Don't worry about it, I can sound a bit uppety some times. The important thing to remember is I don't do subtext and I don't pull puches. What you read is what I think.

Thats mostly a good thing.

Quote Originally Posted by Oldgamer
The weapons I held was about 42 inches long, from tip to end of tang. At its widest point ... and remember that it was a leaf-shaped weapon ... it was some 4-4.5 inches (down where the hilt would have been, it was about 2.5 inches). It was a large weapon, to say the least, and would have required a strong man to wield it. The archaeologist who showed it to me wasn't sure whether it was a cavalry weapon or not (I asked him), but reminded me that many people of Celtic, Gallic, and Teutonic origins used very long and heavy weapons designed to smash armor and break bones.
I was reading an article earlier, I'd post it but its on a university network, Celtic swords got longer and lost their points, this is attributed, by the author, to the swirch from chariot "taxies" to full mounted warfare. It sounds a very improbable weapon for any foot soldier to use.

Concerning the weight of the scutum, much would depend on the thickness of the plywood from which it was made. I've never been able to find any truly reliable source concerning this. We don't even know how thick the "plys" were, and from what type of wood they were made. It's very possible that the plywood we used in my re-enactment group was too thick.
I'm afraid you're a little out of date here, several well preserved shields were found in the Middle East and dated to around the 1st century AD, IRRC. The method of construction seems to have been three layers with the grain alternating between horizontal and vetical. The examples were weighted between 10-11kg.

I guess that it would be possible for a highly-conditioned warrior to do a face punch, if the opportunity presented itself. For the quality of all of our research, we don't really have a clear idea of what happened man vs. man in ancient warfare, except that men died.
Its definately possible but I must admit that its more impressive to do infront of your mates than on the battlefield. I was talking to one of my friends today who knows more than either of us, he said you can "garage-door" with the shield and slam the edge into their face relatively easily, which also has the advatage of keeping them at arm's distance.

Right now I'm wondering how to break it to the team that Manchester university have decided that the Romans didn't have a red die that would take to horsehair.