This is a quote from pages 125-126 of Caesar's 10th Legion, by Stephen Dando-Collins. It describes the 10th and 1st legion hacking at each other during the Civil War. The 10th is fighting for Caesar, the 1st is fighting for Pompey. The 10th recently charged against the 1st. The 1st held the initial charge. Lines are drawn, and... this is the scene the author describes:

"Now, standing toe to toe with their adversaries, Caesar's men tried to hack a way through the shield line. On Caesar's right wing, Centurion Crastinus, repulsed in his initial charge, was moving form cohort to cohort as his men tried to break through the immovable 1st Legion Line, urging on his legionaries at the top of his voice above the din of battle. Crastinus threw himself at the shield line, aiming to show his men how to reach over the top of an enemy shield and strike at the face of the soldier on the other side with the point of the sword. As he did, he felt a blow to the side of the head. He never saw it coming. The strength suddenly drained from his legs. He sagged to his knees. His head was spinning. Dazed, he continued to call out to his men to spur them on.

"As he spoke, a legionary of the 1st Legion directly opposite him in the shield line moved his shield six inches to the left, opening a small gap. In a flash he had shoved his sword through the gap with a powerful forward thrust that entered the yelling Gaius Crastinus's open mouth. According to Plutarch, the tip of the blade emerged from the back of Crastinus's neck. The soldier of the 1st withdrew his bloodied sword, and swiftly resealed the gap in the shield line. His action had lasted just seconds..."

First, note Caesar's men are trying to hack a way through the "shield line" formed by the 1st. This gives the impression ranks are close enough to draw a shield line. The 1st Legion line is described as "immovable".

But, most important, notice the attack technique. They don't slam the shields against each other trying to push the opponent's shields off to the side and aim at their belly. Instead, they attack overhead, aiming at the face. This is completely different from our common imagination.

Note Crastinus is hit twice, first to the side of his head. He is stunned by the first blow, but the mortal blow is the second blow. The mortal blow enters through his mouth and exits through his neck. Both attacks are aimed at Crastinus's head. Both are overhead strikes.

The details surrounding this second blow are telling. The author tells the attacking soldier moves his shield 6 inches to the side to open a small gap in the shield wall. This tells us the 1st legion had formed a solid shield of walls. Shields were next to each other with no gaps, thus, the soldier had to move the his own shield off the side to open a small gap in his own shield wall through which he could attack. Furthermore, the author tells us the soldier immediately re sealed the shield wall as he withdrew his sword.

Furthermore, we are told were extremely fast. The first blow, we are told it had been so fast no Crastinus's never saw it coming. The second blow we are told was swift and powerful, the whole thing taking only seconds. Clearly, these men were were master's of this technique and executed it with extreme dexterity and speed. They most have practiced it many times before. This is not the picture of men improvising a new technique on the spot.

The techniques described in this excerpt are in keeping with the style of combat we proposed in our prior excerpts. We don't see a football match where soldiers are tackling each other with their shields and trying to force an opening to strike the opponents gut. Instead, they barricade behind a portable shield wall, and strike overhand aiming at the neck and face of their opponents.

Bear with me just one more short excerpt. Here, Caesar's men are fighting the German. It was a bloody encounter and the author describes the wounds: "Some wrenched shields out of the hands of their owners. Others reached over the top of the shields and stabbed the points of their swords into German faces." Page 23 of Caesar's 10th Legion, by Stephen Dando-Collins.

Again, we here no mention of attacks to the underbelly, again, swords are stabbed at the face, presumably in an overhand fashion.

These two battles are over 10 years apart from each other. In both instances we see overhand strikes which are most consistent with the style of combat we are proposing. Furthermore, the quote describing the encounter between the 1st and 10th legion clearly speaks of a continuous shield wall that is resealed after each attack.

In my previous entries I mentioned the ergonomics of the shield. I realize I did not explain my point. The ergonomics of the shield tells us a lot about the manner it was wielded. I am not very good at drawing... I have to find a way to illustrate my point... I will work on this.