Rome\'s most able general?

[Theodosius the Great]

Surely no one believes that Romans adopted a completely different way of fighting, upon discovering a sword

M.C. Bishop and Coulston say just that on page 56 of 'Roman Military Equipment' : Adoption of this sword, even without its elaborate manufactuing processes, marked the development of new tactics.

That even if the soldiers happened upon a new shape on the Iberian peninsula, that it was merely an extension of the sword they already used, and that its actual use was mysterious to the Spaniards who never conceived of it? There's nothing magical about the gladius,

IIRC, the attraction of the gladius hispanienses to the Romans wasn't only its shape and length but also the quality of the metal. Holding the blade horizontally across one's head, one could bend the blade down until each end would touch his shoulders, let go, and the blade would retain its original shape. But, IIRC, the Roman replicas of the sword largely did not have this quality, they weren't warp-resistant like the Iberian originals.

As for the sword's full potential being unrealized by the Iberians themselves, I think you may have a stereotypical image of the Iberians specializing only in guerrilla warfare. According to our own Fernando Quesada, the tactics used by the Iberians and Romans of the time were not so different. You can read his articles in english here : http://www.ffil.uam.es/equus/warmas/online/online.html

There's nothing magical about the gladius, as one could fight in legionary style using a Greek xiphos fully as much as with a gladius, and I really don't see what the big deal is about the introduction of the Hispaniensis.

If that is your position then you have to ask yourself why Scipio, upon landing in Hispania and discovering the 'Spanish' swords, forced his men to adopt them. What was wrong with the swords his army brought to the peninsula ? (But I'm sure there's already a good thread on this topic elsewhere :wink: )

Scipius is probably the best. He fought in several situations and against different types of armies, also against good generals, and transformed the roman army.

Does anyone know if Scipio led on foot or on horseback ? Hannibal did the former at Cannae.

BTW, I believe "Scipio" is his proper name. I'm not sure if names ending in an "o" or "a" means they have a non-Latin origin though.

~Theo