08-28-2017, 02:56 AM
Also note Polybius 10.20.3 (Scipio's training regime in Spain, trans. Paton).
On the following day they were to practise, some of them sword-fighting with wooden swords covered with leather and with a button on the point, while others practised casting with javelins also having a button at the point.
No dummies involved here, nor is it clear to me what the training value of such an elaborate proposition might be. Modern militaries shoot targets molded to look like enemy soldiers (Crazy Ivans in US Army slang), but this practiced developed after WWII out of fears that troops might hesitate to kill human beings if they only training with bull-eye style targets. It is doubtful any pre-modern army had such compunctions, least of all the Romans, who enjoyed watching people be killed in the arena for fun.
On the following day they were to practise, some of them sword-fighting with wooden swords covered with leather and with a button on the point, while others practised casting with javelins also having a button at the point.
No dummies involved here, nor is it clear to me what the training value of such an elaborate proposition might be. Modern militaries shoot targets molded to look like enemy soldiers (Crazy Ivans in US Army slang), but this practiced developed after WWII out of fears that troops might hesitate to kill human beings if they only training with bull-eye style targets. It is doubtful any pre-modern army had such compunctions, least of all the Romans, who enjoyed watching people be killed in the arena for fun.
