Living_One 说:
Nice pictures, but why triari and Italian infantry have round shields? They all used oval shields similar to those of hastati and principes. And giving muscular armour to all of them is really too much.
No. You are thinking of Polybian units.
Those reforms didnt happen until after the start of the punic wars which in it's earliest is roughly 264 but a more suitable figure for the actual reforms being 250-240 B.C.
Up until that point the romans and other Italians are still using the inherited Etruscan system which is Greek based, which includes the shields and their overhand fighting style, and muscle cuirass.
It's wiki, but it's right.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triarii
"
Polybian system
By the time of the second Punic war of the late 3rd century BC, this system proved inefficient against enemies such as Carthage. After a series of more "organic" changes as opposed to a single intentional reform, a new system gradually came into being. Infantry were sorted into classes according to age and experience rather than wealth, the triarii being the most experienced.[7] Their equipment and role was very similar to the previous system, except they now carried scuta, large rectangular shields that offered a greater degree of protection than the old round clipeus"
