02-14-2009, 04:17 PM
I truly look forward to you reading it. I also look forward to knowing the mathematics is foolproof and complies with everything in the primary sources and you will only beat your head to a pulp against a brick wall trying to disprove anything.
You may debate about my presentation of how the maniple legion fought, that is the reformed maniple legions (there are two). But I still am confident you will find it hard to disprove the machinations of the maniple legion as I stick with the primary sources like superglue. Knowing the correct organisation of the maniple legion for the correct time frame makes it easy to understand the primary sources. All the battle descriptions take on a new life.
There is not one battle I can say is my very favourite but with the correct maniple legion organisation, the battle of Cannae really has a life of its own. First of all, the 5000 man legion has been rounded up, so this makes a difference to the totals (ok the figure is between 1000 and 2000). Livy’s reference to Paullus at Cannae trying to find Hannibal and kill him becomes very plausible. At this stage of the battle, Hannibal needed to win this phase of the battle, and he does as the Roman light armed are mentioned retiring, followed by the advance of the heavy infantry. This is a brilliant accomplishment as you will discover when you read the number of light infantry the Carthaginians were up against. By winning this phase, the Carthaginians have improved their chances of nullifying a major tactic of the maniple legion. And this really explains why Hannibal was in the thick of it during this phase. Hannibal’s use of Mago’s ambush force of 1000 men at the Trebbia is also designed to nullify this Roman tactic. Hannibal had done his research on the Roman legion and knew its key weakness. This is why I find the reform of the legion conducted in 204 BC obviously by Scipio so interesting, as the legion has been reformed to eliminate this key weakness. So in response, Hannibal at Zama deploys in three lines. Different beast means different response.
Now this tactic of the maniple legion can be found in the primary sources, as is another major tactic, but so far no one bothered to refer to them or discuss them. Don’t ask me why, I have no answer.
You may debate about my presentation of how the maniple legion fought, that is the reformed maniple legions (there are two). But I still am confident you will find it hard to disprove the machinations of the maniple legion as I stick with the primary sources like superglue. Knowing the correct organisation of the maniple legion for the correct time frame makes it easy to understand the primary sources. All the battle descriptions take on a new life.
There is not one battle I can say is my very favourite but with the correct maniple legion organisation, the battle of Cannae really has a life of its own. First of all, the 5000 man legion has been rounded up, so this makes a difference to the totals (ok the figure is between 1000 and 2000). Livy’s reference to Paullus at Cannae trying to find Hannibal and kill him becomes very plausible. At this stage of the battle, Hannibal needed to win this phase of the battle, and he does as the Roman light armed are mentioned retiring, followed by the advance of the heavy infantry. This is a brilliant accomplishment as you will discover when you read the number of light infantry the Carthaginians were up against. By winning this phase, the Carthaginians have improved their chances of nullifying a major tactic of the maniple legion. And this really explains why Hannibal was in the thick of it during this phase. Hannibal’s use of Mago’s ambush force of 1000 men at the Trebbia is also designed to nullify this Roman tactic. Hannibal had done his research on the Roman legion and knew its key weakness. This is why I find the reform of the legion conducted in 204 BC obviously by Scipio so interesting, as the legion has been reformed to eliminate this key weakness. So in response, Hannibal at Zama deploys in three lines. Different beast means different response.
Now this tactic of the maniple legion can be found in the primary sources, as is another major tactic, but so far no one bothered to refer to them or discuss them. Don’t ask me why, I have no answer.
