over bad ground. The combination disorganised the Scottish phalanxes and permitted effective attacks by English longbowmen, and soldiers wielding shorter, handier polearms called bills. Some contemporary sources might say that the bills cut off the heads of Scottish pikes. The pike was briefly reconsidered as a weapon by European armies in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It could protect riflemen, whose slower rate of fire made them vulnerable. A collapsible pike was invented but never issued. The Confederate Army considered these weapons for the American Civil War. Some were even manufactured but probably were never issued. Pikes were manufactured during World War II as "Croft's Pikes". While obsolete in military practice, the phalanx remained in use as a metaphor of warriors moving forward as a single united block. This metaphor inspired several 20th-century political movements, notably the Spanish Falange and its ideology of Falangism. See also Comparable formations Pike square Schiltron Shield wall Tercio Hoplite formation in art Pelopidas Point d'appui Roman infantry tactics Roman Legion Sarissa Notes References Goldsworthy, A. (1997), "The Othismos, Myths and Heresies: The Nature of Hoplite Battle", War In History 4/1, pp. 1–26 . Hanson, Victor Davis (1989) The Western Way of War New York: Alfred A. Knopf, . Hanson, Victor Davis (1991) Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience . Lazenby, J.F. (2004) The Peloponnesian War: a military study, Routledge Lendon, J.E. (2005) Soldiers & Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity, Yale University Press, . Book Review Wees, Hans van (2004), Greek warfare: Myths and Realities (Duckworth Press) . Xenophon (1986), Translated by George Cawkwell, The Persian Expedition (Penguin Classics) Snodgrass, A. (1999), Arms and Armour of the Ancient Greeks, Johns Hopkins University Press, Further reading Goldsworthy, Adrian: In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire (Orion, 2003) . Holland, T. Persian Fire, Abacus. . Woodford, S.: An Introduction to Greek Art. Cornell University Press, 1988. . External links Livius page on hoplite warfare. The Roman Maniple vs. The Macedonian Phalanx, Polybius, The Histories 18(28–32) The Apamea Phalangarius Images of the phalanx formation in ancient Greek warfare 25th-century BC establishments Ancient Greek military terminology Infantry units and formations of Macedon Ancient Greek infantry types