The terminology and execution of military evolutions, from the movement and facing of the single soldier to those of a unit and of the phalanx as a whole. After the basic terms and relative positions, it covers changes of face and turns, the complex manoeuvres (counter-marches, doubling, thinning and deepening of the line, opening and closing of the order, outflanking) and changes of formation.
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Our discussion brings us now to the terminology used for the military evolutions of the phalanx. We shall also be discussing the details of their execution as to the tactical reasons that would necessitate them. First we should distinguish between evolutions performed at individual level, governing the movement and facing of the single soldier, those of the unit, any subdivision of the phalanx and those of the phalanx itself as a whole. The greater the level of the evolution, the greater its complexity, as in order for it to be realized, a series of lower level evolutions have to be performed. The author of the De re strategica differentiates between five kinds of movement, the march, the change of front, the change of formation, the unison of a divided phalanx and the division of a united phalanx.
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