("Thrust. Recoil. Thrust. Repeat as long as necessary.")
Ooh, is that innuendo?

The RTW/EB dory is certainly too long, compared to the height of the men, when carried over the shoulder. There must be a rational reason for this however, perhaps something hardcoded?
Indeed, that's what I thought. And no, it isn't hardcoded. You can give hoplites the "short_spear" attribute, which not only makes the spear approx. 9 ft. long, but also gives the hoplites a cohesive formation which can charge and face in the right direction and actually fight and push (particularly when combined with "spear" trait) while maintaining formation, something impossible in EB unless u tweak it just a bit...

I'm actually making a mod for EB that will edit phalanxes so they can do these things.