Dominic Sandbrook

Should the first two ranks break, then they will form a kind of porcupine, a defensive screen bristling with spears. I'm aware that that might all sound rather complicated, but the aim of it is to enable fresh units constantly to be filtered up to the front so that if one line gets kind of annihilated or loses energy or whatever, then they can easily be replaced.

Should the first two ranks break, then they will form a kind of porcupine, a defensive screen bristling with spears. I'm aware that that might all sound rather complicated, but the aim of it is to enable fresh units constantly to be filtered up to the front so that if one line gets kind of annihilated or loses energy or whatever, then they can easily be replaced.

Should the first two ranks break, then they will form a kind of porcupine, a defensive screen bristling with spears. I'm aware that that might all sound rather complicated, but the aim of it is to enable fresh units constantly to be filtered up to the front so that if one line gets kind of annihilated or loses energy or whatever, then they can easily be replaced.

And what gives the Roman line its flexibility is that there are kind of gaps built into the battle formations. The Roman lines are subdivided into units called maniples. And if people think of maybe a checkerboard or on a die, a five, Just lots and lots of those kind of fives that you get on dice all in a row. You have a maniple, then you have a gap equivalent in length to the length of a maniple.

And what gives the Roman line its flexibility is that there are kind of gaps built into the battle formations. The Roman lines are subdivided into units called maniples. And if people think of maybe a checkerboard or on a die, a five, Just lots and lots of those kind of fives that you get on dice all in a row. You have a maniple, then you have a gap equivalent in length to the length of a maniple.

And what gives the Roman line its flexibility is that there are kind of gaps built into the battle formations. The Roman lines are subdivided into units called maniples. And if people think of maybe a checkerboard or on a die, a five, Just lots and lots of those kind of fives that you get on dice all in a row. You have a maniple, then you have a gap equivalent in length to the length of a maniple.

Then you have another maniple and then you have another row behind it. But the maniple behind it is filling in the gap. But essentially, it means that you can constantly thread people through the gaps and move people up to fill gaps. Can I, the depth of the maniples, it's on a stupefying scale. So it's perhaps five or six men across.

Then you have another maniple and then you have another row behind it. But the maniple behind it is filling in the gap. But essentially, it means that you can constantly thread people through the gaps and move people up to fill gaps. Can I, the depth of the maniples, it's on a stupefying scale. So it's perhaps five or six men across.

Then you have another maniple and then you have another row behind it. But the maniple behind it is filling in the gap. But essentially, it means that you can constantly thread people through the gaps and move people up to fill gaps. Can I, the depth of the maniples, it's on a stupefying scale. So it's perhaps five or six men across.

And then you think if you're standing in that line, then next to you, there's a gap that's equivalent to five or six men and then another five or six men and then another gap and then another five or six men and then another gap. And then standing behind you, you have maybe it's maybe 30 deep. So when you put all the maniples together, the battle line is maybe 70 ranks deep.

And then you think if you're standing in that line, then next to you, there's a gap that's equivalent to five or six men and then another five or six men and then another gap and then another five or six men and then another gap. And then standing behind you, you have maybe it's maybe 30 deep. So when you put all the maniples together, the battle line is maybe 70 ranks deep.

And then you think if you're standing in that line, then next to you, there's a gap that's equivalent to five or six men and then another five or six men and then another gap and then another five or six men and then another gap. And then standing behind you, you have maybe it's maybe 30 deep. So when you put all the maniples together, the battle line is maybe 70 ranks deep.

So completely terrifying for the enemy. I mean, to be up against a line a mile and a half long that is that deep. But there's also an additional advantage from the Roman point of view, which is bear in mind how raw many of the Roman recruits are. If you have lines that are that deep and you put your best, most seasoned men in the front and the others at the rear, it's very difficult for them

So completely terrifying for the enemy. I mean, to be up against a line a mile and a half long that is that deep. But there's also an additional advantage from the Roman point of view, which is bear in mind how raw many of the Roman recruits are. If you have lines that are that deep and you put your best, most seasoned men in the front and the others at the rear, it's very difficult for them

So completely terrifying for the enemy. I mean, to be up against a line a mile and a half long that is that deep. But there's also an additional advantage from the Roman point of view, which is bear in mind how raw many of the Roman recruits are. If you have lines that are that deep and you put your best, most seasoned men in the front and the others at the rear, it's very difficult for them

For raw, nervous recruits, you might want to run away to do that because you're surrounded by people. There's no way you can escape. And so essentially, it's a way of kind of getting over the fact that perhaps these aren't the best trained troops that you could possibly have.

For raw, nervous recruits, you might want to run away to do that because you're surrounded by people. There's no way you can escape. And so essentially, it's a way of kind of getting over the fact that perhaps these aren't the best trained troops that you could possibly have.

For raw, nervous recruits, you might want to run away to do that because you're surrounded by people. There's no way you can escape. And so essentially, it's a way of kind of getting over the fact that perhaps these aren't the best trained troops that you could possibly have.

We're very similar people, to be fair. I think that's exactly the problem with it. The kind of the manipular system, which normally enables a Roman battle line to be very flexible. These maniples are so deep that actually it's quite difficult and that there's a risk of them crunching up against one another, in which case the flexibility would be completely lost.

We're very similar people, to be fair. I think that's exactly the problem with it. The kind of the manipular system, which normally enables a Roman battle line to be very flexible. These maniples are so deep that actually it's quite difficult and that there's a risk of them crunching up against one another, in which case the flexibility would be completely lost.