Testudo

[Magnus]

Yeah, the rocks would definately hurt. But, if the person in front of you is a bit taller, it's hard not to rest your shield on their head. Makes you wonder how they sorted out the ranks in terms of height, if at all.

Hey PMBardunias, can you add your real name to your signature? Thanks!

To answer your question, the diameter of the boss (the part that is domed) at least on my scutum, isn't a lot bigger than the hole that is cut out for the hand. BUT, having said that, because my hand is in the middle of this hole, I have a good 2-3 inches of clearance above and below my hand.

So as long as the shields were of equal size, then the person who was holding the shield on top would be ok. But, if his shield was a bit smaller, symetrical or not he may have a problem. I'm not sure we know how uniform the scuta were within a century/cohort. You would think things would work better if they were the same dimensions, but that may have not been the case. I guess they would have improvised and adapted as necessary.