Page:History of Greece Vol IV.djvu/366

 348 HISTORY OF GREECE. and which was occupied by the Persian king h.mseJf, when pres- ent at a battle. The right wing was so regarded by the Greeks, and the polemarch Kallimachus had the command of it ; the hoplites being arranged in the order of their respective tribes from right to left, and at the extreme left stood the Plataeans. It was necessary for Miltiades to present a front equal, or nearly equal, to that of the more numerous Persian host, in order to guard himself from being taken in flank : and with this view he drew up the central tribes, including the Leontis and Antiochis, in shallow files, and occupying a large breadth of ground ; while each of the wings was in stronger and deeper order, so as to make his attack efficient on both sides. His whole army con- sisted of hoplites, with some slaves as unarmed or light-armed attendants, but without either bowmen or cavalry. Nor could Vhe Persians have been very strong in this latter force, seeing hat their horses had to be transported across the JEgean. But the elevated position of Miltiades enabled them to take some measure of the numbers under his command, and the entire ab sence of cavalry among their enemies could not but confirm the confidence with which a long career of uninterrupted victory had impressed their generals. At length the sacrifices in the Greek camp were favorable for battle, and Miltiades, who had everything to gain by coming im- mediately to close quarters, ordered his army to advance at a running step over the interval of one mile which separated the i,wo armies. This rapid forward movement, accompanied by the war-cry, or paean, which always animated the charge of the Greek soldier, astounded the Persian army; who construed it as an act of desperate courage, little short of insanity, in a body not only small but destitute of cavalry or archers, but who, at the same time, felt their conscious superiority sink within them. It wing : the Janissaries arc in the centre. The Sultan, or the Grand Vizir, surrounded by the national cavalry, or Spahis, is in the central pjint of all (Von Hammer, Geschichte des Osmannischen Reichs, book v, vol. i, p. 199). About the honor of occupying the right wing in a Grecian army, see in particular the animated dispute between the Athenians and the Tegeatef before the battle of Plataea (Herodot. ix, 27) : it is the post assigned to the bcroic kings of legendary warfare (Eurip. Supplices, 657)