Yet, any formation of the phalanx type will need to be rigid, and nowhere in the book are such formations mentioned. Infact the books does not speak of the lower ranks at all, all it tells of are the heros so all we can do is speculate, and considering that the heros are using the spears more like javelins than melee weapons, and the general effect one gets when reading about combat, I don't think there were any rigid formations at all, which ofcourse seems weird, because unit formations have been used since ages, Trojans and Greeks flooding the field in an ill disciplined manner too unlikly......I'm confused now.