 During the course of the battle, Epaminondas was to display a grasp of tactics hitherto unseen in Greek warfare.The phalanx formation used by Greek armies had a distinct tendency to veer to the right during battle, "because fear makes each man do his best to shelter his unarmed side with the shield of the man next him on the right".Traditionally, a phalanx therefore lined up for battle with the elite troops on the right flank to counter this tendency.