Quote Originally Posted by Kraxis
As long as those pikes are, when they are leveled they are not the best protection against arrows and javelins. So the first ranks needed some added protection. Not much but it all helps.
Further, the buckler was not as small as the Levy Pikemen's shield, it was in fact around 60cm in diameter, which is not large but certainly not too small either. So I don't know if I would call it a buckler.
The phalangites were not always used as pikemen, but also as swordsmen and javelineers when the terrain was not for big blocks of pikes. In such cases a shield would be a serious help.
Lastly the shield was strapped to the forearm but it also had a strap up and around the shoulder and neck (just like a shoulderbag), making certain the shield kept facing outwards as well as helping the left arm keeping the pike leveled. Without the strap the pike would become quite heavy for the left arm after a while, but with it a lot of the weight was transferred to the back and neck.
The RTW one does look a lot more weedy than 60cm....a 60cm one should easily be as long as the forearm of any man with it, and obviously extend in all directions quite significantly. I'll have to go look again now, because I reember the RTW ones being smaller than the length of a mans forearm and quite easily qualifying for the term 'buckler'.