Τῶν [δὲ]i ἐν τοῖς ῥομβοειδέσι σχήμασι τὴν ἵππον συνταξάντων οἱ μὲν οὕτως ἔταξαν, ὥστε τοὺς ἱππέας καὶ [στοιχεῖν καὶ ζυγεῖν],j [οἱ δὲ μήτε ζυγεῖν μήτε στοιχεῖν,]k οἱ δὲ στοιχεῖν μὲν οὐκέτι δὲ ζυγεῖν, οἱ δὲ ζυγεῖν μὲν [οὐ στοιχεῖν δέ].l ἑκάστη δὲ τάξις οὕτως ἔχει οἱ μὲν τοὺς ῥόμβους καὶ [στοιχεῖν καὶ ζυγεῖν]m βουληθέντες ἔταξαν τὸν μέγιστον [τῶν]n ἐν τῇ [ἴλῃ ζυγὸν]o μέσον ἐξ ἀριθμοῦ περισσοῦ, [οἷον ἕνδεκα τρίτου, ἢ δεκαπέντε],p ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα δὲ τούτου τοῦ ζυγοῦ ἔταξαν ὃν μὲν ἔμπροσθεν ὃν δὲ ὄπισθεν, ἕκαστον [δὲ]q αὐτῶν δυσὶ τοῦ προτέρου λειπόμενον, οἷον, εἰ ὁ μέγιστος ζυγὸς ἱππέων [ᾖ δεκαπέντε],r ἕκαστον τῶν ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα αὐτοῦ [δεκατρεῖς]s ἱππεῖς [ἐχειν],t τοὺς δὲ μετὰ τούτους ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα [ἀνὰ]u ἕνδεκα, καὶ ἀεὶ δυσὶ λειπομένους, ἕως εἷς καταλειφθῇ καὶ ἡ ὅλη ἴλη γένηται ἱππέων ἑκατόν δεκάτριῶν. τὸ δὲ ἥμισυ τοῦ ῥόμβου ἔμβολον καλεῖται εἰς τρίγωνον μετασχηματιζόμενον. ὥς τε ἐν ταυτῷ δεδήλωται καὶ τὸ [τοῦ]v ἐμβόλου σχῆμα.
ἄλλοι δὲ [οὕτως]w συνέταξαν, ὥστε τοὺς ἐν [τῷ]x ῥόμβῳ κατατεταγμένους ἱππέας μήτε στοιχεῖν μήτε ζυγεῖν, εὐχερεστέρας ἐν τούτῳ τῷ σχήματι τὰς ἐπιστροφὰς καὶ διππεύσεις ὑπολαβόντες [μήτε ἐκ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν],y μήτε ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν ἢ εὐωνύμων, μήτε ἐκ τῶν ὄπισθεν ἐμπόδιόν τι περιεχούσας. τάσσουσι δὲ πρῶτον μὲν τὸν [ἰλάρχην],z εἶτα τὸν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ [ἰλάρχου]aa καὶ ὁμοίως τὸν ἐξ εὐωνύμων ὑπεσταλκότας, [ἵνα ὡς]ab εἴπομεν, αἱ κεφαλαὶ [τῶν ἵππων τούτων κατὰ]ac τοὺς ὤμους [τῶν προτεταγμένων ἵππων τυγχάνωσι].ad
καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον τάγμα ἐκ [περισσοῦ αριθμοῦ]ae ἱππέων, οἷον ἕνδεκα, τοῦ μὲν [ἰλάρχου]af μέσου τεταγμένου, πέντε δὲ ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα ὑποβεβηκότων, ὥστε τοῦτο τὸ ζυγὸν τὰς δύο τοῦ ῥόμβου πλευρὰς περιέχειν, ὀπίσω δὲ τοῦ ἰλάρχου τετάχθαι τὸν ζυγάρχην, εἶτα ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα τούτου ὁμοίως ὑποβεβηκότας, ὅλον δὲ [τὸν]ag τοῦ ἑξῆς [οἱονεὶ]ah ζυγοῦ ἀριθμὸν δυάδι τοῦ προτέρου λείπειν, ὥστε ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα τοῦ ζυγάρχου τέσσαρας τετάχθαι καὶ τὸν ὅλον τοῦ δευτέρου τάγματος ἀριθμὸν ἐννέα εἶναι, καὶ τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ζυγὸν [ὡσανεὶ]ai ταῖς πρώταις δυσὶ πλευραῖς τοῦ ῥόμβου παραλλήλους δύο πλευρὰς [ποιεῖ],aj τὸ δὲ τρίτον ἑπτά, καὶ οὕτω μέχρι ἑνός, καὶ γίνεται ἡ [ἴλη]ak αὕτη ἱππέων τριάκοντα ἕξ. τούτῳ δὲ τῷ σχήματι τῆς ἴλης κέχρηται Πολύβιος ἀνδρῶν μέντοι ἑξήκοντα τέσσαρες ἐν σχήματι τοῦ Λ στοιχείου.
