Quote Originally Posted by Matthew Amt
--D. Fair enough. I wouldn't want to stand still and let someone give me a full-force two-handed thrust with a spear or pike. But spears were usually one-handed weapons. The Macedonian pike had pretty much died out in the 2nd century BC, and I don't think the two-handed Persian cavalry kontos was around just yet.
The 2-handed kontos was in use well before the introduction of LS, although obviously not by the Romans themselves. Still, even though romans spent a good amount of time stabbing each other it would be the arms of their opponets that would be the issue. The Parthians certinly were using the kontos against romans soliders before the introduction of LS, but perhaps this is just another reason LH remained the standard armor in the east while LS became more and more common in the west.