No battle episode this week, as we are traveling. We will return to our usual schedule next week. Thanks to Brilliant, we do not run any youtube ads on this video. You should really check out their offer if you are into IQ tests and puzzles. And if you want to show your Kings and Generals swag, our merchandise shop is ready for you: bit.ly/2LBiL8G
Could you keep the original serious tone of the videos intact and leave out small little funny maymay jokes like the one about furries? Many of these videos have education potential, degradating the qulity for some small inside chuckles is definitely not the way forward.
@@mogyesz9: Would you explain what you mean by "education potential" and "the way forward"? Personally, I enjoy and appreciate the occasional humorous touches and still manage to find these videos educational.
I remember Kings and Generals replying to a post in a previous video that the series will try to cover rome till 1453. So hopefully we'll get to see A LOT of romans :)
Fascinating video! Like the Macedonian Army of Philip II and Alexander, the Roman Army was a well oiled machine! I also noticed that “SOCII,” the Latin word for ally, is where we get the English word “social.” That’s an interesting etymological history!
Its quite unknown, but rather interesting that the "switching troops out" tactic was already used by the Greeks. According to Herodotus, the Spartans and their allies displayed this tactic at Thermopylae, where the held off the Persians in 480 BC. Herodotus explains that the Greeks fought in Groups according to their native Cities and would then switch positions when they got tired.
the main difference is that Greek troops aren't as efficient as switching out due to their traditional line formation, so they either ran through friendly formations, or had to circle around it. Roman legion used checker board formation, which not only allow ally troops to run through formation with minimum loss, but also make it easier to maneuver through difficult terrains like Hills, swamps etc. Also, unlike Greeks, Roman legions don't set up formation before battles, but they marched their army into formation in front of enemies, to show them how disciplined and formidable Roman troops is, and striked to the heart of enemy troops mentally, lowering their morale.
I imagine the idea of switching out tired troops was one of the very first innovations in intertribal warfare, so I imagine it was “discovered” in many places many times, sometimes nearly simultaneously.
These videos truly bring my heart to warmth. I have always had a fascination in ancient history and I praise you and everyone who has worked hard on all of your videos. Thank you! Roma Victor!
“ Roman cavalry in this period has an undeservedly bad reputation, primarily because of their many crushing defeats”. Feels like they deserved it to me
I'd like you guys to do a an episode covering the arms, armour and military tactics of the the Mongols and especially the Crusades; namely the 1st-3rd for both the Muslims and the Christians. I think seeing the differences between how the two cultures of Europe and the Middle East approached warfare would be awesome
"Otherwise known as fursuit or fursona" goddamn, you still manage to sneak in such jokes in! Great video, looking forward to even more of these upcoming
I found this to be a very interesting video. Always nice to know how famous fighting forces fought their enemies and beat them. My compliments to those who made this video a reality.
Live your videos! I do have a question though. The Roman legion was superior to the traditional Greek and Macedonian phalanx owing to their to their speed, flexibility and maneuverability. But how would they have fared against armies of the middle ages like the Vikings etc? Also, Will you continue this series on to the armies and tactics of the middle ages and beyond? It's quite interesting to see how warfare has changed through the ages.
@KingsandGenerals I'm sure that your schedule for the rest of 2018 is beyond occupied. However may I suggest you make a video on the Invasion of Kuwait (1990) and Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm). The Gulf War marks the biggest alliance (including the superpower US) since WW2 and consists of one of the most intensive air bombardments in military history; hence, the war clearly portrays how modern warfare works . The video would be extremely intriguing if it were to also give minor insight on the overall politics of the time and war.
Some historians now write that Marian Reforms were already in progress. I'm no expert, I'm as surprised as anybody else by this theory. But Polybian Legions really conquered the Roman Empire; by 146BC the whole Mediteranean was under the Hob Nailed boots of the Legions....But they still didn't do Garrisons in provinces. When did they? Did the Republic ever use long serving Legions; since that's absolutely necessary to really BE an empire. Indirectly; the Seleucids and Ptolemies were basically Vassals after 146; thats why Polybius wrote his book; saying early on "How in such a short time, the Romans Conquered the whole world"; stating that Independence in the Mediterranean World, the ONLY world he knew of, was gone with the Sacking of Carthage and Corinth.
@@KingsandGenerals it's just whenever I see these videos where the guy says a word like triarii, and they make the last "i" sound like "eye", I just get annoyed. You even say c's like they are supposed to be said!
