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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gizzard" data-source="post: 896571" data-attributes="member: 527">Yes, it must be.  The experts seemed (IMHO) to be on more solid ground in the Knights episode; they proudly showed a training manual by a German Master-at-Arms and mentioned that a lot of the tactics they would use were from there.  But I was less certain about the Pilum - though the expert was quite vehment about his interpretation of its purpose.  (It's really hard to tell since our TV Romans did a pathetic job throwing Pilums.  Judging by their efforts, the Pilum is best thrown a couple feet in front of your unit to perhaps trip opponents who charge you.  ;-)  Not that I could do better!)I was also suspicious of the 20-mile march in full gear.  Was this what everyone did all the time, or was it a special test equivalent to our modern boot camp?  It certainly seemed to take a toll on a group of trained soldiers, so I had a hard time buying that Roman trainees were so much better.And, of course, I was suspicious of the Spongium.  The Spongium just seemed like a bad idea for a lot of reasons that I probably shouldn't get into here.  Man has grappled with the issue that the Spongium addresses for several thousand years and I'd never heard of such a thing.   I suppose the experts must have some textual or pictorial support for their interpretation; it's not exactly an intuitive usage.</blockquote>