04-20-2007, 06:51 PM
Quote:Well Byzantines kept close formation spear armed infantry to protect the their archers.
I see. Hence the need for having deeper formations than earlier Roman cohorts.
Quote:It was easier to use short sword in spear blocks-plus they were cheaper.
That suggests the sword used by infantry in the 6th century would probably have been shorter than the spathae that was used in the two prior centuries.
Quote:Securis or tzikourion was an axe.
Oh, yeah. I misread the text. :oops: It said heavy infantry carried either "a long sword or a Securis". I took "Securis" to be the name of the aformentioned "long sword".
Thank you, Stefanos.
~Theo
Jaime