A ''lochos'', plural ''lochoi'' ( el, λόχος ''lokhos'', pl. ''lokhoi''), is a tactical sub unit of

Classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Marti ...

and of the modern

Greek army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

. The term derived from the ancient Greek for

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind moun ...

and the men carrying out the ambush, but in practice, its meaning was essentially that of "war-band", a body of armed men. This translation has been used traditionally, e.g. for the

Sacred Band of Thebes The Sacred Band of Thebes (Ancient Greek: , ''Hierós Lókhos'') was a troop of select soldiers, consisting of 150 pairs of male lovers which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC, ending Spartan domination. Its pre ...

Size and organisation

Evolving as it did with

ancient Greek warfare Warfare occurred throughout the history of Ancient Greece, from the Greek Dark Ages onward. The Greek 'Dark Ages' drew to an end as a significant increase in population allowed urbanized culture to be restored, which led to the rise of the city ...

from that of tribal Greece to that of the Greek

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

s, the ''lochos'' varied in size and organisation over time and from city state to city state, ranging in size from a single file to about 640 men. The best surviving description of the ''lochos'' is that by

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

in his '' Anabasis'', however this must be taken as being illustrative of a particular time and place, that of 5th century BC

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

, rather than being truly representative. Aelian and

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

use the terms lochos as file and

lochagos ''Lochagos'' (; abbreviated as Λγος) is used in the Greek language to mean "Captain". More precisely, it means "leader of a '' lochos''". The equivalent term in the Hellenic Army Armour & Cavalry is el, ιλάρχος, ilarchos, "leader of an ...

as file leader.

''Lochos'' as file

A ''lochos'' comprised an inconsistent number of men that could range from 8 to 16 men. Asclepiodotus offers three alternative names, namely ''stichos'' (), ''synomotia'' () and ''dekania'' (). The file leader was called a ''

'' and the file closer an ''ouragos''. The men in the uneven rows were called ''

protostates A ''protostates'' ( el, πρωτοστάτης, "the one who stands first/in front"), in Ancient Greece, was the man in front of an ''epistates'' (the one who stands behind). The Greek phalanx was made up of alternate ranks of ''protostates'' and ...

'', among which the ''lochagos'', and the men in the even rows ''

epistates An ( gr, ἐπιστάτης, plural ἐπιστάται, ) in ancient Greece was any sort of superintendent or overseer. In the Hellenistic kingdoms generally, an is always connected with a subject district (a regional assembly), where the , as ...

''. Should the line perform a ''pyknosis'' (that is, close its ranks by placement of half the ''lochos'' in the interval between the original ''lochoi''), then the ''epistates'' of the ''lochagos'' would become the '' promachos'' ''protostates'' of the newly employed file. A half-file was called ''hemilochion'' () or ''dimoiria'' () and a quarter-file ''enomotia'' ().

Spartan ''lochos''

The Spartan ''lochos'', according to Xenophon, consisted of 640 men, composed of 4 ''pentekostyes'' (pl. of ''pentekostys'') of 160 men, with the ''pentekostyes'' in turn being composed of 4 ''enomotiai'' of about 40 men each. The ''lochos'' in turn formed half of a '' mora'', there being 6 ''morai'' in the

Spartan Army The Spartan army stood at the center of the Spartan state, citizens trained in the disciplines and honor of a warrior society.Connolly (2006), p. 38 Subjected to military drills since early manhood, the Spartans became one of the most feared ...

. The ''morai'' would normally be commanded by a

Polemarch A polemarch (, from , ''polemarchos'') was a senior military title in various ancient Greek city states (''poleis''). The title is derived from the words ''polemos'' (war) and ''archon'' (ruler, leader) and translates as "warleader" or "warlord" ...

, and the ''lochos'' by a ''

''. However, the actual numbers would vary depending on the needs of a campaign. Spartan military organisation relied on dividing its citizen army into eight age classes and a full strength ''enomotiai'' consisted of five men from each of the age classes. However, it was unusual to draw men from the older age classes, so, on campaign, an ''enomotia'' would consist of 30 to 35 men with the ''lokhos'' and ''mora'' being correspondingly smaller. If only the first four, or even fewer, age classes were called up, then the "short" organisational ''lochos'' would be grouped together to form a full strength tactical ''lochos''. Whatever the theoretical size of the ''lochos'', units of about 300 men appear frequently in the classical Greek records, this being the number of the

, the Spartans at

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

, and the number on each side of the Battle of the Champions fought between Argos and Sparta in 546 BC. This number would give a frontage of about 40 shields given the traditional eight-deep

phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...

, and probably represents the smallest number needed to form a usable phalanx.

Byzantine use

In the Byzantine army, the ''lochos'' continued to be used as a term for the file. It was the basic infantry unit of usually eight men, composed of the file leader (''

'') and seven soldiers. In the tradition of the Roman '' contubernium'', this unit slept and ate together in a single tent, and had a permanently attached servant. Alternative names were ''dekarchion'' and ''dekarchos'' for the file leader, meaning "leader of ten".

Modern use

The term ''lochos'', along with the associated rank of ''

'' and its derivatives, has been revived in the modern Greek military for a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

-sized command.

References