# Why didn't more ancient armies use the Spartan shield? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-more-ancient-armies-use-the-spartan-shield/539930 "2010-05-18T20:02:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-more-ancient-armies-use-the-spartan-shield/539930/21 "2010-05-20T00:42:28Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Is this true? I genuinely assumed that a group of horsemen could drive straight into a group of spearmen and the horses would simply follow their training. A post of mine about the Riders of Rohan quotes a little bit of John Keegan’s famous analysis of cavarly vs infantry from his terrific book, _The Face of Battle_: [Horsemen effective _psychologically_ against low-morale infantry, less so against “firm” infantry, almost impotent against really good infantry](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10897247&postcount=49). Don’t take my word for it, though – read the book. It’s not too dense, and he really has some incisive thoughts about what _really_ went down on the battlefield as opposed to the layers of myth with which we’ve encrusted these things. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-more-ancient-armies-use-the-spartan-shield/539930/22 "2010-05-20T00:46:19Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > 0No, horses actually take a lot of training to be able to attack humans - many dressage moves are related to warhorse training. > > Horses will actually actively avoid stepping on people if they manage to see them in time. Here’s something about defending against cavalry I never understood. In movies and such, they always attack the horseman, presumably because you’re clearly not allowed to hurt or endanger the horses on a set, but it always seemed to me that in reality it should be much easier to just kill the horse. Spear through the chest, chop at the legs, there’s tons of ways to grievously injure a horse on an ancient battlefield. It’s clearly a much bigger target and in going down could potentially kill or seriously injure the rider; at the very least the rider will be stunned long enough to jam a spear into him. I understand that horses were financially and strategically valuable, and it would certainly be a part of the spoils of war to capture your enemy’s horses, but is there some other reason I’m not seeing to spare the horses on the battlefield? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-more-ancient-armies-use-the-spartan-shield/539930/23 "2010-05-20T02:35:56Z")
Not really. On the other hand, on the battlefield, the horse would be stomping, biting, and kicking, too. And armored. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-more-ancient-armies-use-the-spartan-shield/539930/24 "2010-05-20T03:19:00Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Is this true? I genuinely assumed that a group of horsemen could drive straight into a group of spearmen and the horses would simply follow their training. Different era but at the Battle of Waterloo (see the early 1970s film with Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer) when Napoleon’s cavalry attacks the British, they form up into squares and the horses won’t charge the bayonets. Great aerial photography on that scene > **[Battle of Waterloo | The French cavalry attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_waterloo#The_French_cavalry_attack)** > > A little before 16:00, Ney noted an apparent exodus from Wellington's centre. He mistook the movement of casualties to the rear for the beginnings of a retreat, and sought to exploit it. Following the defeat of d'Erlon's Corps, Ney had few infantry reserves left, as most of the infantry had been committed either to the futile Hougoumont attack or to the defence of the French right. Ney therefore tried to break Wellington's centre with cavalry alone. Initially, Milhaud's reserve cavalry corps [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-more-ancient-armies-use-the-spartan-shield/539930.md?page=1)