I'm not sure it's the same... the phalankai in the Trebbia battle will crawl forward and grind into the Roman infantry, but won't go back to where they were. They just keep moving. If there's one unit that should be able to hold position, it's those Carthaginian spearmen!

Could be hold formation maybe? I'll have to look around and see if anyone has an answer -- I found the constant resetting of my spear line frustrating, there has to be a command to keep them in place.