Hypaspistai

The horizon stretches fingers

Innumerable, grains of sand

Forests of souls and spears

Noble shields, Carriers of Shields

Verse 3 of The Forward of Oliios

During the period of the reign of Basileus Oliios, a period characterized by the mounting and consecutive conquests of the peoples of the First Sea, there was a select group of soldiers known as the Hypaspistai. These soldiers were denoted by their shields, and held formations first laid out by their Aasimar forebears, creating marching walls that moved forward to close with the enemy on the field of battle. Spears would act as the weapon that pierced through the ranks of those who dared to attempt to halt the rightful march of the Caeinferos and their Basileus. Soon, the weightiness of the position within this portion of the army would give way to a more simplified understanding that they were the typical rank-and-file. Despite the loss of prestige, the loyalty and dependability of the Hypaspistai of Oliios was not tarnished; in fact, it was seen a means to reach out from beyond the life of the mundane and become something a hero alongside your brothers in arms.
The standard gear of these soldiers would include lighter armor made of linen while the bulk of their defensive capabilities was reliant entirely on their shields and their numbers. The tactics of shieldsmanship are handed down even to the present day. The spear which was almost as synonymous with these soldiers as their shields were have now become something of a secondary prop, needful only for when crushing the enemy with a powerful charge of rounded, heavy iron or brozne is not enough to deal with them outright.
Mercenary groups of Caeinferos will still use the name of these phalanxes even without using their tactics or even their weapons, carrying on the tradition of legendary conquest long after the downfall of the empire that Oliios forged for his people.