New hoplite book

[PMBardunias]

On the locking of shields, I certainly agree that if you lock shields within a formed line, then the right side of the the shield of a person on the left will automatically fall in front of the left side of the shield of the person on the right

This is the reverse of what I advocate, and by convention on RAT, termed left over right. The fact that it occurs "automatically" has to do with the way you are holding your shields, with your bodies more perpendicular to the enemy than straight on is my guess. If you advance with your hips square to the foe and the shield up in front of your chest, which you must do to advance quickly and not side-step forward, then coming up behind the flange of shield jutting out to the left from your righthand fellow is more natural. There are a variety of reasons why this is superior for othismos.

I'll note that many reenactors I have chatted with stand with their bodies too side-on to the enemy. When fighting solo this makes sense, but in groups this is less advantageous. For maximum reach and power, you must end your strike with your shoulders squared forward and you are "shielded" on both flanks in any case. If you overlap left over right, you can find yourself pressed side-on and unable to square forward, thus strinking over your own head or a man beside you and giving up some 2' of reach. In my opinion, you should be standing at a common fighting stance of about a 45 degree angle, not 90 degrees as is sometimes advocated. Ideally you do not want anything coming between your chest and your own shield, so you don't want the righthand fellows rim in your chest. In general there is a trade-off between what would be ideal for a single combatant and what must be done to survive group combat and othismos.