The fact that Thucydides mentions the rightward motion of the phalanx due to the hoplon cannot be ignored.

Thucydides states that all Greek armies are alike in there tendency to step right when engaging in battle, as hoplites would out of fear move to cover their unprotected sides with the left half of the hoplite next to them (see Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 7.71). The typical hoplite shield was called hoplon () and it was introduced at the end of the eighth century BC. Thucydides mentions the right step motion in his account of the Battle of Manitea in 418 B.C. Allowing a hoplite to utilize the extra portion of his fellow combatant’s shield would also imply that the hoplite phalanx would have a tendency to move right when advancing in combat (see “Formations and Tactics”). The double grip method of holding the shield offers protection on the center and left side of the body, but leaves the right side of the body exposed, unless the hoplite utilizes the extra, redundant portion of the shield owned by the hoplite to the right of him. Two Greek hoplites engaged in battle utilizing the hoplite shield.Primarily, the shield serves as protection for the hoplite that holds it, as well as the hoplite to his immediate left. These farmers were important citizens of the country because - as one strong group - they decided the laws that ruled the communities and joined together to fight in the tines of war.

Hoplite shield name