Awesome Video on the Roman Military army. I look forward to the next one on the Marian Reforms. Right after Hannibal defeated and devastated Roman at Cannae and other battles, the Senate was about to piss in their pants, cause they had no army to mobilize against Hannibal and had to resort to conscription and recruiting commoners and prison criminals to fill their ranks! Man, the Senate was indeed going to piss in their pants, if they didn't pull that move.
This video is very good. I think that pike and shot formations from the 16th and 17th centuries would be a amazing tópico for a video. Terei is so much to talk about it. The tercios, the ladsknets...
Marian reformmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............ ROMA INVICTA ROMA INVICTA ROMA INVICTA. Awesome. Good job to the team keep it up - you rock!!! Rome is good enough given you're travelling!. Nice that adds are gone once and for all too - they really disturb immersion! Thanks and keep rolling!!! K&G for best YT channel 2018!
This is what happens when you mix and match your religion with a bunch of heathens who believe there gods are some random ass animal. Now we have Romans who believe they're Dog kin.
The Velites probably, like skirmishers in other armies at the time, furhtermore had the function to disguise the movement of infantry behind them and lure enemy skirmishers into wasting their ammunition. They likely also were very useful, when the other units had to pass hard terrain: if for example the formation had to pass a rock or a small, steep hill that would hinder the closing of the formation, the velites would occupy and defend this position till the other units passed beyond it. Moreover it is likely, that, if needed, they could provide throwin spears for hastati or principes, if they ran out of them and they would be useful for them again. Since after the Marian reform, the legionair was required to learn how to fight with sword, spear and, what most peope don`t realize, also slingshot, the Velites probably also used the latter, but as a last resort. A sling could be worn around the arm or the head, added almost no noticable weight and it was easy to find ammunition for it - an advantage the throwing spear could not provide.
A truly great video, as always, but I like to make one correction here: As far as I know, one singular spear is called a "pilum", and "pila" is only the plural. Saw that mistake in a few comments and I think you also said "pila" referring to a singular pilum at 5:31.
Great video! I was always fascinated by roman military tactics and especially the Triplex Acies. But my question is, how they actually did it? To swap troops in the mids of battle while they were engaged with the enemy soldiers? Imagine being a hastati holding the line, exchanging blows with the man in front of you, standing shield by shield with your comrades. And then commands are shouted and you have to retreat in order to give your position to the incoming from behind you Principes. How do you retreat while the enemy's shield is bumping yours. Wont he stab you in the back? How even the armored Pricipes actually managed to fit through the ranks of the engaged in combat without causing havoc to the troops? And if the roman army was actually in a chess board formation (like in this video and every other depiction) and the troops passed through those huge gaps in between, wouldn't the enemy try to make use of them and break the roman formation? Lindybeige talks about this question in a video on the Triplex Acies and says that some people even say that this formation is actually a myth and did not work in the way we think of it today. Again great video. Love your channel.
A maniple, during closed fight, was not a shield wall like the hoplite phalanx. To hit alternatively with the gladius and the scutum, a legionary needed space around him and, contrary to the phalanx, where the phalangites in second and third line could hit with the spears over the shoulders of those in first line, in a maniple only the legionary in first line could reach the enemy. You can see that modern day boxers are well trained fighters, they fight in rounds of three minutes, they don't hit all the time, they don't have to lift an heavy sword and shield, but, near the end of the match, they have problems in keeping their guard high. It's evident that a legionary couldn't have fought if first line for much more than a minute, or it would have become a static target uncapable to fight back, and a battle could last for hours. Nor we can think that the legionaries in frst line were supposed to simply stand there until they were killed, while those in the subsequent lines did absolutely nothing, simply waiting for all the ones in front of them to be slaughtered to see the enemy. So, when the centurio gave the command, the first line simply slided back, shield high, in the gaps between the columns and took position at the back of the formation. Being a maniple composed of two centurie of 80 men, we can suppose that a maniple tipically fought in a 20X8 formation, so every legionary fought in first line for about a minute, giving it all, and then could rest for about seven minutes first to be in first line again. That way a maniple of hastati could fight for more than an hour first to be worn out, and at that point it was replaced by the principes exactly the same way, with the maniple of the hastati sliding back between the columns of the principes. It's higly improbable that the maniples would have mantained the checkered formation during fight. That would have denegated the mobility of the maniples, since every maniple would have been turned into a static fortress surrounded by enemies.
