Quote Originally Posted by oaty
Well line up your infantry 2 deep against a cavalry superior army and then tell me there are no rank bonuses

Right. Then I'll line up two ranks of peasants vs a block of elephants to verify this.

I know that was a 'throw away' comment, but really... I'm not sure how relevant it is to the original poster's query.

Seriously, try two equal phalanx units against each other. Have one in the default ranks and depth, and have the other spread out into two ranks. They will never flank the latter, and will be destroyed.