well as light infantry)

But still augment their forces heavily with the light infantry branch (the Malians and other peoples bordering Thessaly seemingly providing expertise in that regard or Thracians/Bottiaians/Mygdonians in the Chalkidike)

Yeah, it’s a very interesting point (and perhaps underexplored one - due to the regular focus on Athens and Sparta) that the „aristocratic“ elements may weigh very heavily into just one branch, like cavalry in Thessaly and the Chalkidike cities, which don’t seem to field strong hoplites in the CP

Underappreciated section in Aristotle, where he says that the hoplites and cavalry are the aristocratic parts of a society, while light infantry and navies are the democratic

Honestly, my no. 1 fear going into the new year was the US doing such a symbolic-ass move as starting a war immediately on day one …

Happy new year!