The Fractured Phalanx

[Anonymous]

But better protected from what? What could the phalangite do? He had a small sword perhaps and a smaller shield. The Romans were highly trained in the cut and thrust with the gladius.

Were we to magically switch in ceatra and falcata armed Iberians for rather similarly equiped pelta and khopis armed phalangites, I think we'd find a very different outcome, but Paullus is the one who could speak more to this. You only came to the sword in a sarissa phalanx clash if things have already gone terribly wrong, so it is not so easy to use historical battles for comparison of their sword skill. Its a bit like saying that the sword is superior to the spear because battles where the Triarii were involved tended to be lost.