Shadar,

Elements of that are certainly true, but the hoplites/phalangites were anything but helpless. They put the mojo on the Roman legions several times when faced frontally. As conon394 said, even at Zama, a decisive victory for Rome, the African phalanx was not getting the worst of it---until the Roman allied Numidian cav returned to strike the phalanx from the rear. This was a well prepared and veteran Roman army under a military genius, not some hurriedly assembled force under a lackluster commander. Also, the Romans took quite a few casualties facing Pyrrhus and lost the first two major encounters. Even at Cynoscephalae the formed phalanx was *winning* vs. the Romans, pushing them back and killing a respectable number. It was the other flank that was unable to reach the ridge and form up that cost the battle. It sounds reasonable to say that the front ranker with the gladius could easily parry a spear thrust...until you realize how many spear points the man had to contend with.