filthy_peasant

anybody?

every documentery i've watched and every book i've read about alexander the great mentions a great speech he gave to his men at gaugamela. but i'm having trouble finding this speech. has anyone recorded it? if so can anyone point me to where i can finaly read this speech? thanks

actually the early romans did use the phalanx. they adopted the phalanx after they clashed with etruscan hoplites. infact it was the roman phalanx that defeated the etruscans. and of course the etruscans most likely adopted the phalanx from the greek colonies in italy. hoplon sheilds, bronze helmets and cuirass's are found scattered through out italy. the accounts of livy and dionysius suggest that the servian reform (578-534 bc) converted the roman army into sort of a hoplite army. im sure you would find alot of this in the history section of this site. then, somewhere in the late 3rd or early 2nd century they adopted they started using the iberian gladius along with the heavy pilum javelin. at this point the hastati and princepes carried two pilum javelins and the gladius as the triarii stuck with the hasta (hoplite spear about 8ft in length). so the romans did use the phalanx for quite some time but converted their weaponry, formations, and armour to become more flexible and efficiant on the battle field. their are many posts on this forum that give precise info on what periods the romans started using certain weapons and armour and why they did. just a couple pages back i think. ive always thought combining the macedonian phalanx with the legion would make you damn near invincible. it would be impossible to give have the phalangites to carry the scutum and fight effectivly. the sheild and armour of the phalangite was less because it was compensated with the long sarrisa pike. the idea was to keep the enemy at a distance yet run right over them at same time. sort of like "i can get you, but you cant get me ". the legion would work great in either holding the flanks of the phalanx while the calvary swings around the battleline to hit the enemy's rear or use the flanks as a key position to enveloe the enemy while the phalanx smashes through their center. or you can have the legion up front and the phalanx in reserve like the trarii. or vice versa to put the legion in a more flexible position to deliver a decisive blow. please correct me if i said anything stupid. its way past my bedtime

Really, why didn't you just say so!? I would have believed you the first time bud. Who are you talking about, pick your words a bit more carefully please. Are you talking about the internet beeing a know it all, or me? actually i wasnt directing anything twards you or anyboby in this forum. i was refering to the results i get from search engines on the net. try reading words a bit more carefully.

please do that would be great. so boiling it all down is greco roman culture, in a series of developing steps, a decendant of the thracian/dacian world? the danube and balkans has taken my interests lately. i also remember reading a book saying the persians believed their ancestors migrated from the danube and modern linguists (if thats how you spell it ) have little doubt about it because iranian and germanic languages have close similarities. though i do find it hard to believe the persians have any clear similiarities with the dacian/thracians. but do they? the name of the book i read is "the enemies of rome" by philip matyszak. fun book but didnt get too detailed about this area. nor the battles between rome and dacia. but thanks for all the recent info guys. i have trouble finding reliable resources on the net. stupid revisionists and uneducated know it alls ruin everything

hey guys. i remember reading a few posts some time ago about how the dacians and thracians were not so backwards. i've been trying to find some info of recent findings proving this and some material that describes these folks in detail. like religion, culture, military ect. i've tried using google but all i get is rtw stuff and i get distracted for a week can anyone help? thanks

1.the bassic weapons of the legionaire(gladius,pilum,and i guess scutum) 2.the sarrisa pike in a macedonian phalanx. if i were placed in the center of the front line before battle i dont know if i would have the nerve to step twards that damn formation. 3.bronze plates on elephant tusks. as if the elephant isnt bad enough