Othismos true nature

[PMBardunias]

There is a small disagreement in this spot,I think. You have denied the shoulder in the shield. I think that the depth of the shield is so small that you could have your left shoulder in it,you may were slightly to the side but still you were facing the enemy. And though I dodn't find it appropriate to start a fight about the overlaping of the4 shields here,if the shields were overlapping the way i think(left over right) then even that slight angle would be fixed.

Actually, even with the shield rim pressed to the chest as I describe, the shoulder is "in" the shield because to rest on the chest it must arch over the left shoulder. I completely agree that they would pull back the right side of the body when there was room to do so- standing completely square and spear-fighting is not natural. Where I differ from some authors is that I think the position is the common, left foot forward stance of a boxer, not the completely sideways stance of a fencer or some martial arts.

Overlap right over left more naturally leads to a left forward, right back position when not in a tight press, since the shield is being rotated towards the right by the pressure of the one behind it. Left over right leads to a more natural side-stance once the pressing starts, but as we see this is not favorable.