Centurion Lucius Vorenus and Legionaire Titus Pullo breaking the Gaulic shield wall at Alesia? (HBO's "Rome", Season 1, Episode 1)
You see the front rank of Vorenus' cohort (maniple?) forming a flying wedge to pull a cut-off Legionaire (Pullo) who broke ranks in a rash attack. It was pretty interesting to see how the ranks rotated to keep the front-line fresh.
I saw that scene and thought it was interesting and well done. Whether that’s how the Romans actually did it is another question. It would be interesting to know what analysis and expertise went into that sequence.
The utility of such drills would also depend, of course, on how closely the enemy was pressing the front line. It was typically the Romans, with their short swords, body armor, and big shields, who attempted to close. Most opponents were less heavily armored and carried longer swords, which argued for greater distance from the Roman line and looser formations. That would tend to give the Romans a bit of space to execute such tactics.
BTW, I take your point about the word “tactics” in the earlier post. I agree that “tactics,” from a senior command standpoint dealt primarily with the initial disposition and then the commitment of reserves. What I have in mind here, however, is fighting technique at the individual and small group level: spacing, formation, watching each others’ backs, protecting wounded men, etc. One of the reasons the Romans were so effective in their heyday was that a wounded Roman had a far higher chance of survival than did a wounded opponent. This translated into a willingness to close.
This thread started as a discussion of swordplay. We ought not forget the Roman technique of crowd, bump, stab, using the shield as an offensive weapon and getting inside the optimum range of the opponents’ long swords.