royal guard question.

[spitamenes]

Do we have any idea what kind of weaponry Alexander's royal guard used during battle? And-or during everyday affairs, like while he was eating, sleeping, during council?

[Paralus]

That's a very wide question. Which guard are you asking after: the infantry, cavalry, Somatophylakes or "royal boys" (paides basilikoi)?

Alexander (and we can readily assume his father) had several "guards". The paides basilikoi, generally (and rightly to my view) assumed to have been between fourteen and eighteen, saw to the king's wants and needs as well as guarding him. This latter function, attested under Alexander, seems to have been performed under the "supervision" of one or more somatophylakes.

The infantry I've answered in another thread.

The cavalry guard would be the "ile basilkoi" or the royal troop and included the Somatophylakes ("the seven") if not elsewhere assigned. Later in the anabasis this would be called the agema and it would become the name given to the cavalry guard units of Alexander's satraps and the Diadochoi. These troops were "xystophoroi" or those armed with the xyston: a 12-14 foot cavalry spear (see the "Kinch Tomb"). Whilst many (lead by Markle) would have this as a "cavalry sarisa" exactly the same as the infantry version, it is nowhere near the same. The weapon is lighter and can be wielded in the one hand as art (as well as practicality) clearly shows. Descriptions of this weapon in battle demonstrate this. Alexander (and others) "shiver" their spears at the Granicus; Demetrius' agema of xystophoroi (as well as Ptolemy's) "shatter" their xystons in the furious cavalry battle of Gaza and resort to the kopis.

As to what those units dedicated to guard him camp (the "royal" hypaspsists or agema of same, Somatophylakes and paides basilikoi) were armed with, the evidence is scant and somewhat conflicting. Some clues reside in Arrian's Description of Cleitus' end (4.8.8-9). Here he relates that Alexander either snatched a longche from a Somatophylake (either spear or spear head - i.e. a blade or knife) or a sarisa from a guard (φυλάκων / phulakon). The former - one of the seven - about the king's table is armed with a blade (a short sword or knife one thinks in this context); the latter - a hypaspist - with a sarisa. Cutius has similar details adding that the "guard" was at the entrance to Alexander's tent and so, as stated, will have been a hypaspist.

[spitamenes]

The reason Im asking about the weaponry is because sometime ago, I had a trusted person tell me he was given some silver arrowheads found in a region of Afghanistan by the locals, and they told him, without a doubt in they're minds apparently, that they find arrowheads every now and then in this area, and the silver ones are from the time of Alexander. And also, they were the specific ones used to guard the king. So I was trying to hunt down any historical evidence to this claim. First I wanted to find out if Alexander even had bowmen officially assigned to him. Which that part seems plausible. I do know from experience that locals in some areas, will just make up stories for the tourist trade or whatever, but these were a gift from the locals, and this part of Afghanistan is not a very 'tourist friendly' kind of place. Is this story plausible? I do remember a story about Alexander ordering his men silver suits of armor. But that was later in the campaign I believe. I don't know, it's just something I've wanted to find out more about for quite awhile.

[agesilaos]

There were Persian guards later, but these were melophoroi so spearmen, the 'apples' - melai were ornamental spearbutts. Silver arrowheads would be on ornamental weapons and would presumably belong to a culture where archery was important; Afganistan was under Sacae and Parthian rule at various times and they were archer nations later I think Mongal or Mughal rule was imposed, either way all better candidates than Alexander, but much less famous. I am sure the locals thought they were something to do with Alexander but I doubt they have any archaeological expertise and were relying on local tradition. You can hear garbled history in any local pub (I contribute to it myself! I have a WKD side)

[spitamenes]

Are there any arrowheads from Alexander's time that have been positively identified as from that era? If I had to choose, I would definitely be on the side of them not being from the age and campaign of Alexander. But maybe if there were any that have been identified as such, I could compare the shape and size of them and make a better judgement. I'll try to track down a couple pictures of the ones in question so you guys can take a look at them. I haven't talked to the guy in awhile but it is possible he could just email me some images.
Another thing is, if I Do get to the bottom of this and find they aren't what he believes, I wonder if that's something I should fill him in on. (?)

[Paralus]

The reason Im asking about the weaponry is because sometime ago, I had a trusted person tell me he was given some silver arrowheads found in a region of Afghanistan by the locals, and they told him, without a doubt in they're minds apparently, that they find arrowheads every now and then in this area, and the silver ones are from the time of Alexander. And also, they were the specific ones used to guard the king.

I'd be interested to find out whether these "silver" arrowheads were in fact silver, silvered or tinned. As Agesilaos has remarked, such would be ornamental. I'd think it a great line for the tourist (though why one would "tour" Afghanistan, if not completing a tour for the army, is rather open to question).

The tradition of silver arms goes back to the Indian campaign. These arms were part of the road-train of equipment ordered as replacements for the filthy and decrepit old gear. Justin says the whole army was accorded silver arms but far more likely is that Alexander's guards received these given their insistence upon their nickname in the years after that king's death. Nothing is ever mentioned of silver arrows or accoutred archers. Archers are, though, mentioned amongst Alexander's guard troops:

And first of all, five hundred Persian Melophori stood all round the inside of it, clad in robes of purple and apple-green; and besides them there were bowmen to the number of a thousand, some clad in garments of a fiery red, and others in purple; and many of them had blue cloaks. And in front of them stood five hundred Macedonian Argyraspides; and in the middle of the tent was placed a golden chair, on which Alexander used to sit and transact business, his body-guards standing all around. And on the outside, and round the tent, was a troop of elephants regularly equipped, and a thousand Macedonians, in Macedonian uniform...

This is Athenaeus (12.539 e-f) quoting Phylarchus. It comes in the middle of an excursus designed to highlight the wasteful extravagance of Alexander's court in his final year or so. No one, it seems, is spared and there are descriptions of Perdiccas, Craterus, Leonnatus and the "Alexander-flatterers". Whilst the pejorative point of these descriptions likely led to exaggeration for effect, the more basic details will have reflected reality. Thus Alexander's throne and accoutrements were likely correct as Eumenes uses these ("golden throne from the royal treasure, and that after the diadem, the sceptre, the crown" 18.60.6) after his death. The guard troops are also likely to be correct given the snippets elsewhere indicating hypaspsists providing for the king's security. These troops are repeated on the funerary carriage at Diodorus 18.27.1:

On the first of these tablets was a chariot ornamented with work in relief, and sitting in it was Alexander holding a very splendid sceptre in his hands. About the king were groups of armed attendants, one of Macedonians, a second of Persians of the bodyguard, and armed soldiers in front of them. The second tablet showed the elephants arrayed for war who followed the bodyguard. They carried Indian mahouts in front with Macedonians fully armed in their regular equipment behind them.

The Macedonians with the Persian melophoroi will have been hypaspists (argyraspides). There are no archers described though. Even were they a regular guard unit they may not have been so during the Afghan campaign.