06-28-2014, 03:15 PM
Quote:Given the structure of the detailed Polybian legion - that's the basis of my train of deduction. If you fundamentally don't agree with it (and I would certainly like to debate), then that's fine. For me it's the triarii (and the apparent fact that they always number 600) that has become key.
It would be odd if the triari were indeed the key. (I did read your steps on the other thread) From my limited knowledge of the literature, they barely seem to take part in the battles and weren't they even left behind in camp at Cannae ? It seems to me, that they didn't matter much unless things were going really bad (or good and a fresh force of infantry was needed to take the enemy camp).
I don't see them being the constraint for the legion frontage. Especially when the number of legions per army was fixed while the enemy battle line frontage wasn't.
So far the best explanation I've seen on that topic is a paper by MJ Taylor: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1775...PUBLIC.pdf
From memory, his conclusion is that the frontage of a legion had to be variable to match enemy battle lines and since centuries/ maniples were probably always the same front (Cannae being an unfortunate exception then ?), then the only way was to have variable gaps. I think his results point at gaps anywhere between 5 to 20 meters large.
Anyway I do agree with the century being 10 files of 3/6 or 8 men depending on type of troops/periods and all. That just seems the most reasonable way to see it. Although, the absence of a fill leader will always puzzle me. So maybe they didn't fight at all in a file the way greeks did, but surely they would at least maneuver that way till they reach the enemy. And having a file leader would be invaluable to do so in the most efficient manner. Having just a centurion, optio and standard bearer doesn't seem much to keep 60 to 80 men moving in the right direction in the appropriate formation.
Out of curiosity, what would be the latin for file and file leader ? How would a roman author writing in latin call a greek/macedonian/.. front ranker ?
Timothee.
