07-21-2010, 01:14 AM
Paul B. wrote:
Yes, we are agreed here, and I said as much
-
1. A spear-fight between the Hoplites and the Persians fighting from behind their spara/barricade at "spearlength distance"
2. If the Hoplites dominate the "spearfight" they close up to the barricade, and try to pull/push/hack it down, resisted by the Persians.
3. if the Hoplites succeeded in driving back the Persians, even a few feet, the barricade would be pushed/pulled down in some sections while elsewhere Persians would succeed in retaining the spara and picking them up, as in the vase illustration.
Obviously the essentially/mostly shieldless Persians ( see e.g. vases of Hoplites v shieldless Persians ) - even pelta equpped Takabara were then at a severe disadvantage....and their courage and fighting spirit at Mykale and Plataea and Marathon speaks volumes.....
Quote: In Fred's defense, surely the Persian front rank did not just stand there while the hoplites pushed their shields over, but braced them from behind with their bodies, probably more than one rank.
Yes, we are agreed here, and I said as much
-1. A spear-fight between the Hoplites and the Persians fighting from behind their spara/barricade at "spearlength distance"
2. If the Hoplites dominate the "spearfight" they close up to the barricade, and try to pull/push/hack it down, resisted by the Persians.
3. if the Hoplites succeeded in driving back the Persians, even a few feet, the barricade would be pushed/pulled down in some sections while elsewhere Persians would succeed in retaining the spara and picking them up, as in the vase illustration.
Obviously the essentially/mostly shieldless Persians ( see e.g. vases of Hoplites v shieldless Persians ) - even pelta equpped Takabara were then at a severe disadvantage....and their courage and fighting spirit at Mykale and Plataea and Marathon speaks volumes.....
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
