““Thucydides observed how advancing troops tended to edge out towards their right,{18} their unshielded side. They had an instinctive desire to feel themselves more protected by the shields of their right-hand neighbours. Thus the right wing of a hoplite phalanx was apt to some degree to outflank the enemy’s left wing. The Spartans exploited this tendency by being able after outflanking their enemy’s left to wheel round and roll up the enemy line. This was the more possible because the Spartans advanced, as Milton says, “to flutes and soft recorders” rather than charged at speed. Their disciplined steadiness was not borne down by the impact of the enemy charge, their skill in front-line fighting compensated for its lack of momentum. The””
