What a mess
Ancient history is filled with conflicts where mega thousands were killed...if the end object was to win and still have an army left I always wondered why some brillient commander didn't just arm 95% of his troops with bows & arrows, each shooter equipped with at least a couple hundred arrows... The other 5%
armed with throat cutting razors. !
A couple hours of falling steel rain would have significantly broken an enemy, even a shot in the foot would reduce the ability to hold up a shield and then
some other rain drop would do more damage.
All I can figure is:
A...Life was so cheap Commanders just relied on volume & brute force
B...The common front line soldier must have enjoyed arena style gore and looked forward to the "adventure" of besting his fellow man right up close.