Quote Originally Posted by Lord Condormanius
Relax Wiggy, nobody's trying to second guess your expertise. I must have missed that.

It is not a question of whether or not they could form phalanx, but rather one of whether or not they did. They did not. They fought in the third row of the manipular legion, primarily as reserves. It is true that their maniples were were smaller (only 30 men per century, rather than the 60 men that each century of hastati and principes had), so they were spread more thinly across the back row, this being the case, they would not be deep enough to intend to form a phalanx. A shield wall, ok, but not a phalanx.

The reason they did not fight in phalanx formation is that it is not flexible enough to fight anywhere but on flat ground. What prompted the transition from the old style phalanx was that they had to move into difficult mountainous terrain to contend with the tribes of Italy, like the Samnites.

...do I have to put a disclaimer on here that says I acknowledge that you already know what I'm writing so nobody gets miffed at me?
Actually I think you'll find that the nominal strength of a manipule of Hastati or Principae was 160. I either case it should be obvious to you, since you are so knowledable that the Triarii cannot have fought along the same frontage as the other lines, because they would have been breached too easily. Try a smaller, more compact formation.

Further, for your information, a hopilte phalanx is identical to a germanic shieldwall. Both are a close ordered body of spearmen. The hoplite phalanx is not as inflexable as you might imagine, the primary issue being mobility. It remained the best formation for holding ground anywhere.

Thermopalae ring any bells?

Oh, and yes, if you are going to explicitly question the competence of my faction then you had better expect a harsh response. Who said you could call me Wiggy anyway?

The issues of the hoplite shield and exactly when cohorts were introduced are up to debate. It may be that the aspis was abandoned with the reforms or that it was retained until the time of Polybius. Similarily the absense of information does not mean that the Camillian legion did not have cohorts.

We have made the best decisions we can based on the sources available.

If you think we're wrong I suggest you produce some evidence.

(Zak, thanks buddy, lovely to have sources on hand, isn't it?)