Concerning the obscure and difficult subject of the military arrangements of Sparta, see Cragius, Repub. Laced. iv. 4; Manso, Sparta, ii. Beilage 18, p. 224; O. Müller, Hist. Dorians, iii. 12; Dr. Arnold’s note on Thucydidês, v. 68; and Dr. Thirlwall, History of Greece, vol. i. Appendix 3, p. 520.
[803] Pollux, i. 10, 129. Ἰδίως μέντοι τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων, ἐνωμοτία, καὶ μόρα: compare Suidas and Hesych. v. Ἐνωμοτία; Xenoph. Rep. Lacon. c. 11; Thucyd. v. 67-68; Xenoph. Hellen. vi. 4, 12.
Suidas states the enômoty at twenty-five men: in the Lacedæmonian army which fought at the first battle of Mantineia (418 B. C.), it seems to have consisted of about thirty-two men (Thuc. l. c.): at the battle of Leuktra of thirty-six men (Xen. Hellen. l. c.). But the language of Xenophon and Thucydidês does not imply that the number of each enômoty was equal.
[804] O. Müller states that the enomotarch, after a παραγωγὴ, or deployment into phalanx, stood on the right hand, which is contrary to Xenoph. Rep. Lac. 11, 9.—Ὅτε δὲ ὁ ἄρχων εὐώνυμος γίγνεται, οὐδ᾽ ἐν τούτῳ μειονεκτεῖν ἡγοῦνται, ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ πλεονεκτεῖν,—the ἄρχων was the first enomotarch of the lochus, the πρωτοστάτης (as appears from 11, 5), when the enômoty marched in single file. To put the ἡγεμὼν on the right flank, was done occasionally for special reason,—ἢν δὲ ποτε ἕνεκά τινος δοκῇ ξυμφέρειν, τον ἡγεμόνα δέξιον κέρας ἔχειν, etc. I understand Xenophon’s description of the παραγωγὴ, or deployment, differently from Müller,—it rather seems that the enômoties which stood first made a side-movement to the left, so that the first enomotarch still maintained his place on the left, at the same time that the opportunity was created for the enômoties in the rear to come up and form equal front, τῷ ἐνωμοτάρχῃ παρεγγυᾶται εἰς μέτωπον παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα καθίστασθαι,—the words παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα have reference, as I imagine, to the proceeding of the first enomotarch, who set the example of side-movement to the left-hand, as it is shown by the words which follow,—καὶ διὰ παντὸς οὖτος ἔστ᾽ ἂν ἡ φάλαγξ ἐναντία καταστῇ. The phalanx was constituted when all the lochi formed an equal and continuous front, whether the sixteen enômoties, of which each lochus was composed, might be each in one file, in three files, or in six files.
[805] See Xenoph. Anab. iv. 8, 10, upon the advantage of attacking the enemy with ὄρθιοι λόχοι, in which case the strongest and best soldiers all came first into conflict. It is to be recollected, however, that the practice of the Cyreian troops cannot be safely quoted as authority for the practice at Sparta. Xenophon and his colleagues established lochi, pentekosties, and enômoties in the Cyreian army: the lochus consisted of one hundred men, but the numbers of the other two divisions are not stated (Anab. iii. 4, 21; iv. 3, 26: compare Arrian, Tactic. cap. 6).
[806] The words of Thucydides indicate the peculiar marshalling of the Lacedæmonians, as distinguished both from their enemies and from their allies at the battle of Mantineia,—καὶ εὐθὺς ὑπὸ σπουδῆς καθίσταντο ἐς κόσμον τὸν ἑαυτῶν, Ἄγιδος τοῦ βασιλέως ἕκαστα ἐξηγουμένου κατὰ νόμον: again, c. 68.
About the music of the flute or fife, Thucyd. v. 69; Xen. Rep. Lac. 13, 9; Plutarch, Lycurg. c. 22.
[807] Meursius, Dr. Arnold, and Rachetti (Della Milizia dei Grechi Antichi, Milan, 1807, p. 166) all think that lochus and mora were different names for the same division; but if this is to be reconciled with the statement of Xenophon in Repub. Lac. c. 11, we must suppose an actual change of nomenclature after the Peloponnesian war, which appears to be Dr. Arnold’s opinion,—yet it is not easy to account for.
There is one point in Dr. Thirlwall’s Appendix which is of some importance, and in which I cannot but dissent from his opinion. He says, after stating the nomenclature and classification of the Spartan military force as given by Xenophon, “Xenophon speaks only of Spartans, as appears by the epithet πολιτικῶν,” p. 521: the words of Xenophon are, Ἑκάστη δὲ τῶν πολιτικῶν μορῶν ἔχει πολέμαρχον ἕνα, etc. (Rep. Lac. 11.)
It appears to me that Xenophon is here speaking of the aggregate Lacedæmonian heavy-armed force, including both Spartans and Periœki,—not of Spartans alone. The word πολιτικῶν does not mean Spartans as distinguished from Periœki, but Lacedæmonians as distinguished from allies. Thus, when Agesilaus returns home from the blockade of Phlius, Xenophon tells us that ταῦτα ποιήσας τοὺς μὲν συμμάχους ἀφῆκε, τὸ δὲ πολιτικὸν οἴκαδε ἀπήγαγε (Hellen. v. 3, 25).