Infantry Relief System

[Michael Kerr]

Hi, I agree with M. Demetrius that they probably rotated during a break in battle because an enterprising enemy leader would notice the regular rotations & probably would devise tactics to take advantage of this rotation & in my limited knowledge of Roman tactics that the idea was economy of movement, letting the enemy tire himself out with wild swings while the Romans used their shields & stabbing motions with gladius rather than swinging his weapon, the enemy would tire quicker & eventually have to regroup. Just a thought anyway. But I wonder how the rotations went in civil war situations as legionaries would be fighting enemies trained similar to themselves although I am sure the quality of training & actual battlefield experience varied from legion to legion.
Regards
Michael Kerr