The Makedonian phalanx -- why such depth?

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Eis machen (??? ?????) means just "to(direction) battle". It can mean anything. It can mean "ready for battle" which is the most likely in our context,but this means nothing to us. Because were they considered ready for battle when,in open or close order? "En taxei" (?? ?????) means "in order","orderly". You can use it for everything. You can have them march in column "en taxei" or you can have a group of children leave their shoes beside that wall "en taxei". Do not try to find standard military terms. They are using adjectives and adverbs to describe the action,not the order. Since we have no specific orders mentioned by the ancient authors,we can't try to identify specific actions for them.
As has been extensively discussed before,Xenophon's words about the forming of the battle line can be interpreted in many different ways. I am of the opinion that "as was custom(law) to them" does not refer to the phalanx depth,neither to the order of the different units in the formation. It is used to describe the way in which a greek army would form a battle formation from a marching column. I remind, his exact word is not "custom" or "habit" but "law"(?????). This suggests something strong,like the procedure in which thousants of men would always form a greek phalanx,no matter what its depth would be. Also note that their depth is mentioned in a different clause,not in the same where it is mentioned that it was a law/custom to them.
In the end,Paul i don't think there is anyone here that disagrees with your theory,but on the same hand it's just one of the least plausible interpretations of what Xenophon meant. And as you said yourseld,there is only him,nothing else. So i repeat,there is no need to make any model,brcause it doesn't have a stong base and it can only be misleading.
Khairete
Giannis