02-12-2012, 02:15 AM
Very interesting endeavor and a mighty difficult one too. Yet, there is no real formula to find exact battle-line lengths, especially regarding the Romans. I normally use as rule of a thumb only of course, 6oo Romans per 100 m or 1,000 of everyone else as far as heavy infantry is concerned. The details necessary to be more precise are almost never given in the sources (depth, manpower in the front, possible gaps between the wings or between infantry and cavalry etc). Things are even more complex if you advocate the theory that has the Romans fight with sizable intervals between units. For cavalry I usually assume 250-500 men per 100 m.I repeat that this is my personal rule of a thumb and nothing more. It would also be helpful to state exactly what era you are interested in as these things may change, or some battles we have more info of than others.
