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Linear tactics
(1,117 words)

1. Line versus column

The frontispiece to the edition of Polybius by the Chevalier de Folard, a classic of military literature that appeared in German translation in 1755 [1], shows Athena and Ares as Olympian military experts engaged in lively discussion concerning two different battlefield formations. The pair here symbolize a fundamental military controversy of the 18th century: whether linear or columnar tactics off…

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Kloosterhuis, Jürgen, “Linear tactics”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 April 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_023419>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20190801



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