Did ancient melee armies really charge into one another in massive groups like in the movies?

by Gates9

If so, how was anyone in the front lines able to survive multiple battles? I’d think the entire front lines of both armies would be totally ground up, speared, trampled, etc.

Iphikrates

Hi! You may be interested in my older answer to this question here. Reality is likely to have been a lot less spectacular than the movies.