Pagondas
Sign in to savePagondas (), son of Aeolidas, was a Theban general and statesman, who is best known for his command of the Boeotian forces at the Battle of Delium (424 BC) during the Peloponnesian War. His modification of the standard hoplite phalanx 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.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Thebes
- Place of birth
- Thebes
- Occupation
- military personnel
- Position held
- Boeotarch
- Languages spoken
- Ancient Greek
Show 4 more facts
- date of death
- 0360-01-01
- time period
- classical antiquity
- date of birth
- 0434-01-01
- described by source
- Pauly–Wissowa
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Biographical information
- Delium
- After effects
- See also
- Further reading
Pagondas (), son of Aeolidas, was a Theban general and statesman, who is best known for his command of the Boeotian forces at the Battle of Delium (424 BC) during the Peloponnesian War. His modification of the standard hoplite phalanx 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.
== 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 contingents 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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pagondas” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.