Quote Originally Posted by alin
I'll consider that but i agree with you that the shield and gladius are to low. The problem is not only the animation but also the models so i'll have to see how can i cahnge the animations and the models to get the optimal and most acurate position. Thnaks for the suggestions and don't worry, i will take care of applying them.
Great to hear!

Quote Originally Posted by Wigferth Ironwall
First, I think its important to note that the Imperial scutum was more mobile than any Republican version. So scenes of Trajan's collum are maybe a little unreliable for our period.

Second, I've had several conversations about this with a very knowledgable re-enactor (The Military Archaeologist I mentioned before.) He said that given the shoulder doublings on all types of Lorica, including Segmentata and the wieght and awkward nature of lifting the shield he thinks that it would have been held with the arm straight down and a little away from the body. He also notes theat the legs and lower body are the bits the Romans didn't armour.

Third, the Republican Scutum would have covered more or less the whole body this way.

Fourth, hiding your feet behind your shield gives you that extra split second because your enemy doesn't know when you are going to lunge.

I would suggest that the soldier should stand almost side on with his left arm fully extened downwards. and around 15-20 degrees out from the body, his sword arm back and ready to lunge. The Scutum's curve allows it to protect the side and front-left of the body without taking up too much space. A soldier would either have to parry blows to his right side or rely on his neighbour. Which is what the Romans did.

If this is how you have it I appologize but I've been mainly playing Makedonians so far. I should point out that while I know you can hold this position with the Imperial Scutum it might well be harder with the Republic version, but then I'm not that strong by soldier's standards.
The difference between the imperial and republican scutum could explain different methods of usage. Unfortunately all the depictions I've seen myself that are relevant to this topic have been from the imperial period (the Adamklissi metopes, Trajan's column and reliefs from the fortress at Mainz, to be more specific).

As for your second argument I think there's no doubt that your friend is infinitely more knowledgeable than I am on this topic as I am neither an expert nor have I ever taken part in any reenactment.

With that said, I still think that the way of holding the shield that you propose seems a bit awkward in some asoects. First of all I think that keeping your arm fully extended would create more of a strain on the joints of the elbow and shoulder. If you instead kept your arm slightly bent the weight would instead be focused on the muscles of the arm. I think that the same goes for holding the shield 15-20 degrees from your body, which I think would strain the wrist.

To summarize I think that you make a very good case for republican troops holding the shield quite low, even if I still think that it looks a bit awkward in-game. It would be intresting if you played just a custom game as the romans so that you could comment on how well you think that the current animations correspond to your theories and your friends experiences.