03-24-2005, 03:12 PM
Yep. The horse archers had to be alert, but that doesn't mean they were galloping all the time at full speed, far from it.<br>
Indeed the Romans tried to break out the encirclement with sudden charges but I've been riding horses long enough to know that those beasts are definitely faster and have much quicker reflexes than humans.<br>
A "'sudden charge" of exhausted legionaries, bearing armour and 12 pound shields is evaded by a horseman by simply trotting away twenty yards, then twenty other, and so on until the "sudden charge" --a slow trot-runs out of the little steam it had left and becomes once again a stationary target --with the added disadvantage that it may be a disorganized one-- unable to keep the horse archers at a respectable distance.<br>
A trained horse can evade a charging bull and can cut a calf from his mother with ease. A human is no challenge at all.<br>
Actually, given the extremely high level of horsemanship of those horse archers, plus their exceptional physical condition, I suspect that not only they weren't exhausted but they may have had a pretty good day for themselves, shooting arrows into the herd of Romans.<br>
Besides, they certainly had a remount of at least two horses. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=antoninuslucretius@romanarmytalk>Antoninus Lucretius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://lucretius.homestead.com/files/Cesar_triste.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 3/24/05 4:22 pm<br></i>
Indeed the Romans tried to break out the encirclement with sudden charges but I've been riding horses long enough to know that those beasts are definitely faster and have much quicker reflexes than humans.<br>
A "'sudden charge" of exhausted legionaries, bearing armour and 12 pound shields is evaded by a horseman by simply trotting away twenty yards, then twenty other, and so on until the "sudden charge" --a slow trot-runs out of the little steam it had left and becomes once again a stationary target --with the added disadvantage that it may be a disorganized one-- unable to keep the horse archers at a respectable distance.<br>
A trained horse can evade a charging bull and can cut a calf from his mother with ease. A human is no challenge at all.<br>
Actually, given the extremely high level of horsemanship of those horse archers, plus their exceptional physical condition, I suspect that not only they weren't exhausted but they may have had a pretty good day for themselves, shooting arrows into the herd of Romans.<br>
Besides, they certainly had a remount of at least two horses. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=antoninuslucretius@romanarmytalk>Antoninus Lucretius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://lucretius.homestead.com/files/Cesar_triste.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 3/24/05 4:22 pm<br></i>