You are welcome. It had to be added that the checkered formation was instead very useful in deployment, since, at the same time, every maniple had space around to move, and the commander of the army knew where every maniple was (he had not an eagle eye view on the battlefield, he was simply on horseback, so, with the triplex acies, he knew exactly where every maniple was supposed to be).
No battle episode this week, as we are traveling. We will return to our usual schedule next week. Thanks to Brilliant, we do not run any youtube ads on this video. You should really check out their offer if you are into IQ tests and puzzles. And if you want to show your Kings and Generals swag, our merchandise shop is ready for you: bit.ly/2LBiL8G
Could you keep the original serious tone of the videos intact and leave out small little funny maymay jokes like the one about furries? Many of these videos have education potential, degradating the qulity for some small inside chuckles is definitely not the way forward.
My week isn't complete without cracking boxes, please stop traveling!! :'( J/k, enjoy the travels, please do hurry tho x'D
Kings and Generals Could you guys just give me an email reply?
Very well done!
@@mogyesz9: Would you explain what you mean by "education potential" and "the way forward"? Personally, I enjoy and appreciate the occasional humorous touches and still manage to find these videos educational.
"We'll be covering the Marian reforms..."
**heavy breathing**
There will be at least one episode... :-)
I remember Kings and Generals replying to a post in a previous video that the series will try to cover rome till 1453. So hopefully we'll get to see A LOT of romans :)
@@KingsandGenerals history nimrod please
10:18 shoutout for that eu4/paradox graphic reference
@TheDodo1233 same
Fascinating video! Like the Macedonian Army of Philip II and Alexander, the Roman Army was a well oiled machine!
I also noticed that “SOCII,” the Latin word for ally, is where we get the English word “social.” That’s an interesting etymological history!
There was a tiny mistake actually. "Socii" is allies, the plural form. A single ally would be a "socius".
Or associate...
You don't want to butter up your allies too much now!
@@SamuelHallEngland ?
“When all else fails.......send in the Triarii”
Last time I saw a Velite, I blew him up in New Vegas. Good times.
now try again in new california.
Ha!
Nice
3:41
Little known historical fact, velites were furries.
Wow
Ned Stark
They will eventually be purged as they are heretical mutants deserving to die.
Dont mean the Space Corgies
Get this degenerate fucks out of serious videos.
Velites suck wolf dick, give me some real men [The Triarii] any day of the week!
One of my favourite videos, which I for some reason allways come back to.
Its quite unknown, but rather interesting that the "switching troops out" tactic was already used by the Greeks. According to Herodotus, the Spartans and their allies displayed this tactic at Thermopylae, where the held off the Persians in 480 BC. Herodotus explains that the Greeks fought in Groups according to their native Cities and would then switch positions when they got tired.
+SandRhoman
Yeah it was shown in the fantasy movie 300
the main difference is that Greek troops aren't as efficient as switching out due to their traditional line formation, so they either ran through friendly formations, or had to circle around it.
Roman legion used checker board formation, which not only allow ally troops to run through formation with minimum loss, but also make it easier to maneuver through difficult terrains like Hills, swamps etc. Also, unlike Greeks, Roman legions don't set up formation before battles, but they marched their army into formation in front of enemies, to show them how disciplined and formidable Roman troops is, and striked to the heart of enemy troops mentally, lowering their morale.
I imagine the idea of switching out tired troops was one of the very first innovations in intertribal warfare, so I imagine it was “discovered” in many places many times, sometimes nearly simultaneously.
Can you provide a source? I mean it makes sense but this is an insane Important Pice of Information
I am 10 and almost 11 and I have learnt so much from this channel!
Thank you :)
Wow you're a man now
Forget the notification squad. Where the triarii at??
The thing is, it seems that most people didn't get the notification.
they are rebelling out of boredom
@@prasetyod7033 Crucify them.
Your guy’s animation is so smooth and professional! Thanks for putting these out for us!
Thank you :)
Fantastic content, amazing graphics and the narration is on point, you can't ask for more :)
Indeed!
8:33. "WE ARE THE LEGION. YOUR TECHNOLOGICAL AND TACTICAL EXPERTISE WILL BE ASSIMILATED!."
These videos truly bring my heart to warmth. I have always had a fascination in ancient history and I praise you and everyone who has worked hard on all of your videos.
Thank you!
Roma Victor!
Thanks for watching!
I don't know what I would do without these videos, and this channel. It's just so fantastic!
Thanks, happy to hear that!
"Our plan is to continue this series all the way to the fall of Constantinople, so stick around."
