11-30-2007, 01:27 AM
Cinna wrote:-
Of course, all things are NEVER equal, and what you say is quite right - each battle is unique in its circumstances, and if you take any battle, and move the time, place and circumstances, the outcome could be very different. For example, our accounts of Pydna concentrate on the struggle between Legion and Phalanx - we are told very little of the fights between cavalry, light troops,Thracians,Velites etc though we know that importantly, the Macedonian cavalry, and Perseus, were driven off the field ( presumably Perseus was with his cavalry guards on the Macedonianright/Roman Left ) All Livy tells us is; " On the right wing, where the battle had begun near the river, the Consul brought up the elephants and the squadrons of the Allies; and from here the flight of the Macedonians first started......The charge of the elephants was followed up by the Allies of the latin status, who drove back the (macedonian) left wing...." and he then goes on to describe the 'breaking up' of the phalanx.
Clearly the Roman victory owed something to being victorious on both flanks, as Cinna says.
Quote:The problem is that you can never actually compare phalanx to legion by itself as both need support as well and every battle depends on the circumstances...quite right, which is why I said " all things being equal" in my generalisation ( which is no truer than others, but may be useful).
Of course, all things are NEVER equal, and what you say is quite right - each battle is unique in its circumstances, and if you take any battle, and move the time, place and circumstances, the outcome could be very different. For example, our accounts of Pydna concentrate on the struggle between Legion and Phalanx - we are told very little of the fights between cavalry, light troops,Thracians,Velites etc though we know that importantly, the Macedonian cavalry, and Perseus, were driven off the field ( presumably Perseus was with his cavalry guards on the Macedonianright/Roman Left ) All Livy tells us is; " On the right wing, where the battle had begun near the river, the Consul brought up the elephants and the squadrons of the Allies; and from here the flight of the Macedonians first started......The charge of the elephants was followed up by the Allies of the latin status, who drove back the (macedonian) left wing...." and he then goes on to describe the 'breaking up' of the phalanx.
Clearly the Roman victory owed something to being victorious on both flanks, as Cinna says.
"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
