phalanxes?

[Cheexsta]

IIRC, Polybius does mention that the Roman soldiers found it extremely hard to do any kind of damage to a Macedonian phalanx's front. They tried hacking off the spearhead, but when you have 9 other spearheads jabbing at each Roman soldier (though obviously they couldn't all be brought to bear at once), it makes such a move difficult. The Romans only punctured the lines where the Macedonian soldiers were disorganised and hadn't linked up properly. So it makes perfect sense that you can't really get through a phalanx front without using the aforementioned exploit/tactic.

Though, judging by the reasonably low casualties the Romans sustained, the phalangites didn't seem to kill enemies from the front so much as prevent the enemy from reaching their own lines (presumeably why they didn't have pikes breaking and causing problems). I noticed this while playing as the Seleukids that the enemy hoplites weren't taking many casualties, but very few were actually able to attack back. When the enemy cavalry managed to hit me from the sides, though, I was in all sorts of trouble...