05-04-2011, 10:29 AM
It would be very interesting to compare such 'sitting' throws to the more conventional 'running' toss. I tend to picture most Greek javelinmen operating either in front of their phalanx in pre-battle skirmishing or on the flanks during the main battle. In either case, 'loose' order could have given them a chance to make a running throws. Clearly, that wouldn't work aboard ship and something like the sitting throw would have been necessary. Also, data on sitting throws might give a clue as to how reduced a cavalryman's javelin throw might have been compared to that of foot skirmishers. I've always thought that this lesser range plus the size of their horses as targets must have put mounted troops at considerable disadvantage against peltasts (let alone foot archers).
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")
