Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

EXERCITUS. EXERCIT US. 485
appeared on the right, while the army was march- reverse, owing to the carefully graduated system
ing in column, two abreast. The different lochi of subordination which prevailed (,Xe8bsv ydp Tro
wheeled round through a quadrant of a circle, 7rav Tob pTo'eaT'drE ov rP AarEeatso'rowrv PXOVTes
round their leader, as on a pivot, so that the army OpXe'ayv deli. Thuc. v. 66). The commands of
presented twenty-four colunms to the enemy, conl- the general were issued in the first place to the
sisting of two files each, and separated by a con- polemarchs, by these to the lochagi, by these
siderable interval from each other. The depth of again to the pentecosteres, by the latter to the
the whole body was then lessened, and these in- enomotarchs, and by these last to their respective
tervals filled up by the ordinary paragoge, and by divisions. From the orderly manner in which this
the different lochi siding up nearer to each other was done, commands were transmitted with great
in case the intervals still remained too great. If rapidity: every soldier, in fact, regulating the
it was necessary for the general to take his station movements of the man behind him, every two
on the right, this would be effected, as in other being connected together as 17rpcroarrdTirs and
cases, by an dEExtyl.ds. Similar manoeuvres took &r'rciriTrs.
place if the enemy appeared on the left, though, In later times the king was usually accompanied
as this was the shielded side of the soldiers, and by two ephors, as controllers and advisers. These,
the danger was consequently less, it was frequently with the polemarchs, the four Pythii, three peers
thought sufficient to keep the enemy in check by (hixlooo), who had to provide for the necessities of
means of the cavalry and light troops. (Xen. Rep. the king in wvar, the laphyropolae and some other
Lcc. xi. ~ 10.) One point that a general had to be officers, constituted what was called the damosia
on his guard against was the tendency of an army, of the king. (Xen. Rep. Lac. xiii. ~ 1, 7, xv.
when advancing E'rl cdaayyos, to sheer off towards ~ 14, Hellen. iv. 5. ~ 8, vi. 4. ~ 14; Plut. Lyc.
the right, each man pressing closer to his right-hand 22.) The polemarchs also had some sort of suite
neighbour in order to protect his unshielded side, or staff with them, called ovyLpopE7s (Plut. Pelop.
so that the right wing frequently got beyond the 17; Xen. I1ellen. vi. 4. ~ 14). With the excepleft wing of the enemy. (See especially the ac- tion of the enomotarchs, the superior officers and
count of the battle of Mantineia, Thucyd. v. 71.) those immediately about them, are not to be reckA slight consideration will shew that the analogy oned with the division which they led. They stood
traced between the evolutions of an army and distinct, forming what was called the 6&y-7/ua.
those of a chorus is by no means fanciful. One The Spartan and Perioecian hoplites were ackind of tieXLAhVyls was even called Xop-o6s. The companied in the field by helots, partly in the
importance attached to the war dances among the capacity of attendants, partly to serve as lightSpartans as a means of military training was con- armed troops. The number attached to an army
sequently very great. [CHORUS.] was probably not uniform. At Plataeae each
When an army was led to attack a height, it Spartan was accompanied by seven helots; but
was usually drawn up in what were termed XdXoL that was probably an extraordinary case. One
bpOotl, a term which merely implies that the lochi helot in particular of those attached to each Spartan
had greater depth than breadth (7rapcd ices 1etv was called his;hepdrcov, and performed the funcxevraL etraV Tdya b - TAb y/KOtS EXc 7rXAeov roD tions of an armourer or shieldbearer (Eustath. ad
ucdovs, iipOiov k b at' 00r 3 TOos ro9 epcous, Aelian. Dionys. Per. 533). Xenophon (Hellen. iv. 5.
Tact. c. 29). The breadth of the lochi would,. of ~ 14, 8. ~ 39) calls them V6rrarLeral. (Comp. Herod.
course, vary according to circumstances. They v. 111; MUller, Dor. iii. 3. ~ 2.) In extrawere drawn up with considerable intervals between ordinary cases, helots served as hoplites, and in
them. In this way the army presented a con- that case it was usual to give them their liberty
siderable front to the enemy, and was less liable to (Thucyd. vii. 19, iv. 80, v. 34). Distinct corps
be thrown into confusion than if drawn up in close were, sometimes, composed entirely of these Neo.
phalanx, while at the same time the intervals be- damodes. A separate troop in the Lacedaemonian
tween the lochi were not left so great that the army was formed by the Sciritae (KCtpTraL), orienemy could safely press in between them. (Xen. ginally, no doubt, inhabitants of the district Sciritis.
Anab. iv. 2. ~ 11, 13, 8. ~ 10-19, v. 4. ~ 22, In battle, they occupied the extreme left of the line.
Cyrop. iii. 2. ~ 6, Aeab. iv. 3. ~ 17; Polyaen. On a march, they formed the vanguard, and were
Strat. v. 16. ~ 1.) There is no ground for affirming usually employed on the most dangerous kinds of
that a AdXos iipOos was drawn up in two files, or service. (Thuc. v. 67, with Armold's note; Xen.
even one, as Sturz (Lex. Xen.) says. Such an ar- Cyrop. iv. 2. ~ 1; K. F. Hermann, ~ 29, note 13,
rangement would be perfectly useless for attack. infers from this passage that they were cavalry,
This system of arrangements, which formed some an inference which is certainly not necessary, and
approximation to the Roman tactics, was not, how- is contradicted by Miiller, Manso, Haase, Thirlever, employed, except in the particular case men- wall, Arnold, &c.)
tioned. The arms of the phalanx consisted of' the long
In special circumstances, such as those of the spear and a short sword (4vXMrl). The chief part
retreating Greeks in the Anabasis, the arrange- of the defensive armour was the large brazen
ment in a hollow square was adopted, the troops shield, which covered the body from the shoulder
being so placed that by simply facing about they to the knee (Tyrtaeus, fr. ii. 23), suspended, as in
presented a front for battle on whichever side it was ancient times, by a thong round the neck, and
necessary. The term Xatoamlov was applied to an managed by a simple handle or ring (7rJp7ra~).
army so arranged, whether square or oblong. The improved Carian handle (Ox;dvr) was not inAfterwards the term:rAafaiov was restricted to troduced till the time of Cleomenes III. Besides
the square, the oblong being called,rX'vr0ov. this, they had the ordinary armour of the hoplite
Though at first sight the arrangement and ma- [ARMA]. The heavy-armed soldiers wore a
nceuvres of a Lacedaemonian army seem exceed- scarlet uniform (Xen. Rep. Lac. xi. ~ 3, Ages. iL
ingly complex, they were in reality quite the 7). The Spartan encampments were circular., ii 3