"From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder with shields interlocking, the men of the phalanx presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. Until, that is, the Roman legion emerged to challenge them as masters of infantry battle" -- Front jacket flap.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-282) and index
Contents
Preface
Chronology
Maps
Part I: And in this corner...examining the legion and the phalanx
Who would win in a fight? The eagle and the lion
Not your father's phalanx: the legacy of Iphicrates
Mules that kill: under the eagle of Rome
Part II: Fight! the legion versus the phalanx in six battles
Heraclea, 280 BC: Rome's first test
Asculum, 279 BC: "One more such victory, and we are undone."
Beneventum, 275 BC: Pyrrhus' last gasp
Cynoscephalae, 197 BC: The legion triumphant
Magnesia, 190 BC: No refuge for Hannibal
Pydna, 168 BC: The fall of the Antigonids
Legions and phalanxes.
ISBN
9781472828422 ((hardcover))
1472828429 ((hardcover))
OCLC
1060596088
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