Promachos Explained

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

• Promachos (Πρόμαχος), a young man from Knossos.^[5]

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]

Notes and References

1. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=pro%2Fmaxos&la=greek#Perseus:text:1999.04.0058:entry=pro/maxos-contents Perseus Project - Greek Word Study Tool (πρόμαχος)
2. Sylloge Tacticorum, 45.15
3. Leo VI. Tactica, 12.43
4. Homer Iliad, Ξ.82
5. http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/photius/conon.htm Conon, Narrations (Photius), 16
6. https://topostext.org/work/213#9.22.1 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.1
7. https://topostext.org/work/213#9.22.2 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.2
8. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-grc1:9.11.4 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.11.4