Promachos

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]

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

[1] Perseus Project - Greek Word Study Tool (πρόμαχος).

[2] Sylloge Tacticorum, 45.15

[3] Leo VI. Tactica, 12.43

[4] Homer Iliad, Ξ.82

[5] Conon, Narrations (Photius), 16

[6] Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.1

[7] Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.2

[8] Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.11.4

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]