User blog comment:Deathblade 100/Rome's deadliest rivals: Spartacus vs Arminius/@comment-28493607-20160519020930

Interesting battle, though I find it quite odd how Spartacus has less information in his background than Arminius because of how well known Spartacus is. That aside, I’m looking forward to seeing how this fight turns out. Spartacus is slightly younger and smaller than Arminius, which grants Arminius an narrow advantage in power. Another handy advantage for the Cherusci is the location of this battle and the tactics mentioned in the blog. Arminius is going to be very comfortable in a small forest/field, as seen in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. His ambush there led to a major Roman defeat, and Spartacus could very well fall into a trap just like Quinctilius Varus did in 9 CE. Thankfully for Spartacus, this is a one on one conflict, something he’s trained for as a former gladiator. Although he was trained to go up against other gladiators, I believe he won’t be shaken when caught in a one on one fight. Obviously the “Uprising” tactic listed above won’t be applicable here without there being troops to lead, so I’m gonna go ahead and start taking a look at these warriors’ loadouts.

For ranged weapons, it’s the frameae versus the pilum. Both weapons can double over as medium ranged weapons; however the intention here is for both to be utilized as projectiles. The pilum is designed to be thrown, and more importantly to take an enemy’s shield out of the equation. A good pilum strike to a wooden portion of Arminius’ shield will do just that. Getting that protection out of the way is going to benefit Spartacus tremendously as that seems to be the only bit of armor Arminius is carrying into battle. Before I talk more on the frameae, I’d like to share the words of Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus, who mentions the weapon in the book Germania.

“They carry short spears, in their language 'frameae,' with a narrow and small iron head, so sharp and handy in use that they fight with the same weapon, as circumstances demand, both at close quarters and at a distance." (Source, page 290)

Clearly the frameae is a formidable tool. A notable concern for me, however, is that it’s a spear, not a javelin. It’s designed to be used as a medium ranged weapon, not as a distance weapon. There may be hesitation on Arminius’ part to actually throw it since he likely won’t be getting it back. Spartacus won’t be second guessing himself whenever it comes to deciding whether or not he wants to try and snipe that shield. Thing is, Arminius won’t have to deal with a shield himself. Spartacus is equipped with a manica, which is only going to cover part of his arm. Whilst Arminius’ shield will be able to protect him from the pilum, I don’t think the manica will be able to do the same for Spartacus. If you’re going to chuck a spear at someone, you’re aiming for their chest area, and a shield will do a better job at protecting that than an arm. The odds of an incapacitating or killing blow from Arminius’ weapon is higher than that of Spartacus’. Although the pilum can still manage to kill or wound when going through shields, it isn’t going to be a guaranteed hit on the body. Assuming both weapons hit their targets, Spartacus is going down more often than Arminius would. The edge goes to Arminius.

Now let’s go ahead and move onto medium ranged weapons. For this category, that means the double headed axe (which is represented by a single headed axe by mistake) versus the trident and net combo. It’s important for me to note that it’s speculated that Spartacus was a Thracian/Thraex gladiator, meaning he was trained in the use of the parmula shield, sica sword, and outfitted with some armor. In other words, Spartacus isn’t trained to utilize the trident and net, so odds are he won’t be using them to their full potential. He snagged these when escaping and these probably aren’t going to be his go to tools for battle. That being said, the trident alone is lighter by three pounds. A thrust from the trident is going to be faster than a broad swing from the axe, and although that extra weight will provide the axe with more damage, it won’t matter if it can’t even land a hit. The addition of the net just gives Spartacus an additional projectile that could catch Arminius off guard and set him up for a killing blow. It may not be a weapon he’s perfected, but it’s one that’ll serve him well. The edge goes to Spartacus.

Next up are the swords. We’ve got the spatha for Arminius and the gladius for Spartacus. As Wassboss pointed out before me, the spatha is the longer weapon and would go on to eventually replace the gladius as the Roman soldier’s sword of choice. A longer blade gives you longer range, and the gladius isn’t going to do much in a one on one fight. To illustrate that point, here are the words of reddit user Ambarenya:

“The gladius was a weapon that was designed for precision and control, to be used by disciplined soldiers defended by a powerful, coherent, tight-knit shield wall that advanced across the battlefield like a proverbial juggernaut. The exacting nature of Imperial discipline provided that the attacks of their soldiers were to be clean, precise, and deadly. A Roman legionnaire bore the brunt of an enemy's attack with his shield and his heavy armor, and then, when he saw an opening, ended his foe's life with a quick, precision stab with his gladius to the center of the neck or upwards under the ribcage to the heart and lungs. The great thing about attacking with a gladius being that the thrusting attacks did not interfere with the Roman battle line, and allowed the legionaries to keep tight cohesion in battle. This is the primary advantage that the gladius had over the spatha. One also might also argue that the other advantage to the gladius was that it was cheap to manufacture, and was light in the hand (which was to make up for the fact that the semi-cylindrical scuta were quite heavy as far as shields go.)” (Source)

In other words, the gladius’ usefulness was all in the Roman army’s unity. It was great because it didn’t compromise the Roman formations, and since this is a one on one fight, there’s no way that can be utilized by Spartacus. Besides, his men weren’t well armed and uniformed Roman troops. He led gladiators that fought with whatever they could get their hands on. Odds are he won’t be forming a nice tight shield wall and won’t be getting much done with his gladius. I’m giving the edge here to Arminius.

