Rome\'s most able general?

[antiochus]

Alas, they may be somewhat disappointing from your point of view, Steven, since they are largely tactical rather than organisational, but here goes......

Firstly I must thank you Paul for the elaborate answer that by all appearances must have taken some time to compile. Because of my investigation into the organisations of the Roman legions, it has drawn me into their tactical applications, which I have included in the book via various battle studies.

The later Suda/Suidas , following a lost passage of Polybius (frag.179) records this occurring during the Hannibalic War,

Can you supply the exact reference?

He also taught his troops to move in sub-units (Maniples and for the first time, Cohorts, rather than as lines/acies.) Indeed, Polybius first uses the term 'cohort' of Roman troops( as opposed to Allies who were organised in cohorts) when describing three maniples of Roman troops moving together at Ilipa.

Unlike some academics, I do not find Polybius’ first time use of the term cohort as proof of when it was introduced. Those that do then, for the battle of Illipa, ignore Polybius’ account of ONE cohort being used for the outflanking manoeuvre in favour of Livy’s THREE cohorts. All of a sudden Polybius’ reliability is quietly put aside. This approach shows selective academic investigation to promote a predefined theory. Academics should explain and prove why Polybius one cohort should be rejected in favour of Livy’s three cohorts.

Thanks to these reforms, the Roman Army would never again be 'rigid', but instead flexible and manouevrable,

During the Samnite wars the Romans could withdraw the hastati and send them on flanking manouvers. Even in the early republic, there are incidents of detaching units to go on flanking manouvers in order to have them arrive behind the enemies’ rear. At Sentinum the Romans are manoeuvring units from one front to the other. In 314 BC, 1200 men are transferred from the left wing to the right wing to give assistance. The reason why Scipio used an outflanking manoeuvre at the Great Plains is because those poor 4,000 Iberians were abandoned by the Carthaginians. They lost all flank protection. Scipio’s best option was to surround them. It was nothing he originally conceived as part of his major battle plan. It was nothing more than an opportunity that presented itself. Any Roman commander could have done it with the old Roman legion organisation.

So, as well as tactical reforms, we may credit Scipio with instigating the later organisational change into 'cohorts'

But then how do you explain Dionysius and Livy’ use of cohort for the early republic, not to forget the middle republic period? If memory serves me correct, Livy uses the term cohort fifteen times in books I to V. Dionysius somewhere around 11 times, and on four occasions gives the number of men in a cohort. If your answer is ‘anachronistic practice’ (the academic mantra), then how can you prove it? In fact I will ask any academic to prove it is anachronistic.