Turtle formation
The turtle formation (also Latin Testudo for "turtle") describes a military- tactical formation of the Roman army , which was developed at the time of Gaius Julius Caesar . It was used to protect against heavy fire and to advance in a protected position on fortified, especially elevated positions. The "turtles" were very stable.
The Testudo formation of the Roman soldiers was only possible with the rectangular shield ( Scutum ), not with the round shield ( Parma ), which is mainly used by auxiliary troops . The soldiers in the front row held their shields forward. The following rows held their shields high above their heads so that they covered the preceding ones with and overlapped one another. The extent to which the sides and back are covered is controversial.
Probably the Testudo provided cover to the front, to the left (the shield side of each fighter) and above all to the top, so that the formation could move forward even under strong (excessive) fire. Only the well-trained and disciplined legionnaires could efficiently carry out this complex formation, which was very clumsy in battle. It was important to take it at the right moment (ranged weapon attack) and, above all, to dissolve it again in good time. In close combat , the legionnaire in the turtle formation was an almost helpless victim for opponents who attacked in open formations.
In late antiquity , a modified variant of the Testudo seems to have been in use, which is called Fulcum in Maurikios' Strategikon and was mainly used to protect the infantry in battle against arrow fire. After the end of antiquity , this tactical formation then lost its importance in battle. Modified, it was only used in medieval sieges for the use of siege devices such as the battering ram , whereby it was not a "turtle formation" in the sense of Roman warfare, which was a tactical maneuver in the field.
Similar formations are used in the presence of police units when they are intensely pelted with objects from different directions during operations against violent crowds.
literature
- Ross Cowan: Roman Battle Tactics 109 BC - AD 313. Oxford 2007.
- Philip Rance: The "Fulcum", the Late Roman and Byzantine "Testudo": the Germanization of Roman Infantery Tactics? In: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 44, 2004, ISSN 0884-7304 , pp. 265-326, online (PDF; 214 kB) .
