Hoplite spacing and formation

[Sean Manning]

Paul B doesn't seem to understand that a phalanx did not have only to push,but also to drill,to change from open to close order,to lock and unlock shields,and that this is impossible in D

All it takes is a rightward twist. All the drill in the world is useless if you cannot compete in othismos. If you don't believe in Othismos as literal pushing match, then B or C are perfectly acceptable and we also have nothing more to discuss. The other Paul does not believe in literal othismos, but in the local buffeting espoused by Cawkwell et al., so you notice I am not argueing with him. He in fact would argue with them since they say that you need opened order to do that type of individual fighting, so he is between two worlds of thought on this.

Paul, are you arguing for D because shields are overlapped right-over-left, or because the hoplites' bodies are parallel to the shields (ready to be squeezed into a mass for your oisthmos-model)? I think some people may be objecting to the former not the later, and I don't see why the two have to go together.