Phalanx

The ancient Greek formation for heavy infantry, which won for itself a reputation of invincibility. It may be described as a line of parallel columns, rendered by its depth and solidity capable of penetrating any line of troops. The oldest phalanx was the Lacedæmonian, or Spartan, in which the soldiers stood 8 deep, but this was reduced to 4 men by Miltiades, in order to increase his front at the battle of Marathon, 480 B.C. The Maced on i an phalanx, as the latest form that organization a umed, and as the shape in which the phalanx encountered the military skill of the West, is deserving of description. The line was 16 deep: a grand-phalanx comprising 16,384 men, composed of four phalanxes or divisions, each under a general officer, called a phalangarch ; his command was divided into two brigades, or merarchies , each of these comprising two regiments, or chili arches , of four battalions, or syntagmata , each, and each syntagma of 16 men each way, making a perfect square. The Roman legion was far superior to the phalanx.