Alright, special weapon time: Arminius’ fire hardened club versus Spartacus’ sica sword. As I mentioned earlier in the medium range category, Spartacus was trained in the usage of a sica. Good news for him, as it ensures he’ll be able to use it efficiently as an anti-shield weapon if the pilum fails to take care of Arminius’ shield. Arminius’ club is definitely a dangerous weapon, but it’s by far his worst. It has the shortest range and simply is not as lethal as the sica. The sica offers Spartacus a plan B in the event that the pilum doesn’t do its job. The club offers Arminius a weapon that can possibly knock the sica (or gladius) out of Spartacus’ hand, but its reach makes me question whether or not Arminius will have an opportunity to actually do this. Therefore I’m awarding the edge to Spartacus.

Armor is essential for most warriors in history, and this fight is no exception. Thing is, we aren’t talking about chainmail, plate armor, or anything like that. We’re comparing a shield to a lone armguard, which is not exactly optimal whenever both these guys are carrying some lethal iron weaponry. That being said, there’s a clear winner in this category, and it’s Arminius. A shield protects not only the arm, but also the head, chest, or wherever you choose to position it. You’ve got some room for flexibility with it, something Spartacus doesn’t have with the manica. If Spartacus chucks his pilum, there’s a greater chance of Arminius being unharmed than Spartacus. A knick to the arm can be waved off easy, but anything anywhere else on the body and Spartacus is toast. With armor, the more that’s covered the better, and the shield is going to cover more. Edge Arminius.

I personally don’t see the point in assigning numbers to x-factors whenever there isn’t a simulator in which those numbers are going to be used. It’d rather be given a few paragraphs on why one guy is better than the other in a certain category since numbers on their own doesn’t teach me anything. Why do these two tie in experience? Why does Arminius win out in tactics by such a large margin? Without explanations, I find making judgements here a bit difficult. I would argue that, at the very least, Arminius would win out in brutality. In the words of Tacitus, following the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, “In the center of the field were the whitening bones of men…human heads [were] prominently nailed to trunks of trees.” Source

Brutality aside, I agree that Arminius would likely edge out Spartacus in tactics and training due to Arminius’ training whenever he was in Rome. Arminius was being trained to be a commander, and military training is going to beat out gladiator training easy. Yes, Spartacus was a smart man, as shown by having his men create ropes to ambush Roman troops during the Battle of Mount Vesuvius, but as Roman historian Appian points out, Spartacus wasn’t up against Rome’s finest troops yet. In fact, Appian proclaims his opponents as “forces picked up in haste and at random,” with the reason for this being that “…the Romans did not consider this a war yet, but a raid, something like an attack of robbery.” (Source)

I believe that concludes my comparisons. As I said in my opening statements, this is an intriguing battle and one I’m glad you made. These men were nightmares for Rome, and both are evenly matched. This battle all hinges on range. If Spartacus can take out Arminius’ shield right off the bat and evade a potential thrown frameae, he can focus on keeping the fight at medium range with the trident and win. Thing is, that requires two things not to happen: Arminius throwing the frameae and the decommissioning of Arminius’ shield. If the pilum misses and Arminius keeps his shield, then Spartacus is going to have a tough time taking him out. If Arminius gets in close, he will overpower Spartacus with a mix of power, superior training, and a superior sword. All it takes is for him to get past the trident, which is doable so long as his shield’s intact. The sica can get around the shield and inflict damage, but since Spartacus has no shield of his own, he’s going to struggle to stay on the offensive whenever he has to deal with the threat of the spatha. If Spartacus loses the trident and Arminius still has his shield, the battle’s over.

However, Spartacus does still have the net in his arsenal. That could very well turn the tide in his favor, assuming he uses it well. Here we have a messy scenario with a lot of what ifs, making voting on a winner difficult. It’s a big scramble situation here, but the more I think about it, the more I see it favoring Arminius. As long as Arminius gets past the pilum without losing his shield, he will be able to close the distance safely and just has to wait for Spartacus make a mistake that he can capitalize on. Either that, or throw the frameae. If he scores the hit, then Spartacus is going down and all Arminius will have to do is walk forward and put him out of his misery. Spartacus’ lack of armor outside of his manica leaves him susceptible to any attack, and that’s gonna be what Arminius will exploit in order to claim the victory.