For Military History Buffs: Roman, Greek, Medieval shield wall

Testudo.

Well the Roman's conquered most of the known world so

When Rome created the maniple system, it smashed the Greek phalanx which had been the dominate infantry formation for ages.

I ponder the answer to this question every day of my life, I go back and forth between Romans and Greeks but damn it’s tough

If you’re talking strictly of the phalanx meaning you line up on one line and the enemy lines up across from you it may be the Greeks. However the Romans adapted the Greek phalanx into the maniple formation that allowed for significantly more versatility and agility.

Wikipedia description of maniple vs phalanx

Medieval shield wall is distant 3rd

There have already been a few good answers so I’ll try and add new input.

The phalanx system of Alexander the Great (devised by his dad Phillip II), was groundbreaking for its day. They had longer spears, reorganized numbers, and uniformed training/equpiment (and other inovations I won’t get into). For its time it was the best phalanx or “shield wall” in existence, combined with great Calvary and it was unstoppable.

The Romans reorganized several times so it’s hard to say exactly what their best was. The Roman’s strength was in the logistics of organizing and equipping men, as well as the simplicity of their strategy. Basically you could take anyone and train them for the Roman legions, which made them easy to replace and easy to plan. The Roman Maniple was more easily maneuverable and also more organized than the Greek Phalanx, but I’m not sure if it was “better” in a 1 time attack.

Basically my opinion is that in a one off attack the Phalanx of Alexander was maybe better than the Maniple of Rome, but in a full war the Roman Maniple outlasts the Phalanx due to logistics and organization.

As far as Medieval shield walls, it’s tough because you’re talking about 1000+ years later, so obviously they have better technology and evolved strategy (not to mention stirrups for their horses). On the other hand, if we are talking about medieval Europe the number of warriors are much smaller, the battles of those times were not nearly as large as the battles of Greece and Rome, and the “warriors” were often just conscripted peasants.

I would assume the very best medieval shield wall would beat a Roman or Greek phalanx/Maniple of similar numbers just from a sheer technological advantage standpoint. However I think the average Roman or Greek army (from the age of Alexander and Phillip) wipes the floor with the average Medieval army