Dacian Falx

[Matthew Amt]

Cataphracts? They didn't have them.

I seem to recall the Romans used *allied* cataphracts on more than one occasion, in eastern campaigns. (Hmm, doesn't Josephus mention that? Can't recall exactly!)

Pikemen are too inflexible in Dacia, as is artillery.

Eh? Why is that? Most battles were fought on open terrain, perfectly good for pikes and catapultae. In fact, artillery is shown both on Trajan's Column and the Adamklissi reliefs. As a comparison, in the Gallic revolt in the Year of Four Emperors, legionaries dealt with the heavily armored crupellarii by knocking them down with long poles and going after them with pickaxes. That was just a small contingent, of course, so it could be handled without importing any special troops or other major measures.

Really, the falx is a rather good weapon to employ against the Romans and their unending ability to wear out their enemies through sheer weight of heavy infantry means that there's pretty much no military circumstance in which you can see them 'losing'.

I certainly agree that the falx seems to have gotten the Romans' attention! But yeah, it was relatively easy for them to add a little more armor, and rely on their usual relentlessness.

Matthew