Wiley. There was a leader in each row of a phalanx, and a rear rank officer, the ouragos (meaning tail-leader), who kept order in the rear. The Gallic were unable to sustain their strategy, however, and Vercingetorix was to become trapped in Alesia, facing not divided sections or detachments of the Roman Army but Caesar's full force of approximately 70,000 men (50,000 legionnaires plus numerous additional auxiliary cavalry and infantry). [93], Disadvantages of the mobile reserve strategy versus the "forward" policy, Ancient writers like Zosimus in the 5th century AD condemned the "reserve" policy as a major weakening of the military force. Polybius states that the biggest weakness of the phalanx is its uselessness in rugged terrain, but we know that under competent leadership the phalanx had won victories even while crossing rivers. Rome also used a variety of incentives to encourage cooperation by the elites of conquered peoples, co-opting opposition and incorporating them into the structure of the empire. In the open field against Caesar, the Gallic/Celtics apparently deployed chariots with a driver and an infantry fighter armed with javelins. The battles below (see individual articles for detailed accounts) illustrate the difficulties of fighting against phalanx forces. At the town of Gergovia, resource denial was combined with a concentration of superior force and multiple threats from more than one direction. The initial formation of soldiers is dictated by the enemy's formation, the terrain of the battlefield[5], and the troops of which the legion is made up. The main encounter was decided by infantry and mounted cavalry. Without such long-term cohesion and leadership, however, their performance was uneven. A network of camps and forts were included in these works. In subsequent battles after the Pyrrhic wars, they showed themselves masters of the Hellenic phalanx. The Roman legions utilized a more flexible battlefield strategy, with smaller units able to move independently. They knew the costs they were incurring for each soldier had to be quite similar on their enemy's side. Following this barrage, the Roman infantry advanced, in four lines, until they came within 30 meters of the enemy, then they halted, hurled their pila and charged. It is unlikely that this strategy worked very often, as it is not mentioned frequently in ancient Greek literature.[10]. Information was gathered from spies, collaborators, diplomats and envoys, and allies. During the Republic Consuls, Proconsuls, Praetors, Propraetors, or Dictators were the only officials that could command an army. Any history of the Roman infantry must grapple with the factors that led to the decline of the heavy legions that once dominated the Western world. the ‘myth’ of the phalanx: battle formations and cultural interaction - volume 66 [16] At the end of training the legionary had to swear an oath of loyalty to the SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus, the senate and the Roman people) or later to the emperor. The stamina and willpower demanded to make yet one more charge, to make yet one more surge grew even greater. Bolt-throwers like the Scorpio were mobile and could be deployed in defence of camps, field entrenchments and even in the open field by no more than two or three men.[12]. Surprisingly, the least-seasoned men, hastati, made up the front rank. [33] From a larger standpoint, as the battle waxed and waned, fresh units might be deployed through the intervals to relieve the men of the first line, allowing continual pressure to be brought forward. 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