Why were the Triarii differently equipped?

[Renatus]

Renatus wrote:
There may well be reviewers who do not accept your thesis but I want to see the arguments for and against and to assess the merits and demerits of each, before reaching my final conclusion.

Are you saying that rather than come to your own conclusion, you will wait and jump on whatever is the popular bandwagon?

Certainly not. You forget (or did not know) that I am a lawyer brought up in the adversarial system. I do not want to reach my conclusions based on only one side of the argument, yours or theirs. I want to hear both and then make my judgement. For the avoidance of doubt (as we lawyers say), I should make it clear that I am not at all opposed to ideas that challenge received wisdom nor do I shy away from unpopular causes. I have remarked elsewhere (possibly not in this forum) that I have in my time risen in the defence of Pontius Pilate, Macbeth and Richard III, and I am sure that there is much that can be said in favour of William Bligh.