ἄλλαι δ’ εἰσίν, αἵπερ συνίστανται ἐκ στοιχούντων μέν, οὐκέτι δὲ [καὶ]al ζυγούντων, αἵτινες οὕτω συντάττονται. στίχον ἐποίησαν ἐξ ὅσων δήποτε ἱππέων, ὧν ὁ μὲν ἡγούμενος ἰλάρχης ἐστίν, ὁ δὲ ἔσχατος οὐραγός, [καὶ]am ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα ἄλλους στίχους τάξας ἔκ τε τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ εὑωνύμων μερῶν [ἑν]an ἀριθμῷ λειπομένους, [οὗ]ao κατὰ μέσα τὰ διαστήματα ἀφέστηκεν [ὁ]ap ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ στίχῳ ἱππεὺς ἀπὸ ἱππέως τοῦ ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα [παραστῆσαι].aq κἂν ὦσιν οἷον [ἐπὶ]ar τῷ πρώτῳ στίχῳ δέκα ἵπποι, ἐν τῷ ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα ἀνὰ ἐννέα ἔσονται, οἱ δ’ [ἐν τοῖς ἔτι]as ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα ἀνὰ ὀκτώ, καὶ [οὕτω]at μέχρι ἑνὸς ἀεὶ [δὲ τῶν ἐν τοῖς]au ἐφεξῆς στίχοις. [οὕτω]av γὰρ συμβήσεται στοιχεῖν μὲν ἀλλήλοις τοὺς ἱππέας, μηκέτι δὲ ζυγεῖν. εὔχρηστον δὲ καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι πρὸς τὰς εἰς τὰ πλάγια γιγνομένας κλίσεις. [καλεῖται δὲ ἡ μὲν εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ [ἐπὶ δόρυ]aw κλίσις],ax ἡ δὲ εἰς τὰ εὐώνυμα ἐφ’ ἡνία.
ἐὰν δὲ ἡ [ἴλη]ay ἐκ ζυγούντων μέν, μὴ στοιχούντων δὲ γίνηται, τάξομεν αὐτὴν οὕτως. τὸ μέσον ὅλης τῆς [ἴλης]az μέγιστον ζυγὸν [ἐκ]ba περιττοῦ ἀριθμοῦ ποιήσομεν, τοὺς δὲ ἐφ’ ἑκάτερα ζυγοὺς κατὰ [μέσα τὰ]bb διαστήματα ποιήσομεν, ὡς ἐπὶ στοιχούντων ἐτάξαμεν, καὶ γενήσεται ἡ ἴλη ἐκ ζυγούντων μέν, οὐκέτι δὲ στοιχούντων.
19. On the cavalry rhombus formation1
The rhombus formation seems to have been adopted as it was thought to be a form highly necessary for war. When the leader of the troop [ilarch] is placed at the head of the formation, the next succeeding horsemen, on either side of him, ought not to form a rank behind the leader, but should be positioned so that the heads of their horses reach to the shoulders of the horse upon which the leader is mounted. To allow the men to preserve the due distance from each other, those that are posted on the right and left, and those positioned to the rear, should avoid the disorder that can arise in the case of the horses coming into close contact with each other; for some horses, vicious by nature, are apt to do harm to the soldiers and horses around it by bucking and rearing and turning about (due to its long shape) and by lashing out with its feet at the horses upon which the soldiers are mounted.
Those who deploy the cavalry into a rhombus occasionally arrange them in a manner that preserves both file and rank, while other formations have neither rank nor file.2 other formations have files but not ranks, while in others they have ranks but not files. Those formations that contain both files and ranks create the longest rank (which stretches across the middle of the formation) of an odd number such as eleven or thirteen or fifteen. To this central rank are joined a forward and a rearward rank, which each have two men less than the rank next to it; that is, if the central rank contained fifteen men, then the next rank towards either the front or rear would contain thirteen men, and the next after that eleven, and so on, until they come to a single man. The whole formation in this case will be made up of 113 men.3 Half of a rhombus is a wedge, taking a triangular form, so that the wedge can be seen within the structure of the rhombus.4 (See Plate 9.)
Others have deployed the rhombus so that it possesses neither continuous ranks nor files. This was done in the belief that wheeling and other such movements might be more easily executed with little or no impediment to the horses from left, right or rear. With this in mind, the ilarch or troop leader was placed in the front. Then one horseman was placed on his left and another on his right so that, as has been already mentioned, the heads of their horses
reach to the shoulders of the horse upon which the ilarch is mounted.
