Promachos
| Promachos | |
|---|---|
| πρόμαχος | |
 Promachos in a Greek phalanx | |
| Country | Ancient Greece |
| Type | Front-rank soldier in a phalanx |
In ancient Greece and during the Byzantine era, the Promachoi (singular: Promachos; Greek: πρόμαχος) were the men fighting in the first rank of the phalanx.[1][2] The word can also be used as an adjective as in "promachos line"[3] referring to the first line of battle.
The first use of the word is recorded in Homer's Iliad.[4][5] An obsolete English literal translation of promachos is forefighter, in Dutch voorvechter.
Name
[edit]Sanctuaries - Statues
[edit]- Athena Promachos, the famous bronze statue by Phidias that towered over the Parthenon.
- Hermes Promachos, a sanctuary at Tanagra was dedicated to him.[7][8]
- Heracles Promachos, a white marble statue of Heracles in the Heracles Sanctuary at Thebes. The Thebans Xenocrites (Ξενοκρίτης) and Eubius (Εὔβιος) created the statue.[9]
References
[edit]- ↑ Perseus Project - Greek Word Study Tool (πρόμαχος).
- ↑ Sylloge Tacticorum, 45.15
- ↑ Leo VI. Tactica, 12.43
- ↑ Homer Iliad, 14.476
- ↑ Homer Iliad, 14.482
- ↑ Conon, Narrations (Photius), 16
- ↑ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.1
- ↑ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.2
- ↑ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.11.4