Left, Right and Centre - where should a hoplite general stand?

[Erpingham]

As we haven't talked about hoplites for a while, here's an interesting blog post on the niceties of positioning in hoplite battle. 

[Imperial Dave]

good article and from a wargaming perspective....he goes right in the middle in the front rank of course! 

[Erpingham]

good article and from a wargaming perspective....he goes right in the middle in the front rank of course! 

Wargamers, of course, aren't constrained by social conventions, traditions or training but by rules and army lists .

[Imperial Dave]

true and in the best traditions of stupidity I always put my hoplite general in the thick of things 

[RichT]

Roel Konijnendijk, in Classical Greek Tactics: A Cultural History questions the whole position of honour thing, and points out that examples of generals, or senior contingents, being on left, centre or right occur with roughly equal frequency. He suggests that, rather than the position of honour being on the right, the position of honour (and of most practical importance) was the point where the battle was likely to be decided, which might well be the right in a revolving door, overlap on the right sort of battle, or it might be opposite the strongest enemy contingent, or somewhere else. I think there's justice in this, though there is enough evidence to suggest to me that the right was still special all else being equal.

With this in mind though it's no surprise that the commander of the leftmost contingent should lead from the left - the important thing is not being on the right (or left), but being at the crucial or most dangerous point, which is likely to be the outer edge of a formation, where it might be outflanked, or do the outflanking.

[Nick Harbud]

As the old song goes..

You better decide which side you're on.
The chips go down before too long.
If left is right, then right is wrong.
You better decide which side you're on.

[dwkay57]

It depends on what sort of Greeks and what sort of general, but the "general" principle I follow is that each state's commander will be with his own men, near the front, with his best hoplites.
Where each Greek state lines up depends upon which state is in overall control (keep your reliable and willing allies close), the terrain and tactical decisions on the day.