The leading sides of the rhombus are made from an odd number of men, such as eleven, with the commander in the front and five men posted on either side, retiring to the left and right, so that these men constitute the leading sides of the formation. After the ilarch is posted the zygarch [ζυγάρχης], or first man of the line, whom others follow in a similar order, so that the number of each succeeding angular line of the rhombus is shorter than that which comes before it by two. (That is, the next line of the rhombus, headed by the zygarch, consists of four men on each side, making nine men in all, including the officer.) This line will be parallel with the front line on the exterior leading sides. The third line, also parallel, will consist of seven men, with each subsequent line slowly decreasing to an individual man. The whole troop will consist of thirty-six men. Polybius represented a line of troops in this configuration, consisting of sixty-four men, by the capital letter Λ.5
There is a rhombus of another sort, which has files but not ranks, and it is formed in the following way. A file is drawn up of any given number of horsemen with the commander being placed at its head and the ouragos positioned at its rear. Beside this are placed other files, on the left and right, each less in number than the more central file by one man. Each man in this new file is positioned adjacent to the intervals between each horse within the more central file, and at the same distance as he himself holds from the files on either side of him. As such, if there are ten men in the central file, there should be nine in the two nearest files, eight in the two following files, and the remaining files should gradually decrease down to an individual. Consequently, the formation will contain files but not ranks. (See Plate 10.) This formation will enable the whole body of men to wheel to the left or right with ease. Wheeling to the right is called ‘inclining to the lance’ and wheeling to the left is called ‘inclining to the reins’.
If a formation is arranged so that it has ranks rather than files, it should be deployed in the following way: the central and longest rank should be drawn up with an odd number of men. The remaining ranks must be drawn up with the men positioned opposite the intervals as in the preceding example [of a rhombus with files but not ranks] and thus a troop will be formed with ranks but not files.6
κ’ Ὅτι αἱ εἶλαι ποτὲ μὲν πρὸ τῆς φάλαγγος τάσσονται, ποτὲ δὲ ἐκ δεξιῶ· καὶ εὐωνύμων, ποτὲ δὲ ὀπισω τῶν ψιλῶν.
Τάσσονται δὲ αἱ ἶλαι, ὥσπερ τὰ ψιλά, ποτὲ μὲν [πρὸ]a τῆς φάλαγγας. ποτὲ δὲ [ἐκ]b δεξιῶν καὶ [ἐξ]c εὐωνύμων, ποτὲ δὲ ὀπίσω τῶν [ψιλῶν]d ἐτάχθησαν. καὶ ἡ μὲν πρώτη ῖλη [τῶν]e ἱππέων ἔστω ἑξήκοντα τέσσαρες. καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ζυγὸν, ἱππέων πεντακαίδεκα. τὸ δὲ ἑξῆς τρεισκαίδεκα. τὸ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἕνδεκα. και ἀεὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ζυγὰ δυσὶ τῷ ἀριθμῷ λειπόμενα μέχρι ἐνός. σημεῖοφορήσει δὲ ὁ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ [ζυγῳ]f παρεστηκὼς ἐκ τῶν εὐωνύμων τῷ ζυγάρχῃ. ἔσονται δὲ αἱ πᾶσαι ἴλαι ἑξήκοντα τέσσαρες. ἱππεῖς δὲ τετραχίλιοι [καὶ]g ένενήκοντα ἕξ.
