3 Attachment(s)
Ergonomics of the Roman Scutum.
I THE HANDLE
The information available today indicates the Roman Scutum had a horizontal handle. The Greek Hoplon and some Roman flat shields had a vertical handle. The choice of a vertical or horizontal handle gives us important clues about the manner in which the shield was wielded.
A vertical handle allows much greater freedom of movement. Imagine you are holding an umbrella. You can move your hand up or down, left or right with great ease. It is most comfortable to hold the umbrella right in front of you, around the height of your chest or diaphragm.
A best example of a horizontal handle is the handle on a briefcase or suitcase. It is best kept to the side at hip height. But it is very awkward to hold an object around the height of your diaphragm with a horizontal handle because your elbow forces your wrist and hand into a vertical position. Of course you can extend your arm forward, but this is a weak position, which results in poor balance, and very poor leverage.
Here is a link to a picture of a Roman Scutum recovered in an archeological dig:
http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_shield.html
The shield is missing the Metal Boss, which is convenient because we can clearly see the handle. It is a horizontal handle.
Friezes from Polybian era, show soldiers holding the Scutum low, with the handle around hip height, and off to the side. This of course would be the proper way to carry a big heavy shield with a horizontal handle.
The horizontal handle made it difficult to raise the shield beyond a certain point. When an attacker executes an overhead strike the attacker extends his arm up above his head and stikes down at a 30 - 45 degree angle depending on how far the attacker extended his arm. Accordingly, an upward block should reach 4 inches over the defender’s head, or 12 inches above the shoulders.
I am attaching a set of diagrams illustrating how a user would raise a Hoplon or a Scutum in order to execute an upward blow. If you study the illustrations I copy below, and try using a mock roman Scutum, you will find it does not lend itself to make an effective upward block.
II THE LENGTH OF THE SHIELD, PROBLEMS WITH CARRYING THE SHIELD IN FRONT OF YOU.
The horizontal handle requires the soldier to keep the shield’s handle around hip height. This is consistent with friezes dating back to Roman era. Furthermore, because the Scutum was so long, carrying it in front of you, at hip level, would block your legs. All illustrations from contemporary art show romans carrying the shield off to the side.
These limitations were true during the march, and they were equally true during actual combat. Our thesis is that Roman soldiers fought fully sideways to the enemy as described in the charts attached.
Modern Boxers keep one foot back from the other. However, we must clarify this is not what we mean by fighting sideways. If we look carefully at a boxer’s stand we will notice his hips are facing forward. If a modern boxer were to grab a Roman Scutum in the manner, the scutum would be on his side and would not protect him from the enemy.
In order to take advantage of a roman Scutum, you have to rotate even further off to the side. The user needs to rotate until his hips are fully sideways to his opponent. Modern fencing and oriental fighting styles incorporate side fighting stances which we believe are similar to those used by Roman soldiers. We believe roman soldiers used fighting stances similar to the stances shown in these pictures:
http://www.uktc-shotokan.org/stance_kokutsu-dachi.gif
http://www.uktc-shotokan.org/block_gedan-barai.gif
The last two charts attached illustrate how a Roman soldier would hold the Scutum while using these stances.
III THE LENGTH OF THE SHIELD, HOW TO STABILIZE THE SHIELD
The length of the shield requires its user to anchor the shield at top and bottom. A four feet long shield can build a lot of leverage. If the user only holds the shield through the middle handle, an attacker pressing the top or bottom edge of the shield will overturn the shield. The user of such a long shield had to anchor the top and bottom of the shield.
We believe Roman soldiers braced the top of the shield with shoulders, and the bottom of the shield with the knee or the floor. We believe Roman soldiers could have braced their shields with shoulder and knee while standing fully sideways to their opponent as shown in the charts attached.
IV THE ATTACK
Roman sword strikes were penetrating stabs, not slashes. The soldier could strike from either the forward or backward stance, depending on the proximity of the opponent.
When executing the attack, the Roman soldier would rotate hips and shoulders, pressing the right hip and shoulder forward, but without moving his feet. This rotation would have a triple effect: First, it displaces the shield to the side making room for the coming strike. Second, it allows the attacker to put the full strength of his rear leg plus the weight of hips and shoulders behind the strike. Third, it moves the right shoulder forward, allowing greater reach. The rotation of hips and shoulders allows simultaneous execution of all these elements (rotating shield, shifting body weight, and increasing striking range). It is a remarkably quick movement that accomplishes all these elements at once. It also allows for a very quick recovery by merely rotating hips and shoulders to their original position.
This hip and shoulder rotation is standard technique for some oriental fighting styles that practice side fighting stances.
V THE CHARGE, RUNNING WITH SHIELD, TACKLE WITH SHIELD
I am now working on the charge. I need to do a bit more research before I am ready to post on this subject.
To figure out how roman soldiers used the shield during the charge, we first have to figure out how romans carried their shield while running. I am looking for contemporary art (friezes, statutes, etc. showing legionaries running) I have found only one. If any of you have any useful source, I would appreciate you share it with me.
After we figure out how Roman soldiers carried their shield while running, then we have to figure out the techniques (shield and body movements) they used to transition from a "run" to a "tackle". Again, I am working on this.
The Traditional Representation
The Argive Grip is the best grip if you intend to use the Scutum as suggested by the traditional representation. That's why modern riot police shields use the Argive grip. That is also why hoplons used the Argive grip.
The Roman's were familiar with the Argive grip. Triarii shields used the Argive grip. Still, Romans chose not to use the Argive grip in their scutums.
This begs the question: if the Argive grip was the best suited for the traditional representation, and, if the Romans were familiar with the Argive grip, why would they drop the Argive grip in favor of the horizontal handle?
Their choice of handle indicates Romans did not mean to use the shield as depicted in the traditional representation. It might have been used in such a manner under exceptional circumstances, but, it was not meant to be used that way.