:D :D :D
Good, eh?
The image of the cavalry man still has the spear through the neck of the horse
Update version from Invicta, nice work King & Generals 🤓
Really love that, how about talking about Gustav or Charles V army formation? 😁
Will happen down the line!
Thanks! appreciated that :)
Eh bapak :v
In the meantime, you can watch a video by theartofbattle on that. Their website has a slideshow you can download
This might be one of my favorite video that you've made so far, I can't wait for the Marian Reforms!
Thanks! On its way!
Love the little Age of Empires noise at 4:40!
Excellent Video sir... Looking forward to you covering more of the Roman Legion.
Thanks! Much more on the way!
The SPQR hoodie looks great :D proud to support this channel!
Thank you very much! :-)
When will this amazing channel hit 1M? WHEEEN, God bless your work
Thank you very much!
"wolfskin headdress otherwise known as a fursuit or fursona" well time to subscribe
“ Roman cavalry in this period has an undeservedly bad reputation, primarily because of their many crushing defeats”. Feels like they deserved it to me
Many doesn’t mean “majority” though. The phalanx also lost many battles and yet it’s praised.
@@LuisBrito-ly1ko Tis so but many of those loses were against another phalanx😅
@@peterpienczuk2664A little late to respond, but wouldn’t the Roman cavalry be losing to other cavalry?
This format is great! Good job!
I love this series so much. Keep up the good work.
We are trying our best :)
I loved the detail of having the EU4 UI in the top left corner when they were talking about Rome having low “manpower”.
Once again another amazing video by you guys good job keep it up.
We will, thanks!
I "LOVE" all your content and History in particular of Rome Republic and Empire Rule. Thank you
“ strength and honor” 😁👍
Roma Invictor!
Scotch & soda!
@@josephzanes7334 tony ya breaking ma balls
I know very little about the Seleucid empire and would love you guys to do a few episodes. Better to watch your mini documentaries than read wiki!
Have you watched our video on the battle of Magnesia?
Thanks for another great video!
Can we all just appreciate how ingenious it is to have soldiers take turns in combat?
Please make a series on Sulla and Marius🤙🏻 keep up the good work
Thinking about it!
"The history of Rome's campaigning is, if nothing else, a history of obstinate persistence overcoming appalling losses."
So cool videos, really. Please continue.
We will, thanks!
top notch as always...keep it up
Thanks!
All hail the mighty Roman legions!
I predict that they will get better from here. :-)
Exactly mister
Hoohah!
Hail Cesar!
For the glory of Rome , that was awesome
Thank you for watching :)
Your videos never disappoint! I was wondering if you could maybe make a video about the Maccabean revolt?
It is on our list, but we are not sure for now.
@@KingsandGenerals Thank you for the response!
Thanks for the video!
Thank you for the video.
Thanks for watching!
Great video!
I just wonder why I always wanted this series above all the other ones ?? I just cannot figure out why ????
I'd like you guys to do a an episode covering the arms, armour and military tactics of the the Mongols and especially the Crusades; namely the 1st-3rd for both the Muslims and the Christians. I think seeing the differences between how the two cultures of Europe and the Middle East approached warfare would be awesome
Agreed! The comparison would be really interesting.
Can't wait for you to cover the cohort system :).
Love this channel. Please continue shooting more army reform video. :)
I’m a simple man. I see a Kings and Generals video and I like it.
Are we just gonna ignore how they just called the all the velites furries
I just love your videos.
Wow! Both Baz Battles and K&G uploaded new videos the same morning!👍
Essentially everything I learned about Rome: Total War, in one video.
Hopefully, a bit more. :-)
I've been looking forward to this!
"Otherwise known as fursuit or fursona" goddamn, you still manage to sneak in such jokes in! Great video, looking forward to even more of these upcoming
Thank you :-)
I use all sorts of formations when I play as the Romans in Rome total war. The Triplex Acies work very well against the Persians
I found this to be a very interesting video. Always nice to know how famous fighting forces fought their enemies and beat them. My compliments to those who made this video a reality.
A nice perfect episode.
Thanks!
Live your videos! I do have a question though. The Roman legion was superior to the traditional Greek and Macedonian phalanx owing to their to their speed, flexibility and maneuverability. But how would they have fared against armies of the middle ages like the Vikings etc?
Also, Will you continue this series on to the armies and tactics of the middle ages and beyond? It's quite interesting to see how warfare has changed through the ages.
