Originally posted by astralis
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Roman armies changed for a lot of reasons,many of them not military in nature.The old legions had no problem defeating Eastern style armies-cavalry and archer centric using combined arms.As a matter of fact,it was the heavy infantry of the legions that allowed Aurelianus to defeat the Palmyrians.
The cavalry,be it shock or horse archers really knows only a few tricks.The infantry knows lots of them.
About the pavise crossbowmen,they have 2 salvoes at most,before they get some sharp swords between the ribs.Not to forget that by the second encounter,the Romans will also have their own auxilia crossbowmen.
There is a great misconception about Agincourt.It was the English archers doing the killing,but it was not by using their bows.The battlefield was a muck,thanks to rain.Tens of thousands of men trampling it did not helped either.The French ,in their armor ,were exhausted by the time they engaged the English in hand to hand combat.The English were also much more mobile in their light attire.
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