Question about the Roman \'wedge formation\'

[Astiryu1]

Actually, this 'saw tooth' formation would seem to be a very poor tactic, militarily speaking - it denies the enemy any possibility of retreat, forces him to fight to the death, and leaves a sizeable mound of corpses guaranteed to break up any advancing line. The normal wedge is intended, as Tacitus suggests, to 'break through' and rout an enemy formation, not competely annihilate it. Deliberately putting a heavily outnumbered force in close combat against an enemy with nowhere to run and overwhelming weight of numbers would seem to invite disaster, no matter how disciplined that force may be.
- Nathan

As I have read in that battle; weren't carts drawn up by the rebels to prevent themselves from retreating? If so that actually is a good reason for doing this at the particular time.

Although it is a computer game I try things like this in Rome: Total War. Surprising results often come from these experiments. In regards to the wedge I have found that "if you have 2 wings in wedge formation and a straight center the formation enables a crossfire, gets the enemy within range without jeopardizing your entire line;thereby enabling a flanking maneuver, wings can retreat after throwing of pila while being covered by center." I favor the inverse wedge as it really helps in some situations. At least in Rome:Total War.