VEMBRACES

[caiusbeerquitius]

Are you talking to me Christian?

Matt, yes :-)
I was going from the numerous pics from Lafe here on RAT and all over the web. It seemed to me that the space you give each soldier is less than what we have from Polybios, which would be roughly 180 by 180 cm.

The rest was mostly a general question to all board members.

And if you are assuming that I believe or stated that ALL the romans did was little pokes behind their scuta, then you must take me for an absolute retard. I must admit, I'm a little hurt by that.

Must not be. :-) This simply derived from your description of making only stabbing attacks and always leaving the hand behind the shield. I certainly don´t take you for an idiot.

I just think, if one looks carefully, there are some hints about how the Romans fought at that time. These hints suggest a lot of space for each Roman soldier (1,8 by 1,8 meter), and a mix of "cutting and thrusting". So, if these hints are not considered, empiric studies and arguments are basically worthless.

The Maiden Castle skulls have been thoroughly examined and published. It is absolutely certain that the wounds were received through sword slashes. See:
R.E.M. Wheeler, Maiden Castle, Dorset, London 1943.
("The mutilations which many of the skeletons bear are of three kinds. There are several specimens with one or more cuts which must have been made by swords, and in the majority of cases it is clear that a very effective weapon was being used with the utmost force of a man´s arm.“ p. 351.)
(„Skeleton P2. Adult male, age uncertain. Height 5 ft. 4 3/4 in. [...] The skull shows a single cut extending across the frontal bone to the parietal dating from the time of death. The greater part of the left side of the cranial vault and all the facial skeleton except the mandible are missing. Pls. LIII, A and LVI.“ p. 352 and „Skeleton P 34. Adult male. Height 5 ft. 7 1/2 in. [...] A rondelle of bone had been cut from the frontal bone, probably by one terrific blow. [...] Pls. LV, C and LXIII, B.“ p. 355.) Cutting tests with a completely reconstructed blade conducted by my university earlier this year, and to be published this fall, have also shown that injuries like those on the Maiden Castle skulls (and a series of others) are certainly conducted by "cutting". We have a few of the preliminary testing here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqkuBPDshg0 until 1:45.

Two more thoughts: The blade form of the Mainz types is designed to cut. It has a leaf-bladed edge. So, maybe we can detect in the change to the Pompeii style also a change in fighting-style? Is this a change from "cutting and thrusting" to "thrusting"?