hoplite phalanxes usually deployed in ranks of 8 men or more deep; the macedonian phalanxes were usually 16 men deep, sometimes reported to have been arrayed 32 men deep. there are some notable extremes; at the battles of leuctra and mantinea, the theban general epameinondas arranged the left wing of the phalanx into a "hammerhead" of 50 ranks of elite hoplites deep (see below) and when depth was less important, phalanxes just 4 deep are recorded, as at the battle of marathon.