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The testudo was a common formation in the Middle Ages, being used by Muhammad's forces during the Siege of Ta'if in 630, [4] also by the Carolingian Frankish soldiers of Louis the Pious to advance on the walls of Barcelona during the siege of 800–801, by Vikings during the siege of Paris in 885–886, by East Frankish soldiers under king ...
The legions after the so-called Marian reforms were able to form into a close-defensive formation to resist a barrage of arrow fire or an enemy charge. This formation was called testudo. The Roman legionary cohorts continued to use the testudo formation throughout the remainder of their history until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire ...
In this formation, the outside ranks formed a dense vertical shield wall and inside ranks held shields over their heads, thus forming a tortoise-like defense, well-protected from missile weapons. Although highly effective against missiles, the formation was slow and was vulnerable to being isolated and surrounded by swarms of enemy soldiers.
A file formation is used for close terrain, often in dense vegetation or when there is low visibility. The file formation is easiest to control, and provides fire to the ranks should an ambush from the side occur. Diamond: Similar to the Wedge and inverted wedge, the diamond formation allows for the fourth section to follow the lead element.
A close order formation is a military tactical formation in which soldiers are close together and regularly arranged for the tactical concentration of force. It was used by heavy infantry in ancient warfare , as the basis for shield wall and phalanx tactics, to multiply their effective weight of arms by their weight of numbers.
The Romans repeatedly advanced towards the Parthians to attempt to engage in close-quarters fighting, but the horse archers were always able to retreat safely and loosed Parthian shots as they withdrew. The legionaries then formed the testudo formation by locking their shields together to present a nearly-impenetrable front to missiles. [26]
Testudo formation, a Roman military tactic which involved a formation of soldiers using their shields to form a tortoise-shell-like protective cover against enemy weapons; Testudo, the Latin variant of the Greek chelys harp, involving a sound-box made from a tortoise shell; Testudo, an obsolete constellation now in the constellation of Pisces
In fact, they are the first confirmed users of the shield wall tactic later made famous as the classical Greek phalanx and the Roman "testudo formation". It is unknown who first developed this tactic, but it is thought to have been developed somewhere between 2500 B.C.E and 2000 B.C.E