Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

[John Murphy]

While hardly an original source, John Warry's "Warfare in the Classical
World" has some excellent diagrams with the benefit of modern publishing showing
at least his own opinion of how the Republican Maniple system with the quincunx
triplex aces
(forgive my spelling) worked.
He shows the prior and posterior centuries of each maniple working together
like one of those puzzles where you slide the blocks around. They begin stacked
one behind the other to leave a gap. Before a maniple engages the front century
slides over and
the rear century moves up to fill its position creating a solid line which
charges the enemy. When a maniple retreats one century begins to fall back while
the other slides over to take its former position then follows, thus forming a
column of two
centuries allowing them to slide through the gaps in their relief lines. Then
the relieving amniple, from the same cohort, perform the "before a maniple
engages" manuever and it all starts over again - including the charge with pila
being thrown.
Each maniple of a cohort releives the next - so every cohort has a maniple
of HP&T in turn.
I think there is an implicit unstated requirement in this, I would think,
that a sufficient lull in the fighting is occuring to stop them from being
pressed and overwhelmed while executing the manuever. But if not at least they
might be able to make a
fighting withdraw of it and the maniple coming up in column could at least chuck
pila from its front century.
According to Warry and others this changed in the Marian legion. In Marius'
and in the EIR armies (which Warry says operated like the Marian except for the
larger first cohort) the lines were not formed by the maniples of each cohort
but rather by the
cohorts themselves. The maniples of a cohort now lined up all in line together
and entire cohorts relieved one another using a similar system to sliding-block
centuries.
My guess is this was even more flexible since the maniples of reserve
cohorts could be utilized as true reserves rather than relays without breaking
them away from their cohort chain of command.


> << The "Cohort System" retained the organization of H, P, and T
> maniples. Maybe the "Maniple System" never lost its cohort
> organization.
> I have never understood the 'checkerboard' system, and have yet to hear an
> explanation that seemed in the least logical. It is always said that the
> second, refused maniples could simply step up to form a solid line. Sure- why
> wouldn't they? What would be the advantage in hitting your opponent with half
> your troops, allowing each body to be flanked on both sides?