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ἡγέετο. The right wing was the post of honour and of danger in Greek armies (ix. 28. 46; Thuc. v. 71), and was naturally led by the king (Eur. Supp. 657) and by his successor in command (Ath. Pol. 3. 2), the Polemarch; cf. App. XVIII, § 4.

ὡς ἀριθμέοντο αἱ φυλαί. The fixed official order instituted by Cleisthenes (v. 66. 2) — Erechtheis, Aegeis, Pandionis, Leontis, Acamantis, Oeneis, Cecropis, Hippothoontis, Aeantis, Antiochis—is followed on inscriptions of the time of the Peloponnesian war (C. I. A. i. 443, 446, 447). As arrangement by tribes is expressly attested by Pausanias (i. 32. 3) for the monument at Marathon, and is confirmed by the stele of the tribe Erechtheis (459-458 B. C., Hicks 26), this would seem to be the natural meaning here. It is, however, inconsistent with the traditions in Plutarch (Aristid. 5) that the tribes Antiochis and Leontis stood together in the centre, and (Mor. 628 D) that the Aeantis stood on the right of the line. The latter point is confirmed by a reference to an elegy of Aeschylus, and might be explained by the fact that the Polemarch belonged to the tribe Aeantis, only in that case H. would naturally have written αἱ ἄλλαι φυλαί. Plutarch implies (Mor. 628 D) that the Aeantis was πρυτανεύουσα φυλή at the time of Marathon. It is likely enough that the order of the tribes in battle was determined by lot, as was that of the Prytanies (Ath. Pol. 43. 2), but improbable that the two were identical. Stein's argument (ch. 103 n.) for placing the Oeneis under Miltiades on the left is not convincing.


Five such quadrennial festivals—Delia, Brauronia, Heracleia, Eleusinia, and Panathenaea—are enumerated (Ath. Pol. 54. 7; cf. ch. 87 n.). Of these the Panathenaea was far the most important.

κατεύχεται. The herald in the assembly (cf. Thuc. vi. 32) used this regular form of prayer.


ἐγίνετο τοιόνδε. It is most unlikely that this arrangement was accidental (Stein) or that this weakening of the centre is a fiction designed to explain its defeat. No doubt it was intended to prevent outflanking, but it would seem probable that the centre was obstructed by plantations of olives and vines (cf. Corn. Nep. 5), and that Miltiades therefore decided to concentrate a decisive force on either wing where the country was open, and suitable for a charge of hoplites (Caspari, J. H. S. xxxi. 103).

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hide References (6 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (6):
    • Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, 3
    • Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, 43
    • Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, 54
    • Euripides, Suppliants, 657
    • Thucydides, Histories, 5.71
    • Thucydides, Histories, 6.32
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