Update on the Spatha and Gladius fighting techniques!

[Felix]

No problem. Vegetius says he is writing a position paper/"white paper" - he is writing a recommended plan for improving the army of his day, by re-introducing practices which had been abandoned by the army of his time. That is why he says nothing about cavalry, or riverine/naval practices: he believes current practices (of his day) were superior to the "good old days" in cavalry and boats. Therefore he concentrates on infantry. Because he wrote a position paper, we cannot take it as a balanced history of the Roman infantry. He picks and chooses what he thinks should be adopted, and emphasizes these bits. For example, he talks about thrusting, but doesn't seem to realize the Romans ever used a curved scutum as opposed to a flat shield.

He also blurs the long history of the Roman army. He talks about the "ancient" army, and doesn't clearly distinguish between the army of the Punic Wars and the army of Caesar, or the army of Marcus Aurelius, for that matter. (See Lendon's Soldiers and Ghosts for some details.) In book 2 chapter 2, Vegetius says the ancient legion had triarii, hastati, funditores (artillerymen) and ballistarii (crossbowmen), all at the same time.

I haven't handled a real gladius, but have owned an Albion version of one. It was a heavy weapon for its size, and most definitely a chopper. The weight would make for great power in a thrust, of course, but also very effective at removing limbs and splitting skulls (think of a butcher's cleaver).