In ancient Greece and during the Byzantine era, the Promachoi (singular: Promachos; Greek: πρόμαχος) were the men fighting in the first rank of the phalanx. [1] [2] The word can also be used as an adjective as in "promachos line" [3] referring to the first line of battle.
The first use of the word is recorded in Homer's Iliad. [4] An obsolete English literal translation of promachos is forefighter, in Dutch voorvechter.
Name
Sanctuaries - Statues
- Athena Promachos, the famous bronze statue by Phidias that towered over the Parthenon.
- Hermes Promachos, a sanctuary at Tanagra was dedicated to him. [6] [7]
- Heracles Promachos, a white marble statue of Heracles in the Heracles Sanctuary at Thebes. The Thebans Xenocrites (Ξενοκρίτης) and Eubius (Εὔβιος) created the statue. [8]
References
- ^ Perseus Project - Greek Word Study Tool (πρόμαχος).
- ^ Sylloge Tacticorum, 45.15
- ^ Leo VI. Tactica, 12.43
- ^ Homer Iliad, Ξ.82
- ^ Conon, Narrations (Photius), 16
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.1
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.2
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.11.4