specifics in Spear fighting combat

[Paullus Scipio]

Giannis wrote:-

Hey,a rather pleasant passage,Paul,but i think it was rather obvious and a bit irrelevant. Isn't it expected that one cannot fight in a marching formation,two abreast?!

...I very much doubt that this is what happened Giannis! The Spartans didn't suffer 30 dead, and obviously more wounded by waiting their turn, and stepping up two at a time to be killed ! What happened was what always happens....on contact with the Arcadian line, the Spartan Column mushroomed out sideways, like when you thrust/squash plasticine at a wall. The column quickly 'spreads out', the soldiers spreading left and right as they come up. It doesn't sound as if the Arcadian line attempted to lap their line round the column either...they seem to have been content to hold their ground... The Spartans were defeated because they were in a 'loose' order, and arriving piecemeal, instead of properly formed in a close-order Battle Line. The interesting thing is not so much Archidamus' impetuosity in attacking like this, but that he expected that the individual prowess of the Spartans would still allow them to win. But as the old adage has it, "..a champion team always beats a team of champions.."

Incidently, this piece is an illustration of your point about thigh wounds, too...