Ἐξελιγμῶν

[Of countermarches] there are two forms: one by companies and one by ranks. And for each of them there are three types. For one is called the Macedonian, another the Lakonian, and another the Rustic,¹ which is also called the Cretan and the Persian. The Macedonian countermarch is one by companies: the one that changes the front position of the phalanx, [sc. creating] a rearward front instead of a face-to-face one. The Lakonian is the one that changes the rear position of the phalanx, [sc. creating] likewise a rearward front rather than a forward one. The Rustic² is the one that keeps the phalanx in the same position, with the hoplites, section by section, exchanging the positions they held previously for new ones: the company leader, for instance, [sc. takes] the place of the rear-leader, and the rear leader that of the company leader, [sc. creating] a rearward front in place of a forward, face-to-face one.³ Countermarches by rank are performed when one wants to put the wings in the place of the [sc. other] divisions and the divisions in the place of the the wings in order to make the middle strong as well. And likewise the right in the place of the left and the left in the place of the right.