Is the Short Sword and Shield Overrated?

[M. Demetrius]

A Roman soldier's armor and shield don't cover everything. If he's very aggressive and very skilled he can drive into the enemy and hack up a whole bunch of them,

But that's not how the Roman military behaved. There were isolated instances, and these soldiers ended up dead. (some were executed after the battle for breaking ranks, some [Centurio Gracchus, e.g.] at the time of their deed.) Just didn't work well, and there doesn't seem to be any evidence that they did charge into the enemy ranks from the battle line. Do you have any evidence or historical sources to support your suggestion?


A wise old cowboy once said, "The problem with some people who know everything about something is that they can't learn nuthin' about anything." Made sense when he said it.