Although very long spears had been used since the dawn of organized warfare (notably illustrated in art showing Sumerian and Minoan warriors and hunters), the earliest recorded use of a pike-like weapon in the tactical method described above involved the Macedonian sarissa, used by the troops of Alexander the Great's father, Philip II of Macedon, and successive dynasties, which dominated warfare for several centuries in many countries.

Mchimoi were still present during the Ptolemaic period, and most scholars considers them as the direct successors of their Late Period counterparts; Ptolemaic mchimoi are mostly still seen as a caste of native-Egyptian, land-granted, low-ranked warriors whom, with the passing of time, takes on increasingly important roles alongside the Greek army likely since the battle of Raphia in 217 BCE, and exerted increasing social pressure on the Ptolemies and was responsible for various rebellions and uprisings.