Ἔμβολον
wedge, wedge-formation
Translated by Antonella Ippolito2 Nov 2006Vetting: high10 revisions
Translation
Name of a battle-order.1 It is half of a lozenge; it is also called sling-shaped.2 A lozenge-shaped arrangement.
Also the iron part of a warship.3
"After [one of the tribunes] had dragged away from the wedges [= rostra] the praetor who was calling for war, he made speeches".4
Wedge is what [a formation] is called, whenever the phalanx marching in two directions5 joins its leading wings together, but separates the rearward [ones].
But Agathias says 6: "they had the shape of a formation like one forming a wedge; for: it looked delta-shaped,7 and all the frontal part ended in a point, and it was was strongly fortified and compacted, due to the fact that from all directions it was enclosed by shields; and one could say that they had given to this join the shape of a pig's head. On each side the legs, joined together in depth by rows and squadrons, mostly stretched out in oblique directions, were separated and divided from each other, and as they were prolonged they ended with the greatest width, so that the central part was empty and the back of the soldiers appeared bare in a row. For they had turned themselves so that they could be face to face with the enemies and fight safely by putting forward their shields, and at the same time they could guard their backs, for they were ranged in battle opposite to each other".
Diagram of a wedge:8
L
Q Q Q
Z Z Z Z Z
D D D D D D D
B B B B B B B B B
A A A A A A A A A A A
G G G G G G G G G
E E E E E E E
H H H H H
K K K
M
Also the iron part of a warship.3
"After [one of the tribunes] had dragged away from the wedges [= rostra] the praetor who was calling for war, he made speeches".4
Wedge is what [a formation] is called, whenever the phalanx marching in two directions5 joins its leading wings together, but separates the rearward [ones].
But Agathias says 6: "they had the shape of a formation like one forming a wedge; for: it looked delta-shaped,7 and all the frontal part ended in a point, and it was was strongly fortified and compacted, due to the fact that from all directions it was enclosed by shields; and one could say that they had given to this join the shape of a pig's head. On each side the legs, joined together in depth by rows and squadrons, mostly stretched out in oblique directions, were separated and divided from each other, and as they were prolonged they ended with the greatest width, so that the central part was empty and the back of the soldiers appeared bare in a row. For they had turned themselves so that they could be face to face with the enemies and fight safely by putting forward their shields, and at the same time they could guard their backs, for they were ranged in battle opposite to each other".
Diagram of a wedge:8
L
Q Q Q
Z Z Z Z Z
D D D D D D D
B B B B B B B B B
A A A A A A A A A A A
G G G G G G G G G
E E E E E E E
H H H H H
K K K
M