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[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 Rustic[2] 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.

*)eceligmw=n i)de/ai dittai/, h( me\n kata\ lo/xous, h( de\ kata\ zuga/. ei)/dh de\ a)na\ e(kate/rou au)tw=n tri/a. kalei=tai ga\r o( me\n *makedw/n, o( de\ *la/kwn, o( de\ *xw/rios, o(\n kai\ *krhtiko\n kai\ *persiko\n kalou=si. *makedw\n de\ e)celigmo/s e)stin o( kata\ lo/xous, o( metalamba/nwn th=s fa/laggos to\n e)/mprosqen to/pon, a)nti\ de\ th=s kata\ pro/swpon e)pifanei/as th\n o)/pisqen. *la/kwn de/ e)stin o( metalamba/nwn th=s fa/laggos to\n o)pi/sw to/pon, o(moi/ws de\ a)nti\ th=s e)/mprosqen e)pifanei/as th\n o)/pisqen. *xw/rios de/ e)stin o( to\n au)to\n e)pe/xwn to/pon th=s fa/laggos, tw=n kata\ me/ros o(plitw=n a)nq' w(=n prokatei=xon to/pwn e(te/rous metalambano/ntwn, tou= me\n loxagou= to\n tou= ou)ragou=, tou= de\ ou)ragou= to\n tou= loxagou=, a)nti\ de\ th=s kata\ pro/swpon e)/mprosqen e)pifanei/as, o)/pisqen. oi( de\ dh\ kata\ zuga\ e)celigmoi\ gi/nontai, e)peida\n e)pi\ tw=n a)potomw=n boulhqh=| tis ta\ ke/rata kaqista/nein, ta\s de\ a)potoma\s e)pi\ tw=n kera/twn, xa/rin tou= kai\ ta\ me/sa i)sxuropoiei=sqai: kai\ o(moi/ws ta\ decia\ e)n toi=s eu)wnu/mois kai\ ta\ eu)w/numa e)n toi=s decioi=s.

The entire entry is a close paraphrase of Aelian, Tactica 27.1-5, although parts of it, including the beginning, are clearly influenced by the derivative passage in Arrian, Tactica 23.1-5. A very similar version of the passage, with a similar mixture of Aelian and Arrian, is included in the tactical glossary appended to some mss of the Suda (item 44).
The word designated as the headword by Adler and again here is merely the first word of the quotation, and is in the genitive plural in accordance with its function in the syntax of its clause.
cf. generally epsilon 1617.
[1] A translation of the Suda's xw/rios, although both Aelian and Arrian have xo/rios ('dancing') instead. The version of this passage found in the tactical glossary (see primary note above) spells the word correctly.
[2] See note 1.
[3] Apparently (as is explained more clearly in subsequent chapters of Aelian and Arrian), we are to imagine that in the Macedonian countermarch the man at the front of a file does an about-face but remains in place while the rest of the file marches past and forms up behind him. In the Lakonian, the rear of the file does an about-face but remains in the same place while the rest of the file marches past and forms up in front of him. In these types of countermarch the entire phalanx ends up facing the opposite direction in a position either behind (Lakonian) or ahead of (Macedonian) their previous position. In the Dancing (here, "Rustic") countermarch, both front and rear of the file about-face and countermarch simultaneously until they have exchanged positions. The total body of the phalanx thus ends up occupying exactly the same space, but faces the opposite direction. All three forms of countermarch are designed to end up with the front-rank fighters still in the front rank.

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