Hullo. I consider myself an amateur historian to all things Roman, and certainly I've fought with Roman troops in any number of mods, including EB and I always try to be as historically accurate as possible.

I find myself wondering though, just how did the manipular formation work? I realize that Hastati fight, retreat, then the Principes come to fight, and the gaps in the line are meant to make it easy for men to retreat behind one another. But isn't that just a vulnerability? When an enemy line attacks don't they just storm through the gaps and the Hastati end up being flanked on three sides?

Also, I'm unclear as to whether or not the later Legionnaires of Marius and Augustus fought in the maniple formation, or if they just formed one solid line that was, say, ten men deep, or if they actually held on to the maniple.