01-30-2011, 06:32 AM
Indeed, our sources on sarissai in India are pretty sparse. The author I have in mind regarding the sarissa as a possible anti-elephant device is a modern one (I encounted this some time last year amidst my researches, but noted it only in passing; hopefully, I'll eventually run down just where I saw this and pass it along). Elsewhere, the comments on real killers being 'silent but deadly' puts me in mind of the characterization of Spartan troops in the classical period as advancing slowly and in silence save for their pipes, contrasting with the noisy rush of other Greeks. It's easy to see how the Spartans held others in distain as being full of "false courage," while their own composure unsettled foes in that it signaled an intent not to engage in any sort of 'sporting contest,' but rather to commit cold-blooded murder. The Persian Immortals, another well-regarded collection of elite fighters, seem to have had a similar tendency to march into battle in lethal silence.
It\'s only by appreciating accurate accounts of real combat past and present that we can begin to approach the Greek hoplite\'s hard-won awareness of war\'s potential merits and ultimate limitations.
- Fred Eugene Ray (aka "Old Husker")
- Fred Eugene Ray (aka "Old Husker")