Exeptional documentary!
Thank you for watching :)
_Very_ slick editing here xp Nice stuff
Thank you for watching :)
@KingsandGenerals I'm sure that your schedule for the rest of 2018 is beyond occupied. However may I suggest you make a video on the Invasion of Kuwait (1990) and Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm). The Gulf War marks the biggest alliance (including the superpower US) since WW2 and consists of one of the most intensive air bombardments in military history; hence, the war clearly portrays how modern warfare works . The video would be extremely intriguing if it were to also give minor insight on the overall politics of the time and war.
I'm a simple man. I see triples acies on a KG video and I click + like before actually seeing it.
Some historians now write that Marian Reforms were already in progress. I'm no expert, I'm as surprised as anybody else by this theory. But Polybian Legions really conquered the Roman Empire; by 146BC the whole Mediteranean was under the Hob Nailed boots of the Legions....But they still didn't do Garrisons in provinces. When did they? Did the Republic ever use long serving Legions; since that's absolutely necessary to really BE an empire. Indirectly; the Seleucids and Ptolemies were basically Vassals after 146; thats why Polybius wrote his book; saying early on "How in such a short time, the Romans Conquered the whole world"; stating that Independence in the Mediterranean World, the ONLY world he knew of, was gone with the Sacking of Carthage and Corinth.
Kings and Generals, and Baz Battles upload on the same day... Christmas has come early.
Cringy
Sigh, alright, you got me Kings and Generals
*starts up Divivde et Impera*
This is pretty interesting but make sure u turn on fire at will on the hastati and princepes
Finally, someone who pronounces Latin correctly
Thanks!
@@KingsandGenerals it's just whenever I see these videos where the guy says a word like triarii, and they make the last "i" sound like "eye", I just get annoyed. You even say c's like they are supposed to be said!
Awesome Video on the Roman Military army. I look forward to the next one on the Marian Reforms.
Right after Hannibal defeated and devastated Roman at Cannae and other battles, the Senate was about to piss in their pants, cause they had no army to mobilize against Hannibal and had to resort to conscription and recruiting commoners and prison criminals to fill their ranks! Man, the Senate was indeed going to piss in their pants, if they didn't pull that move.
This video is very good. I think that pike and shot formations from the 16th and 17th centuries would be a amazing tópico for a video. Terei is so much to talk about it. The tercios, the ladsknets...
Sorry, i did not wanted to say”tópico” i did want to say topic.
Well, topic is topic. :-) Tercios will be covered down the line.
IT HAS COME TO THE TRIARII - Love this saying!
Excellent video! I loved watching it after I pulled up a slab of marble and bowl of grapes!
Thanks, this made me smile. :-)
I want more! Good video
There will be more!
Didn't expect a furry joke this early in the morning. Now I'm wiping coffee off my monitor.
It is important to set the tone early on. :-)
Marian reformmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............ ROMA INVICTA ROMA INVICTA ROMA INVICTA. Awesome. Good job to the team keep it up - you rock!!! Rome is good enough given you're travelling!. Nice that adds are gone once and for all too - they really disturb immersion! Thanks and keep rolling!!! K&G for best YT channel 2018!
Marius changed the Roman Army to fight better to stay an empire
A great video~! It makes me wonder if you plan to cover more cultures other than the Romans and Greeks. Perhaps Parthia, China and Celts soon?
this just gave me an idea what strategy I'm going to use in total war rome 2
Could you please do a series about the 80 years' war and the rise of the Dutch republic some time?
It is on the list and will happen down the line.
Can't have an accurate video on Roman history without TWR2 Divide et Impera shots
So romans were furries? 'otherwise known as a fursuit or fursona'
Not sure if a joke or some obscure legit trivia I'd not heard before.
This is what happens when you mix and match your religion with a bunch of heathens who believe there gods are some random ass animal. Now we have Romans who believe they're Dog kin.
I loled.
I also seem to recall such tales were a part of their culture in numerous ways.
If that's the first thing you think of when you see animal skins that says a lot more about you :P
The Velites probably, like skirmishers in other armies at the time, furhtermore had the function to disguise the movement of infantry behind them and lure enemy skirmishers into wasting their ammunition. They likely also were very useful, when the other units had to pass hard terrain: if for example the formation had to pass a rock or a small, steep hill that would hinder the closing of the formation, the velites would occupy and defend this position till the other units passed beyond it. Moreover it is likely, that, if needed, they could provide throwin spears for hastati or principes, if they ran out of them and they would be useful for them again. Since after the Marian reform, the legionair was required to learn how to fight with sword, spear and, what most peope don`t realize, also slingshot, the Velites probably also used the latter, but as a last resort. A sling could be worn around the arm or the head, added almost no noticable weight and it was easy to find ammunition for it - an advantage the throwing spear could not provide.
