CBR & others: I too have been doing some reading and it appears you are right. From my Ancient wargaming days (too long ago to want to remember), I'd always thought of the phalanx as a Macedonian invention but I see that the term was first used by the Greeks to describe closely packed arrays of hoplites. Philip of Macedon merely extended the spears to make it even more formidable.

On the other hand, some way of distinguishing the longer speared version from the 8ft or so hoplite/triarii version seems to make sense. I guess CA have done that with the "can form phalanx" button.