03-19-2005, 09:18 AM
Although I have experience of fighting in a two to three ranked line and in facing wedges in and using wedges against similar lines, like (I suspect) everyone else on RAT I have no experience of standing in battle line seven to ten ranks from the front. That said however, I think that panic and rout would normally start in the rear ranks for three reasons:<br>
A) the rear ranks would be sufficiently far from the front line for there to be confusion and therefore fear about what was actually happening there.<br>
B) the rear ranks would normally be expected to have open space behind them rather than more men and therefore a route for escape would be aviailable to them which would not be available to troops closer to the front. If the opportunity was there it makes sense to think that it might seem like an option to men who were worried about events at the front.<br>
C) it would make sense to put the men most likely to be effective closer to the front. It follows therefore that the less experienced and poorer quality soldiers would be likely to be positioned further back. These soldiers might lack some of the resolve of the men who were positioned closer to the front.<br>
<br>
Reserves could be a factor, but the likelihood is high of these same reserves being panicked by the sight of their own men running in panic away from the front. Unless positioned on higher ground reserve troops might have even less idea of what was really going on at the front than the panicked soldiers escaping in their direction.<br>
<br>
I agree with you about the phalanx. As I said earlier, I think wedges would only be used if necessary and if conditions were conducive to their use. I agree with those who contend that the reason the Romans adopted a cohort and maniple structure in the middle to late republic was to counter the phalanx. Phalankes work well on even ground but their cohsion is likely to be badly affected on broken ground. If a Roman army could draw a phalanx onto broken ground small cohesive units of cohort or even maniple size could emerge from the main line to attack exposed breaks in the phalanx caused by broken ground.<br>
<br>
Crispvs<br>
<br>
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crispvs>Crispvs</A> at: 3/19/05 10:19 am<br></i>
A) the rear ranks would be sufficiently far from the front line for there to be confusion and therefore fear about what was actually happening there.<br>
B) the rear ranks would normally be expected to have open space behind them rather than more men and therefore a route for escape would be aviailable to them which would not be available to troops closer to the front. If the opportunity was there it makes sense to think that it might seem like an option to men who were worried about events at the front.<br>
C) it would make sense to put the men most likely to be effective closer to the front. It follows therefore that the less experienced and poorer quality soldiers would be likely to be positioned further back. These soldiers might lack some of the resolve of the men who were positioned closer to the front.<br>
<br>
Reserves could be a factor, but the likelihood is high of these same reserves being panicked by the sight of their own men running in panic away from the front. Unless positioned on higher ground reserve troops might have even less idea of what was really going on at the front than the panicked soldiers escaping in their direction.<br>
<br>
I agree with you about the phalanx. As I said earlier, I think wedges would only be used if necessary and if conditions were conducive to their use. I agree with those who contend that the reason the Romans adopted a cohort and maniple structure in the middle to late republic was to counter the phalanx. Phalankes work well on even ground but their cohsion is likely to be badly affected on broken ground. If a Roman army could draw a phalanx onto broken ground small cohesive units of cohort or even maniple size could emerge from the main line to attack exposed breaks in the phalanx caused by broken ground.<br>
<br>
Crispvs<br>
<br>
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crispvs>Crispvs</A> at: 3/19/05 10:19 am<br></i>
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