Sventex
Sventex t1_jc5zce5 wrote
Reply to Weekly History Questions Thread. by AutoModerator
What does it mean for the age old Phalanx vs Legion debate when the armies of Italy eventually adopted the pike? Whenever I bring up this topic during a Phalanx vs Legion debate, I rarely get a response, probably because I'm not debating historians.
"Following its 1506 military reforms, Florence had an army armed 70% with pikes, 10% with muskets, and the remaining 20% with halberds. In Venice the proportions were first fixed in 1548, at 10% halberds, 30% arquebuses, and 60% pikes."
Sventex t1_jcbaxpb wrote
Reply to comment by TheGreatOneSea in Weekly History Questions Thread. by AutoModerator
Weren't Greek Phalanx pikeman also armed with swords? A xiphos or kopis sword as backup? And was the army being made up of 10% muskets enough to make Pike formations dominant again? Why wouldn't archers of the ancient world not be able to perform the same function as a pike and shot formation?