Sources disagree on the tactic's own origin. It may date to Miltiades' weakened-center formation at Marathon in 490 BC, but Wikipedia's own account calls Hannibal's Cannae in 216 BC the first successful use recorded in detail, leaving Marathon as a possible but not confirmed earlier instance.
What would resolve this A close reading of the primary account of Marathon (Herodotus) checked against whether the U-shaped Athenian deployment was a deliberate envelopment plan or an accident of a stretched center meeting stronger wings.
OpenMilitary HistoryWikipedia: Pincer movement