PHALANX (ecisa7i), a name given by the Creeks generally to the whole of the heavy-armed infantry in an army, but particularly to each of the grand divisions of that class of troops. The primary signification of phalanx is uncertain; a straight bar or rod of any material appeara to have been so called, and the word may have been applied to a corps of troops, in line, from a fancied resemblance in the latter to such object Ultimately, from their superior military effici ency, it became appropriated to the Spartan phalanx and the Macedonian phalanx.
The Greek troops are represented by Romer as disposed in manses consisting of many ranke, In order that they might resist, or give impetus to the shock of conflict ; and the word phalanges is, in severe] parts of the Iliad,applied to the masses of the combatants, both Greeks and Trojans : • 'Aeel 5' 4 Afarrar Eorole7orarro ociaawyysr (' 11.,'xiii. 126; see also' iv. 332, vi. 83); and the close order of the Greeks previously to coming into action is described in ' B.,' xiii. ISO, and the succeeding lines.
A like disposition prevailed among the Egyptians in the earliest times of their monarchy, and of this fact some interesting vestiges are preserved in the sculptures on the walls of the temples at Ipsambul and of the palace at Luxor. At the former place an Egyp tian army is represented as marching in separate divisions of chariots and foot soldiers drawn up in quadrangular bodies, in ranks, and in close order. Each man of the infantry is armed with cuirass and helmet, and carries a shield and a short javelin ; and among the figures is that of Sesostria hi full panoply, standing in a highly orna mented car. (Itosselini, Monomenti dell Egitto,' plates 87 to 103.) But, from the nature of the arms and the apparent discipline of the troops, It may bo inferred that, at the epoch to which the monuments relate, the tactics of the Egyptians were in a very advanced state, and consequently that the order of battle there represented was in use among that people at a time much more remote than the ago of Sesostris.
The ancient Jewish army, modelled probably on that of the people who had long held them In servitude, was divided into bodies of 1000 men each, which were again divided into companies of 100 men (2 Sam., c. 18); and it is plain, from other passages in the Scriptures,
that these were further subdivided into sections. It consisted both of heavy and of light armed troops : the former wore helmets, coats of mail, and grcavcs, and in action they carried bucklers and used both spear and swords; the latter also carried shields and used bows or slings. The men who, from the different tribes, assembled at Hebron to confirm the election of David, are described as being armed with spear and shield, and their discipline is indicated by the expression ' they could keep rank.
The troops in the army of Crcesus are said by Xenophon to have been drawn up in vast masses, the depth of the Lydians being thirty men, while that of the Egyptian auxiliaries was one hundred; and it is added that the whole army had the appearance of three great phalanges. (' Cyropzedia; lib. vii) It is sufficiently evident therefore that the deep order of battle, with a regular arrangement of the men in rank and file, and some systematical division of the phalanx into sections, prevailed in the earliest times; but it is to the Greek writers that we must go for an account of the particular scales of subdivisions by which the evolutions of the phalanx on the field of battle were facilitated, and which, joined to the high discipline of the troops, gave to the body so denominated the reputation which it enjoyed till the fall of the Macedonian kingdom. The formation of such scales of subdivisions, and some changes in the arms or armour of the men, are probably what are meant when it is said that Lycurgus, Lysander, and Epatninondas introduced the phalanx among the Lacedannonians, the Argives, and the Thebans. The Macedonian phalanx, the formation of which is ascribed to Philip, the father of Alexander, appears to have been a body of 6000 men, chosen for their good military qualities, par ticularly well armed, and subject to certain strict regulations. And its efficiency was so great, that it is styled a new invention by Diodorus, and the name of the country became afterwards very generally applied to it.