specifics in Spear fighting combat

[Kineas]

Xenophon seems to use 'pyknosis' and 'synapsismos' synonymously, and that makes a great deal of sense given the size of shield, and the fact that 'fighting stance' for a Hoplite is more front on and less sideways than a 'Sarissaphoroi' - you can't squeeze up so much, though in battle conditions we might expect 'bunching', and edging behind a neighbours shield to occur, as we are told famously by Thucydides referring to the famous 'rightward drift' - which we should be careful not to over-exaggerate.

I think we have the same Loeb in front of us

i just wanted ot add that linear warfare era reenactors and professionals both comment on this same effect. If troops are at 'Shoulder Arms" (British or French) they tend to drift left, and if at "advance arms" (British) they tend to drift right. Troops doing the 1758 drill bayonet charge (which is a leg over leg advance much like the Greek Phalanx with shield, at least as illustrated on many vases) also have a natural "oblique" which has ot be overcome by careful judgment. David Dundas in his 1787 pre-manual comments on this tendency several times.
I wonder if Thuc. was just wrong in his reasoning as to why the phalanx drifted, thus confusing generations of scholars?

Just 2 cents worth!