Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

EXERCITUS.

163

EXERCITUS.

their courage or conduct, in the shape of
chaplets, statues, &c. The Peltastae (weA-
t<xot<u), so called from the kind of shield
which they 'wore [Pelta], 'were a class of
troops of which we hear very little before the
end of the Peloponnesian war. The Athe-
nian general Iphicrates introduced some im-
portant improvements in the mode of arming
them, combining as far as possible the pecu-
liar advantages of heavy (on-An-cu) and light
armed (i|«Aoi) troops. He substituted a linen
corslet for the coat of mail worn by the hop-
lites, and lessened the shield, while he doubled
the length of the spear and sword. He even
took the pains to introduce for them an im-
proved sort of shoe, called after him 'l<pncpa-
Ti'6es. This equipment proved very effective.
The almost total destruction of a mora of
Lacedaemonian heavy-armed troops by a body
of peltastae under the command of Iphicrates
was an exploit that became very famous.
When the use of mercenary troops became
general, Athenian citizens seldom served ex-
cept as volunteers, and then in but small
numbers. The employment of mercenaries
led to considerable alterations in the military
system of Greece. "War came to be studied
as an art, and Greek generals, rising above
the old simple rules of warfare, became tac-
ticians. Epaminondas was the first who
adopted the method of charging in column,
concentrating his attack upon one point of
the hostile line, so as to throw the whole into
confusion by breaking through it.

3. Macedonian Army.—Philip, king of
Macedonia, made several improvements in
the arms and arrangement of the phalanx.
The spear (capicrcra or a-aptaa), with which
the soldiers of the Macedonian phalanx were
armed, was 24 feet long ; but the ordinary
length was 21 feet, and the lines were ar-
ranged at such distances that the spears of
the fifth rank projected three feet beyond the
first, so that every man in the front rank was
protected by five spears. Besides the spear
they carried a short sword. The shield was
very large and covered nearly the whole body,
so that on favourable ground an impenetrable
front was presented to the enemy. The sol-
diers were also defended by helmets, coats of
mail, and greaves ; so that any thing like
rapid movement was impossible. The ordi-
nary depth of the phalanx was sixteen files,
though depths of eight and of thirty-two are
also mentioned. Each file of sixteen was
called Ad,yos. Two lochi made a dilochia;
two dilochiae made a TeTpapxCa, consisting of
sixty-four men ; two tetrarchies made a raft? ;
two rafei? a (TWTayfxa or jecayi'a, to which
were attached five supernumeraries, a herald,
an ensign, a trumpeter, a servant, and an

officer to bring up the rear (oupayos); two
syntagmata formed a pentacosiarchia, two of
which made a xtAlaPX'a, containing 1024
men ; two chiliarchies made a tc'Aos, and two
TeAi) made a phalangarehia or phalanx in the
narrower sense of the word, the normal num-
ber of which would therefore be 4096. It
was commanded by a polemarch or strategus ;
four such bodies formed the larger phalanx,
the normal number of which would be 10,384.
When drawn up, the two middle sections
constituted what was termed the v^paXoi, the
others being called xepara or wings. The
phalanx soldiers in the army of z-exander
amounted to 18,000, and were abided not
into four, but into six divisions, each named
after a Macedonian province, from which it
was to derive its recruits. These bodies are
oftener called Ta£eis than <paAayyes by the
historians, and their leaders taxiarchs or
strategi. The phalanx of Antiochus consisted
of 16,000 men, and was formed into ten divi-
sions (nep7)) of 1C00 each, arranged 50 broad
and 32 deep. The phalanx, of course, be-
came all but useless, if its ranks were broken.
It required, therefore, level and open ground,
so that its operations were restricted to very
narrow limits ; and being incapable of rapid
movement, it became almost helpless in the
face of an active enemy, unless accompanied
by a sufficient number of cavalry and light
troops. The light armed troops were arranged
in files (Adxot) eight deep. Eour lochi formed a
oTjoracns, and then larger divisions were suc-
cessively formed, each being the double of
the one below it; the largest (called inCrayixa),
consisting of 8192 men. The cavalry (ac-
cording to Aelianus), were arranged in an
analogous manner, the lowest division or
squadron (iArj), containing 64 men, and the
successive larger divisions being each the,
double of that below it; the highest {imra.yp.a)
containing 4096. Both Philip and Alexan-
der attached great importance to the cavalry,
which, in their armies, consisted partly of
Macedonians, and partly of Thessalians. The
Macedonian horsemen were the flower of the
young nobles. They amounted to about 1200
in number, forming eight squadrons, and.
under the name eVaipoi, formed a sort of
body-guard for the king. The Thessaliaii
cavalry consisted chiefly of the elite of the
wealthier class of the Thessalians, but inclu-
ded also a number of Grecian youth from
other states. There was also a guard of foot
soldiers (vnao-moTai), whom we find greatly
distinguishing themselves in the campaigns
of Alexander. They seem to be identical with
the 7refe'xaipoi, of whom we find mention.
They amounted to about 3000 men, arranged
in six battalions (-raftis). There was also a

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