The Failure of the Standard Phalanx

When attacking head on, a phalanx was indestructible. But once hit from the side or back, it was a sitting duck. The densely packed soldiers simply could not turn and set up the critical defense of shield wall in time. This fatal flaw spelled the end of the roman use of the phalnx. What the romans developed is the system that has been handed down as the sic republican army formation which we will talk about in detail next week.The maniple system and its three lined employment famously referred to as a phalinx.