Legion versus Phalanx : The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World

From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and with overlapping shields, they presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy until the Roman legion eclipsed the phalanx as the masters of infantry battle. Covering the period in which the legion and phalanx clashed (280-168 BC), this book looks at each formation in detail - delving into their tactics, arms and equipment, organization and deployment.

It then examines six documented battles in which the legion fought the phalanx: Heraclea (280 BC), Asculum (279 BC), Beneventum (275 BC), Cynoscephalae (197 BC), Magnesia (190 BC), and Pydna (168 BC). Drawing on original primary sources, Myke Cole presents a highly detailed but lively history of a defining clash of military formations.