Pagondas (c. 360 BC-434? BC), son of Aeolidas, was a Theban general and statesman, who is most well known for his command of the Boeotian forces at the Battle of Delium during the Peloponnesian War. His modification of the standard hoplite formation and his use of reserve cavalry in that battle constitute what most historians agree is the first recorded use of formal military tactics in human history. Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 365 BC 364 BC 363 BC 362 BC 361 BC 360 BC 359 BC 358 BC 357... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC - 430s BC - 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC Years: 439 BC 438 BC 437 BC 436 BC 435 BC - 434 BC - 433 BC 432 BC... For the ancient capital of Upper Egypt, see Thebes, Egypt. ... General is a military rank used by nearly every country in the world. ... Boeotia (Greek Βοιωτια) was the central area of ancient Greece. ... The Battle of Delium took place in 424 BC between the Athenians and the Boeotians, and ended with the siege of Delium in the following weeks. ... Map of the Greek world at the start of the Peloponnesian War Temple of Apollo at Corinth The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC between the Athenian Empire (or The Delian League) and the Peloponnesian League which included Sparta and Corinth. ... Statue of greek hoplite Warfare in Hellenic Greece centered mainly around heavy infantrymen called hoplites. ... This article is about the military unit. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... Tactics is the collective name for methods of winning a small-scale conflict, performing an optimization, etc. ...

Biographical information

Little is known of Pagondas's life. He is mentioned by Pindar as having been born to a noble Theban family, and we know that he was in his early sixties at Delium. He was evidently a fiery and persuasive speaker, purportedly moving the disparate Boeotian contigents to unify and attack their Athenian enemies through rhetoric alone. Apart from a brief mention by Thucydides, however, there is very little extant information about Pagondas or his life. He seems to have appeared and abruptly disappeared solely for the Battle of Delium. Pindar (or Pindarus) (522 BC – 443 BC), the greatest lyric poet of ancient Greece, was born at Cynoscephalae, a village in Thebes. ... For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation). ... Bust of Thucydides Thucydides (between 460 and 455 BC–circa 400 BC, Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukudídês) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. ...

Delium

For more details on this topic, see Battle of Delium.

At the battle, the Boeotians faced off against a group of Athenians led by Hippocrates. The Boeotians charged down a hill at the Athenian army, while the Athenians, having been surprised by their sudden appearance, got themselves together and charged up the hill. On the Boeotian left were men from the town of Thespiae. On their right, Pagondas had placed his own Thebans. Remarkably though, he chose to stack his Thebans twenty-five shields deep, rather than the standard eight, to give them more pushing-power and punch. This marks the first recorded instance of any Greek general ever changing the standard depth of a hoplite unit. The Battle of Delium took place in 424 BC between the Athenians and the Boeotians, and ended with the siege of Delium in the following weeks. ... Thespiae was an ancient Greek city in Boeotia. ...

This novel technique worked wonders, as the Thebans rapidly broke through the Athenian left, and moved to encircle the rest of the Athenian army. However, the Thespians on the Boeotian left were up against the Athenians' crack troops, and were themselves quickly overwhelmed, surrounded, and killed almost to a man. Sensing that his victorious Thebans could not outflank the enemy before the Athenian right broke into his rear, Pagondas chose to do something utterly unprecedented in the annals of Greek warfare. He called in a reserve force (the mere creation of which was itself unprecedented) of several hundred cavaliers to support the now decimated Thespians. The Athenians on the right were stunned by this -- so much so that they apparently fell into a confusion and turned tail. This was perhaps fortunate for Pagondas's cavaliers, as Greek cavalry, made up of light-armed aristocrats without saddles or stirrups, was no match for a company of hoplites. Nevertheless, the use of the cavalry reserve broke the Athenian right and, because the Thebans had by now moved into the Athenian rear, caused a general Athenian rout. See: A saddle is a seat for a rider fastened to a horses back. ... Haniwa horse statuette, complete with saddle and stirrups, 6th century, Kofun period, Japan. ...

Pagondas's victory at Delium helped guarantee Boeotian security, and prevented further Athenian incursions into their territory for the remainder of the Peloponnesian War.

Aftereffects

Pagondas's theretofore unseen employment of tactics in combat set the stage for his fellow Theban Epaminondas's brilliant command at Leuctra, considered one of the most astounding tactical victories in the history of warfare. How much Epaminondas learned directly from Pagondas and Delium is lost to history, but the connection seems clear. In turn, Philip of Macedon, who was raised in Boeotia as a hostage and was a student of the Peloponnesian War, would go on to develop further the tactical ideas originated by Pagondas. In turn, his legacy would be followed and expanded by his son, Alexander. Epaminondas (c. ... Leuctra was a village of Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae, chiefly noticeable for the battle fought in its neighborhood in 371 BC between the Thebans and the Spartans and their allies. ... Philip II of Macedon (382 BC–336 BC; Greek: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ) was the King of Macedon from 359 BC until his death. ... A hostage is an entity which is held by a captor in order to compel another party to act or refrain from acting in a particular way. ... Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ...

Historian Victor Davis Hanson, among others, therefore argues that Pagondas's simple use of cavalry reserves and altered troop formations set the stage for the entire military history of the West, and, by extension, the world. Victor Davis Hanson speaking at UC Santa Barbara in May 2004. ... The term Western world or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ...

See also

• Socrates
• Alcibiades
• Military tactic
• Military strategy
• Ancient Greece
• Battle of Gaugamela

Socrates This article is about the ancient Greek philosopher, for all other uses see: Socrates (disambiguation) Socrates (June 4, ca. ... Alcibiades Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (ancient Greek: ΑΛΚΙΒΙΑΔΗΣ ÎšÎ›Î•Î™ÎÎ™ÎŸÎ¥ ΣΚΑΜΒΩΝΙΔΗΣ)¹ (c. ... Military tactics is the collective name for methods of engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. ... Military strategy in the Waterloo campaign Military strategy is a collective name for planning the conduct of warfare. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... In the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia. ...

Further reading

• Hanson, Victor Davis Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How we Fight, How we Live, and How we Think (Doubleday, 2003)
• Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War
• Kagan, Donald The Pelopennesian War (Viking Press, 2003)