Question About Hoplites

[pezhetairoi]

I find it super amusing when some incredible upstart with a name that is nothing more than a bunch of random letters comes in here, challenges with his first posts the most eminent members of this forum, makes completely idiotic and immature arguments and accusations, generalises the EB forum as a crappy pathetic place when you'd be hardpressed to find another forum that had quite as much academic debate going on, and then gets completely pulverised by 18-inch broadsides from all quarters of the compass.

I'll bet he's never going to show his face on this forum again, either from disgrace or from his own self-imposed disgust. If he ever does, I swear I'll unleash my own broadsides at him. I may not be a debating type, but on a person-to-person level, there's some quality of behaviour that should be followed, otherwise if you want to play barbarian, well, we can play barbarian too.

My two cents is based completely on pure common sense.

1) Your doru is the best way you have to reach an enemy. Closing with a kopis or (insert name of sword here) is only a far second best.

2) Your phalanx requires you close ranks tight and overlap shields. That is, after all, its defining feature.

3) You have two choices, underarm leaving a gap in the shieldwall of the phalanx for spears to pass through (or poking THROUGH the shields somehow), or overarm over the rims of the hoploi.

4a) Underarm means you will hit his shield over and over. Overarm means it's bloody uncomfortable and not quite as powerful, but at least you have a chance of hitting the face/jugular/chest.

4b) Underarm, you hold the spear horizontal. Overarm, you incline the business end at worst horizontal also and at best downwards, meaning the nonbusiness end is inclined slightly upwards, clear of faces (hopefully). But either way, some people are going to get poked. And anyway, it's not like a spring where you have to thrust backwards powerfully before you can thrust forwards powerfully an equal distance. You don't have to draw back so fast and hard that it will kill the man behind you, you can still thrust fast to hit the enemy, and what's a few bruises and scratches on the face anyway?

5a) You go with the overarm in phalanx formation because it's the only chance of even remotely hitting the enemy, and because it is patently impossible and pointless to thrust underarm.

5b) You go with the underarm in skirmishing mode as an ekdromoi, or if your name is Leonidas, because the thrust is way more powerful that way, and heck comfortabler too.

6) Just because the Federal and Confederate soldiers used their rifles to shoot doesn't mean that we automatically treat paintings of them using rifle butts to crack skulls or bayonetting people as a 'counter-case' to the accepted one. They are only different usages of the same weapon, and each may be practical or not depending on the situation.

There, done.