01-31-2014, 05:56 PM
Yes, I responding specifically to VV's post about Ammianus only using 'globus' to represent the hollow square.
As for the 'acies'/'agmen' issue: I am not sure that Vegetius should be trusted too much not to get the technical term wrong and so paraphrase it. It does seem to me that the acies quadratum and the agmen quadratum are in essence the same thing. The distinction between a battlefield engagement and an advance in a defensive column/square through hostile territory is perhaps a tenuous one. Once the hollow square comes under sustained attack, while still moving, it is essentially also engaged in a battlefield situation albeit a moving one. However, perhaps I am reading too much of the British square in the Sudan scenario here and thinking in an anachronistic fashion . . .
As for the 'acies'/'agmen' issue: I am not sure that Vegetius should be trusted too much not to get the technical term wrong and so paraphrase it. It does seem to me that the acies quadratum and the agmen quadratum are in essence the same thing. The distinction between a battlefield engagement and an advance in a defensive column/square through hostile territory is perhaps a tenuous one. Once the hollow square comes under sustained attack, while still moving, it is essentially also engaged in a battlefield situation albeit a moving one. However, perhaps I am reading too much of the British square in the Sudan scenario here and thinking in an anachronistic fashion . . .
Francis Hagan
The Barcarii
The Barcarii
