A century of Roman legionaires in testudo formation, as portrayed in the Rome: Total War computer game, copyright 2004 Creative Assembly and Activision

In Ancient Roman warfare, the testudo or tortoise formation was a formation utilized commonly by the Roman Legions during battles, particularly sieges. (Testudo is the Latin word for "tortoise".) In the testudo, the men would close up all gaps between each other and grab their shields at the sides (rather than through the regular straps). The first row of men, possibly excluding the men on the flanks, would place their shields in front of them, from about their shins to the middle of their faces, so as to cover the formation's front. Everybody in the middle would place their shields over their head to protect from above, balancing the shields on their helmets and overlapping them. If necessary, the legionaries on the sides and rear of the formation could stand sideways or backwards with shields held as the front row's, so as to protect the formation's sides and rear, but the shape of the shields would mean that these soldiers would only be afforded incomplete protection. A Roman century in testudo formation The image was taken as a screenshot from the computer game Rome: Total War (created by Creative Assembly). ... A Roman century in testudo formation The image was taken as a screenshot from the computer game Rome: Total War (created by Creative Assembly). ... Rome: Total War is a grand strategy computer game where players fight historical and fictious battles during the era of the Roman Republic, from 270 BCE to 14 CE. The game was developed by Creative Assembly and released on September 22, 2004. ... Creative Assembly (officially The Creative Assembly Ltd) is a British video game developer established in 28 August 1987 by Tim Ansell, best known for their Total War strategy games series (Composed of Shogun, Medieval and Rome) and some sports games developed for distribution under EAs EA Sports label between... Activision, Inc. ... It has been suggested that Culture of ancient Rome be merged into this article or section. ... The Roman legion (from the Latin legio, meaning levy) was the basic military unit of ancient Rome. ...

When used correctly, the testudo was an excellent shield against missile troops, and the legions could move with little fear of being slaughtered by arrow fire and javelins. The primary problem with the formation was that it was so tight that the soldiers had great difficulty fighting in hand-to-hand combat—the Battle of Carrhae showed testudo's limitations, as the Parthians shot the Romans with horse archers if they stayed in regular formation, and charged with cataphracts if they tried to form a testudo. Other problems were that the front rank's faces and legs were still exposed; the formation couldn't move very quickly; and more powerful weapons (such as Eastern composite bows) could puncture the scutum and pin the soldiers' hands to their shields under prolonged fire, as occurred at Carrhae. The Battle of Carrhae was a decisive battle fought in the year 53 BC near the town of Carrhae (now the present-day ruins of Harran, Turkey) between the Roman Republic under the Roman general Crassus and the Parthian Empire under the Parthian Eran Spahbod Surena. ... Parthian Empire at its greatest extent, c60 BC. The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the east and... A horse archer (or horsed archer, mounted archer) is a cavalryman armed with a bow. ... Sarmatian Cataphract The cataphract (Greek κατάφρακτος) was a type of heavy cavalryman used primarily in eastern and southeastern Europe, in Anatolia and Iran from late antiquity up through the High Middle Ages. ... A composite bow is made from different materials laminated together, usually applied under tension. ... Scutum is the Latin word for any type of shield, although it has in modern times come to be associated with the standard semi-cylindrical type carried by Roman legionaries. ...