I always wondered how soldiers fighting in ancient battles avoided killing people on their own side. If the two sides got mixed up together in hand-to-hand combat, how would they tell their own soldiers apart in the midst of such chaos? Unless they wore distinct uniforms, or were very disciplined and never breaking ranks?
or were very disciplined and never breaking ranks?
'Never' overstates the case a bit, but the essence is there. The Hollywood Combat Moshpit as depicted in popular media is very much not how things would go. u/J-Force has some Medieval-specific thoughts in this thread, which also contains one of my previous linkdrops on just this subject.