καλοῦνται δὲ αἱ δύο [ἶλαι ἐπιλαρχία],h ἱππέων ἑκατον καὶ εἴκοσι ὀκτώ, αἱ δὲ δύο ἐπειλαρχίαι Ταραντιναρχία, ἱππέων διᾶκόσιοι καὶ πεντήκοντα ἕξ. αἱ δὲ δύο Ταραντιναρχίαι ἱππαρχία, ἱππέων πεντακόσιοι καὶ δώδεκα. αἱ δὲ δύο ἱππαρχίαι ἐφιππαρχία, ἱππέων χιλίοι καὶ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες. αἱ δὲ δύο ἐφιππαρχίαι τέλος, ἱππέων δισχίλιοι καὶ τέσσαράκοντα ὀκτώ. τὰ δὲ δύο τέλη ἐπίταγμα, ἱππέων [τετραχιλίων ένενήκοντα ἕξ].i
20. How the cavalry is positioned before or to the right of the phalanx or behind the light infantry1
The formations of cavalry, in the same manner as the light infantry, are posted sometimes in front of the phalanx, sometimes on the right flank, sometimes on the left flank, and sometimes behind the light infantry. In this example, let us suppose that the first troop [ilē, ἴλη] will consist of sixty-four men.2 The principal line will consist of fifteen men, the second line thirteen men, the next eleven men, and each succeeding line will contain two less in number than the former, down to a single man. The standard is carried by the man who is posted in the second rank from the front, on the left of the zygarch. A formation so arranged will be sixty-four in number and the whole contingent of cavalry will number 4,096.3
Two ile are called an epilarchia [ἐπιλαρχία] containing 128 horsemen. Two epilarchiae are called a Tarantinarchia [Ταραντιναρχία] containing 256 horsemen.4 Two Tarantinarchiae are called a hipparchia [ἱππαρχία], which contains 512 horsemen. Two hipparchiae are given the name ephipparchia [ἐφιππαρχία], which contains 1,024 men. Two ephipparchiae are called a telos [τέλος] of 2,048 men.5 A double telos is called an epitagma [ἐπίταγμα] and contains 4,096 men.6
κα’ Περὶ τῶν ἱππέων
Αἱ μὲν οὖν ἐπιβολαὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων περὶ τὰς [τάξεις]a τῶν [ἰλῶν]b δεδηλωμέναι εἰσὶ πᾶσαι, καθ’ ὁποίου σχηματισμοῦ ἕκαστοι ταύτας ἔταξαν καὶ δι’ ἃς αἰτίας ἄλλοι ἄλλαις ἐχρήσαντο. δεῖ δὲ ὡς ἐν πράγμασι περὶ τῶν ὅλων διαφέρουσιν οὐκ ἀπεσχεδιασμένην γενέσθαι τὴν παράδοσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐν τοῖς καθημερινοῖς γυμνασίοις ἕκαστον τῶν σχημάτων πολλάκις δοκιμάσαντα καὶ τὸ εὐχερέστερον καὶ τὸ ὠφελιμώτερον γνόντα, τότε καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀληθείας χρήσασθαι. εὔηθες γὰρ [μὲν τῶν]c ἐλαττόνων πραγμάτων ἐπ’ ἀκριβὲς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εὑρίσκεσθαι διαποροῦντας πολλὰ καὶ ἐξετάζοντας, περὶ δὲ τούτων μὴ πρότερον τὴν ἐντελεστάτην βάσανον λαβόντας τότε πρὸς τοὺς [μεγίστους]d ἀγῶνας πορεύεσθαι. ἔξεστι μέντοι καὶ μείζονας καὶ ἐλάττους τὰς [ἴλας]e ποιεῖν.
21. Concerning cavalry
The various customs of the ancients concerning cavalry have now been explained and we have seen the forms in which cavalry have been arranged by different nations, influenced by different motives.1 What has come down to us should not only be habitually treasured in our memory, as it contains information of great importance, but we should also endeavour, by daily exercise, to put their precepts into practice and acquire a knowledge of those movements and dispositions that may be executed with the greatest ease and may prove to be of the greatest use in actual service. It is certainly absurd that men diligently pursue the study of inferior matters, but do not enquire into these affairs, and only then begin to learn the art of tactics when they join battle with the enemy. For example, squadrons of cavalry should be drawn into larger or smaller formations as seem good to the commander.
κβ’ Περὶ συντάξεως ἐλεφάντων καὶ δρεπανηφόρων
Περὶ δὲ τῆς τῶν ἁρμάτων συντάξεως καὶ τῶν ἐλεφάντων, εἰ καὶ τὴν χρῆσιν αὐτὴν σπανίζουσαν εὑρίσκομεν, ὅμως πρὸς τὸ τέλειον τῆς γραφῆς τὰς ὀνομασίας ὑποθησόμεθα, αἷς κατεχρήσαντ�
� οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν. ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῖς [ζευτικοῖς]a τὰ δύο ἅρματα ζυγαρχίαν ἐκάλεσαν, τὰς δὲ δύο ζυγαρχίας συζυγίαν, τὰς δὲ δύο συζυγίας ἐπισυζυγίαν, τὰς δὲ δύο ἐπισυζυγίας ἁρματαρχίαν, τὰς δὲ δύο ἁρματαρχίας κέρας, τὰ δὲ δύο κέρατα φάλαγγα. ἔξεστι δὲ πλείοσι φάλαγξιν ἁρμάτων χρῆσθαι ταῖς αὐταῖς ὀνομασίαις καθ’ ἑκάστην φάλαγγα συγχρωμένοις. τοῖς δ’ [ἅρμασι]b οἱ μὲν ψιλοῖς κατεχρήσαντο, οἱ δὲ [δρεπανηφόρα]c κατεσκεύασαν.
The Tactics of Aelian Page 8