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Both armies advanced to the fray in high spirits and the forces were disposed in the following manner. On the Boeotian side, the Thebans were drawn up on the right wing, the Orchomenians on the left, and the centre of the line was made up of the other Boeotians; the first line of the whole army was formed of what they called "charioteers and footmen,"1 a select group of three hundred. The Athenians were forced to engage the enemy while still marshalling their army.

1 This designation is probably derived from that of an originally wealthy class who were able to provide their own chariots for warfare, like the Roman "Knights," who could furnish horses. The three hundred are what were known later as the "Sacred Band" of the Thebans which was drawn up, not as here before the whole Theban line, but many men deep on one wing (cp. Plut. Pelopidas 18 ff.). Thuc. 4.93.4 states that in this battle "the Thebans were marshalled in ranks twenty-five shields deep," a statement which cannot have been true of the whole Theban contingent.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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