Weight and grip of sarissa and shield in macedonian phalanx

[triarius354]

Do you have an image of the other you could post.

I'm also very curious.

Being in synaspismos comes from Aelian and Arrian I believe. it is not clear to me how the peltae of sarissaphoroi could overlap if the sarissa was held at the edge, thus in the way. Also, many macedonian shields were very convex, and this also makes overlap difficult. It is possible, probable?, that to be with overlapped shields at this date simply meant to be at 0.5 m spacing.

I dont' quite understand if you agree or disagree with possibility of this kind of formation. Could you write more about data from Aelian? Also what part of Arrian's "Anabasis" you have in mind - the battle of Hydaspes? I'dont have the Greek version of it.
With overlapped shield there is very little place for sarissas, especially when 5 ranks are using them horizontally.

As for the plaque from Pergamon, it seems to me that artists didn't know how to show the spear and shield - look at the horseman to the right; the spear is on the wrong side of the horse