Shield wall The wall , ( " Scildweall " or " Bordweall " in Old English , " Skjaldborg " in Old Norse ) is a military tactic that was common in many cultures in the Pre - Early Modern warfare age . There were many slight variations of this tactic among these cultures , but in general , a shield wall was a " wall of shield s " formed by soldiers standing in formation shoulder to shoulder , holding their shields so that they abut or overlap . Each man benefits from the protection of his neighbour ' s shield , usually the man to his right , as well as his own . History . Ancient times . This tactic was used by many ancient armies including the Persian Sparabara , Greek hoplite phalanx formation , and Roman legion s . The shield wall came into use in ancient Greece during the late eighth or early seventh century BC . The soldiers in these shield wall formations were called hoplites , so named for their heavy weaponry ( " hopla " , " ὅπλα " ) . These were three - foot shields made from wood and covered in metal . Instead of fighting individual battles in large skirmishes , hoplites fought as cohesive units in this tight formation with their shields pushing forward against the man in front ( to use weight of numbers ) . The left half of the shield was designed to cover the unprotected right side of the hoplite next to them . The worst , or newest , fighters would be placed in the middle front of the formation to provide both physical and psychological security . Roman legions used a type of shield wall called a testudo formation in which the first row formed a dense vertical shield wall and the back rows held shields over their heads , thus forming a tortoise - like defense , impenetrable to missile weapons . The man at the right hand of each warrior had an important role ; he covered the right side of the warrior next to him with his shield . This made it so that all the shields overlap each other and thus formed a solid battle line . The second row was to kill the soldiers of the first line of an enemy shield wall , and so trying to break it . All the other rows were weight for the pushing match that always occurs when both sides tried to break the other wall . When a wall was broken the battle turned into a single - combat melee in which the side whose wall collapsed had a serious disadvantage . In the late Roman army and the Byzantine army , similar formations of locked shields and projecting spears were called " fulcum " ( φοῦλκον , " phoulkon " in Greek ) , and were first described in the late 6th - century " Strategikon " . Roman legions were typically well - trained , and often used short stabbing - swords ( such as the Gladius ) in the close - quarters combat that inevitably resulted when their shield - walls contacted the enemy . Auxiliaries were often less armed , therefore to provide more defence a shield - wall with spearmen was commonly used . Early Medieval Period . The shield - wall was commonly used in many parts of Northern Europe , such as England and Scandinavia . In the battles between the Anglo - Saxons and the Danes , most of the Saxon army would have been the fierce but inexperienced " Fyrd " — a militia composed of middle class freemen . However , the shield - wall tactics of the day did not require extraordinary skill , being essentially a shoving and fencing match with weapons . A few select warriors , such as Huscarls and Thegns , carried heavier weapons and consistently wore armour . There would also have been nobles such as Thegns and Earls who would have had their own armoured retainers . These men made up the first three ranks of the main wall , and as bodyguards for highly placed Thegns and royalty . The vast majority of opponents in such battles were armed with spears , which they used against the unprotected legs or faces of their opponents . Often , soldiers would use their weapons to support each other by stabbing and slashing to the left or the right , rather than just ahead . Short weapons , such as the ubiquitous seax , could also be used in the tight quarters of the wall . Limited use of archery and thrown missile weapons occurred in opening stages of shield - wall battles , but were rarely decisive to the outcome . The drawback of the shield - wall tactic was that once breached , the whole affair tended to fall apart rather quickly . Relatively lightly trained fyrdmen gained morale from being shoulder - to - shoulder with their comrades , but often fled once this was compromised . Once the wall was breached , it could prove difficult or impossible to re - establish a defensive line , and panic might well set in among the defenders . The tactic was used at the Battle of Stamford Bridge , where the relatively well - armed Saxon army hit a Viking army unaware . The Vikings were not wearing as much armour , having left their mail behind on the ships and wearing only their helmets , and after a bloody shield - wall - versus - shield - wall battle , fled in panic . Both sides lost 5 - 6000 each but the numerical superiority of the English won the battle . Both sides at the Battle of Hastings are clearly visible in the Bayeux Tapestry using the tactic , though a combination of Norman mounted cavalry and the impetuousness of less experienced Saxon warriors ultimately won the day — portending the end of massed shields in combat . However , it must be said that , even with the use of shieldwalls , battles rarely lasted more than an hour . The battle of Hastings , on the other hand , lasted for 7 hours , and very nearly went the other way — William was unhorsed twice , and the battle may have ended just fifteen minutes before the fall of darkness . Massed shieldwalls would be employed right up to the end of the 12th century , especially in areas which were unsuitable for large scale mounted warfare , such as Scandinavia and Scotland . Decline . The shield - wall as a tactic has declined and has been resurrected a number of times . For example , in the Greek and Macedonian phalanxes , as the Dory spear gave way to the sarissa , it became impossible to carry a large shield and so it was abandoned . Likewise , in the Late Middle Ages , the shield was abandoned in favour of polearms carried with both hands , giving rise to the pike square tactics . In the revival of military thinking and tactics that was a part of the Renaissance , military theorists such as Niccolò Machiavelli in his " The Art of War " advocated a revival of the Roman legion and Sword and shieldmen . But as in the phalanxes before , well - drilled pikemen displaced the shieldmen . The pike square remained in use on the European battlefields of the 16th and 17th centuries , but with the increasing importance of the handgun , it was replaced by the line and column formation s in the 18th century . Use in modern times . Although largely obsolete as a military tactic due to firearms , a wall of riot shields remains a common formation for riot police worldwide . Modern riot shields can not be designed to adequately provide ballistic protection against firearms while remaining light in weight , but can still protect the police officers against objects ( such as bricks or bottles or even Molotov cocktails ) that are thrown towards the riot police .