They stayed with the phallanx

Hysteroi Pezhetairoi, was the "evo" phallanx of theirs. And it wasn't the phallanx that failed, it was the fact that everyone with half a brain would flank it, and attack from every other direction, not the Kebab-izing front.

And the Romani, as you probably have guessed by now, have had MORE than half a brain.