[split] Psychology of the Roman soldier

[CNV2855]

Bryan, I don't doubt you served in the military. My dad was a military father, and he was strict as hell. Even though he had been out of the army for years, you could definitely see it in almost every aspect of his behavior. I know that military men look down on civilians, and just how good the training is. I'm not disputing that at all. But people behave differently in crowds than they do alone, and this is known as crowd psychology.

The best way to get a grasp of melee warfare is to watch riots.

You could say the legions were effectively trained so wouldn't behave like a mob and while this may be true, not all of the armies pre-industrialization were well trained. A lot of battles probably resembled mob vs mob. I'd also argue that the legions were probably a well-trained mob. The people in the front would be less fearful and they'd keep better order, but the mechanics are still roughly the same.

Look at the police that face off the mob. That's probably a good representation of the legions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77JrZBnTC8Q

I've never seen a riot where civilians clashed with the police for a long period of time, there's always some standoff distance. Let's also consider that it'd be IMPOSSIBLE for an army to fight for 6 days straight if soldiers couldn't back up to rest. Just like boxing (weighted/padded gloves) swinging with a weapon is absolutely exhausting and could only be kept up for probably 15 minutes.