No "Ad triarios redisse" this time; this video is a success.
Would you be interested in making a video about an admiral also ;). The Battle of Vis 1866 is a nice, little known david vs goliath event.
Will consider!
A truly great video, as always, but I like to make one correction here:
As far as I know, one singular spear is called a "pilum", and "pila" is only the plural. Saw that mistake in a few comments and I think you also said "pila" referring to a singular pilum at 5:31.
That EU4 reference, so gooood))
Please do a documentary about the Punic wars.
BRAZIL!!!! We love u Kings and Generals!
Ajudaria muito mais caso houvesse LEGENDAS em português... Ajudaria a popularizar.
I hope you will do Carthage Next before the Gauls.
We'll see.
10:17 Good graphics idea. Please use more Grand Strategy Game-like graphics so that everyone can understand more easily.
Thanks!
Tnx
Very intersting
Just awesome
Thank you!
9:18 SOCII EQUITES EXTRAORDINARII!
'wolfskin headdress otherwise known as a fursuit or fursona' im fucking dead
:-)
Do the Theme system next :)
5:41
- Cog -
👏
Hnnng, gotta watch all videos containing Roman military so my DND sessions seem interesting
10:20 gotto love that eu4 reference
Can you guys do a video on Carthaginian troops during the punic wars?
We are thinking about it.
Great video! I was always fascinated by roman military tactics and especially the Triplex Acies. But my question is, how they actually did it? To swap troops in the mids of battle while they were engaged with the enemy soldiers? Imagine being a hastati holding the line, exchanging blows with the man in front of you, standing shield by shield with your comrades. And then commands are shouted and you have to retreat in order to give your position to the incoming from behind you Principes. How do you retreat while the enemy's shield is bumping yours. Wont he stab you in the back? How even the armored Pricipes actually managed to fit through the ranks of the engaged in combat without causing havoc to the troops?
And if the roman army was actually in a chess board formation (like in this video and every other depiction) and the troops passed through those huge gaps in between, wouldn't the enemy try to make use of them and break the roman formation? Lindybeige talks about this question in a video on the Triplex Acies and says that some people even say that this formation is actually a myth and did not work in the way we think of it today.
Again great video. Love your channel.
A maniple, during closed fight, was not a shield wall like the hoplite phalanx. To hit alternatively with the gladius and the scutum, a legionary needed space around him and, contrary to the phalanx, where the phalangites in second and third line could hit with the spears over the shoulders of those in first line, in a maniple only the legionary in first line could reach the enemy.
You can see that modern day boxers are well trained fighters, they fight in rounds of three minutes, they don't hit all the time, they don't have to lift an heavy sword and shield, but, near the end of the match, they have problems in keeping their guard high.
It's evident that a legionary couldn't have fought if first line for much more than a minute, or it would have become a static target uncapable to fight back, and a battle could last for hours. Nor we can think that the legionaries in frst line were supposed to simply stand there until they were killed, while those in the subsequent lines did absolutely nothing, simply waiting for all the ones in front of them to be slaughtered to see the enemy.
So, when the centurio gave the command, the first line simply slided back, shield high, in the gaps between the columns and took position at the back of the formation. Being a maniple composed of two centurie of 80 men, we can suppose that a maniple tipically fought in a 20X8 formation, so every legionary fought in first line for about a minute, giving it all, and then could rest for about seven minutes first to be in first line again.
That way a maniple of hastati could fight for more than an hour first to be worn out, and at that point it was replaced by the principes exactly the same way, with the maniple of the hastati sliding back between the columns of the principes.
It's higly improbable that the maniples would have mantained the checkered formation during fight. That would have denegated the mobility of the maniples, since every maniple would have been turned into a static fortress surrounded by enemies.
Thanks for the answer. It was very enlightening. I am gonna research it more when I get the chance to understand the whole subject more.
You are welcome. It had to be added that the checkered formation was instead very useful in deployment, since, at the same time, every maniple had space around to move, and the commander of the army knew where every maniple was (he had not an eagle eye view on the battlefield, he was simply on horseback, so, with the triplex acies, he knew exactly where every maniple was supposed to be).