# Promachos

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{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 
| native_name = πρόμαχος
| country = Ancient Greece
| type = Front-rank soldier in a phalanx
| image = 300px
| caption = Promachos in a Greek [phalanx](/source/Phalanx_formation)
| dates = 
}}

In [ancient Greece](/source/ancient_Greece) and during the [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine_Empire) era, the '''Promachoi''' (singular: '''Promachos'''; [Greek](/source/Greek_language): πρόμαχος) were the men fighting in the first rank of the [phalanx](/source/Phalanx_formation).<ref>[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)].</ref><ref>Sylloge Tacticorum, 45.15</ref> The word can also be used as an adjective as in "promachos line"<ref>Leo VI. ''Tactica'', 12.43</ref> referring to the first line of battle.

The first use of the word is recorded in [Homer](/source/Homer)'s ''[Iliad](/source/Iliad)''.<ref>Homer ''Iliad'', 14.476</ref><ref>Homer ''Iliad'', 14.482</ref> An obsolete English literal translation of ''promachos'' is ''forefighter'', in Dutch ''voorvechter''.

== Name ==
* [Promachos](/source/Euxynthetus) (Πρόμαχος), a young man from [Knossos](/source/Knossos).<ref>[http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/photius/conon.htm Conon, Narrations (Photius), 16]</ref>

== Sanctuaries - Statues ==
* [Athena Promachos](/source/Athena_Promachos), the famous bronze statue by [Phidias](/source/Phidias) that towered over the [Parthenon](/source/Parthenon).
* [Hermes](/source/Hermes) Promachos, a sanctuary at [Tanagra](/source/Tanagra) was dedicated to him.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/213#9.22.1 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.1]</ref><ref>[https://topostext.org/work/213#9.22.2 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.22.2]</ref>
* [Heracles](/source/Heracles) Promachos, a white marble statue of Heracles in the Heracles Sanctuary at [Thebes](/source/Thebes%2C_Greece). The Thebans Xenocrites (Ξενοκρίτης) and Eubius (Εὔβιος) created the statue.<ref>[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]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Ancient Greek military terminology
Category:Byzantine titles and offices
Category:Greek words and phrases
Category:Greek masculine given names
Category:Masculine given names
Category:Phalanx
Category:Ancient Greek infantry types

{{italic title}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Promachos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promachos) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promachos?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.