FIGHTING FOR ATHENA

Our understanding of the Athenian system for organizing its hoplite phalanx is incomplete. We know that ten generals, strategoi, were elected each year and below that, each army in the field was divided into ten tribal divisions taxeis (sing. taxis). These taxeis were commanded by ten taxiarchs elected in a show of hands by the citizens of each tribe. Below the taxiarch in the command structure were the lochagoi (sing. lochagos), each of whom commanded a lochos, a certain number of which made up each taxis. Here, our knowledge breaks down since we do not know how many lochoi made up an Athenian taxis nor how many men were in each lochos, or even if they were a standard size or number. However, all may not be lost and we may be able to calculate the strength of this unit.

By Murray Dahm

Our major source for information on the officers of the Athenian army is the Aristotelian Athenian Constitution written in the 320s BC. Some argue that the text was not written by Aristotle and others claim that it is genuine. Such debates do not concern us here. There is enough evidence for earlier periods in the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and other writers that we can corroborate the evidence of the Athenian Constitution (hereafter AC) or argue when things may have changed. The AC tells us that all Athenian military officers were elected by a show of hands (43.1). The ten generals or strategoi were elected from the whole body of citizens rather than one from each tribe as had formerly been the case (AC 61.1) such as at Marathon (Plutarch…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVI.5

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