the Latin caput porcinum, was invented by Odin himself. According to the Vikings, the wedge formation, called by them svinfylking, cf. Thus, each wedge was composed of 110 men, 10 deep, 2 men on its tip, and 20 on its base. In Book VII, he depicts a sharper pointed formation 10 men deep with the first rank being composed of 2 men, each rank composed of 2 more. In Book I, he describes a shallow wedge, with the front rank of two men then each thereafter doubled. Two complete descriptions of an infantry wedge are given by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum. This would break up the shield wall exposing the defenders to flank attacks. Armored, heavily-armed infantry could use their momentum in wedge formation to drive open small sections in the shield wall. In the Middle Ages, the tactic was especially effective against defensive shield wall formations when defenders would link their shields together to form an all-but impenetrable barrier. According to Germanic legend and Tacitus, Hercules once visited German soil and they sang of him first of all heroes. When the Germanic Keil was advancing against the enemy, they sang the baritus or barditus, the battle song ( battle cry) it begins with a muffled grumbling and swells with the heat of the battle up to the roar of the waves beating against the rocks. The goal was to hit hard at the same time and to drive a 40 yard wide hole into the enemy line, according to the German historian Hans Delbrück. The outer ranks of the rear on the other hand swelled slightly. It was therefore well possible that the wing marched with some caution and held back a bit, so that the center stormed further and looked like a wedge. In this formation, the wingmen are at most risk. The formation was not like a wedge but more like a rectangle with forty warriors in the first line and 1,600 men strong. Warriors who had fled were hanged or slain.Īccording to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Keil was a tightly packed crowd, strong on all sides, not only in front and back, but also on the flanks. But an army leader who survived a lost battle had forfeited his life (usually suicide). However, this was also the greatest mortal threat. The most distinguished princes and their acolytes stood at the head of the Keil. Here the individual warrior tried to gain fame and glory in the battle.
It was used to force the Roman forces to split and was later applied specifically to the weakest units.ĭue to the high difficulty of this formation and the relatively high probability to fail it is assumed that the front lines were filled with the best warriors of the Germanic sibbs who had to break the Roman front line. It is generally believed that the Germanic tribes were more successful with this tactic than the Celts. Keilerkopf or Keil (wild boar's head, wedge, Latin: cuneus, meaning throng ) is a German phrase to describe the attack formation ("Tactical body") of the prehistoric infantry of the Celts and Germanic tribes.
In the Late Roman army, several cavalry units were designated as cuneus. It was also used to great effect by the Roman legions, with the wedge proving effective in campaigns in Britain, such as during Boudicca's Revolt, where a greatly outnumbered Roman army used it to defeat the Iceni.
As an infantry formation it is attested by Frontinus to have been used by the Romans in Pydna against the Macedonian line of Perseus. The use of this formation enabled the concentration of missiles against a limited front and thus was used not only to smash into the enemy line, but to also add to the effectiveness of long range, usually hurled weapons like javelins and hand axes. Philip II of Macedon adopted it from them as the main formation of his Companion cavalry and Alexander the Great faced Persian cavalry arrayed thus, as Arrian attests. According to Arrian and Asclepiodotus, the wedge was first used by the Scythians, and then the Thracians. The men deployed in a triangular or trapezoid formation with the tip leading the way. The wedge (έμβολον, embolon in Greek cuneus in Latin, colloquially also caput porcinum, "boar's head"), was used by both infantry and cavalry. Military tactics Antiquity Greeks and Romans File:Wedge-Formation-advantage.JPG
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