re: Medieval battles

Not necessarily true. The Romans used much smaller swords compared to those used by the Gauls and Germans. They used those big swords en masse. One reason the Romans would beat them. They would wear out from swinging them so much while the Romans would stab, block with shield, stab, block, stab, block, rinse, repeat

Say the word with me.

Entertainment (en·ter·tain·ment)

They are not making a documentary about medieval combat.

The Romans used swords as a last resort. They usually started off with a volley of javelins and then used spears when they were up close. Assuming they kept a tight formation with their shields this was pretty effective.

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Something like this is far closer to what medieval battles looked like and in my option are far more interesting. And just because it hasn't been done her doesn't mean others wouldn't find it interesting.

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You think Medieval battles were all one group of extremely organized army v a mob without weapons?

The traditional Roman legionaries we always think of had two throwing javelins called pilliums and the gladius. The Roman legionaries rarely used spears in battle because their tactics had little need for it. They'd throw their piliums and then when they made contact with the enemy, they'd let the enemy beat of their shields, wearing themselves out while the Romans stabbed upwards, ripping their stomachs out.

But the gladius was pretty short. Almost like a dagger.

They did give spears called hasta to their auxiliaries

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The Romans used swords as a last resort. They usually started off with a volley of javelins and then used spears when they were up close. Assuming they kept a tight formation with their shields this was pretty effective.

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True. The shield was used more as a weapon than it was by other peoples. Push, stab, push, stab. Rotate.

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Not necessarily true. The Romans used much smaller swords compared to those used by the Gauls and Germans. They used those big swords en masse. One reason the Romans would beat them. They would wear out from swinging them so much while the Romans would stab, block with shield, stab, block, stab, block, rinse, repeat

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The ancient barbarians might've had big unwieldy swords, maybe you're right. The Romans had better army, tactics, and yeah those short stabbing swords. Big swords did exist, they just weren't as prevalent as in the movies Bc men didn't want to die. I was mostly thinking of medieval warriors.

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Big swords did exist, they just weren't as prevalent as in the movies Bc men didn't want to die. I was mostly thinking of medieval warriors.

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But the long sword didn't become the prevalent sword during the medieval period because it was "better" - it was because it offered the reach required to fight from horseback. When knights became the dominant military force, infantry began to revert back to spear walls to resist cavalry charges - in some cases, the spears became ridiculously long. And, of course many knights ended up riding to the assembly area, but fighting dismounted (as most of Henry's knights did at Agincourt), as required by the terrain - but you didn't bring a lot of swords with you, so you fought with what you had.

There are some misconceptions about ancient combat as well, in this thread. The Romans didn't fight "shield-to-shield", shoulder to shoulder like the Greek hoplites. Although the limited part of the battlefield depicted in the early episode of Rome appears accurate, they were in a mopping up phase and trying to reduce casualties - that battle was already won. Romans precisely rejected the passive, hoplite combat in favor of the legion in order to cover more space with the same number of troops and reintroduce a little more maneuver and initiative in their infantry units. Romans relied almost exclusively on heavy infantry from the late republic period onward. They were mediocre cavalrymen, at best, and resorted to hiring most of their skirmish, missile and mounted troops as "auxiliaries."

Medieval combat did evolve from this foundation, but the feudal knight reigned supreme for almost 1000 years. It was a lot of individual combat, once battle was joined.