Despite the huge numbers, the battlefield supremacy of the greek phalanx seems to be forgotten here. 100 years after this, Alexander the Great conquered the world with the phalanx enhanced with longer spears called the sarissa.

I recall reading many descriptions of the Alexander's forces taking on armies 10x bigger than them and routing them with little losses as he conquered Persia and other lands to the east.

Alexander never conquered the Spartans, IIRC.