The period known as the mid-Republic, ranging roughly from the beginning of the second Punic War to tribunate and murder of Tiberius Gracchus in 133BC, was a time of great expansion in the Roman world. In order to comprehend better the nature of Roman imperialism in this period, it is important to understand how the Romans fought in battle. For decades scholars have argued over the mechanics of mid-Republican infantry combat. In the early twentieth century there was fierce debate among the great German military historians and building on this debate, throughout the last century, a general...