PHALANX.--This word originally signified a battalion or squadron. The Greek Phalanx consisted of 8000 men, in a square battalion, with shields joined and spears crossing each other. The celebrated Phalanx of Epaminondas, or the Theban Phalanx, was wedge shaped, and by it he achieved his two great victories. The modern square is based on the Grecian Phalanx, which was itself, as well as the Roman Orb, taken from the Theban. The renowned Macedonian Phalanx of Alexander the Great’s father, Philip, was instituted B.C. 360. This consisted of 16,000 picked men divided into four equal parts of 4000 each. They performed their evolutions upon the enomoty or single file, whether it were required to extend or deepen the line, and there was an interval between every two sections for the convenience of manœuvring. PHARSALIA, BATTLE OF.--Fought, May 12th, 48 B.C., between Julius Cæsar and Pompey. “The battle commenced about daybreak, and before noon the army of Pompey was utterly defeated. Pompey himself, early in the battle, seemed entirely to have lost his presence of mind, and fled in despair to his tent, there to await the result. Cæsar, determined to make the most of his advantage, notwithstanding the weariness of his troops, did not permit the pursuit to slacken till the army of Pompey was entirely scattered. A considerable body of them had taken refuge in an adjacent mountain. By cutting off all hope of succor, Cæsar induced them to surrender. He received their submission with the greatest gentleness, and forbade his soldiers from offering violence to their vanquished countrymen. This was the most complete victory Cæsar ever obtained. His loss did not exceed 200, while that of Pompey was 10,000, and 24,000 surrendered themselves prisoners of war. On passing over the battle field, so thickly strewn with Romans, Cæsar is said to have been affected even to tears, while he exclaimed to one near him, “They would have it so.” PHILIPPI, BATTLE OF.--Fought, October, 42 B.C., between Octavius Cæsar and Marc Antony, on the one side, and Brutus and Cassius on the other.