BATTALIA, an army ranged in order of battle, or ready for engagement. The word seems formed from the Latin battalia, sometimes also written batalia, denoting a sort of military or gladiatorial exercise, as fighting with foils, or tilting at a post. In this sense, we meet with the depth of a battalia; to march in battalia, with the baggage in the middle; to break the battalia, &c. In the Roman battalia, the batalii made the front.