Board Thread:Antaeus' Arena: Audience Chamber/@comment-1515612-20150930233157/@comment-10353303-20151012014921

While I'm not particularly fond of Jason, I would like to point out a few things regarding Jason and the Romans in general:

1. It's not so much that Romans didn't slash using the gladius, in fact, the gladius (the sword the Romans used in history and in the books) was designed to be used for both thrusts and cutting. In formation, the Romans primarily used stabbing as it allowed for the tight cohesion of the formation to remain intact (because slashing requires room). However, since we are talking about single combat between two characters, there's nothing that really limits Jason from using slashes either. Suffice to say, he's not only limited to stabbing.

2. While we can say that Jason's ability to easily analyze and adapt to enemy patterns of attack and defence is negated by Percy's constantly changing fighting style, I would point out one thing that could possibly (I say this lightly, not definitively) could work for Jason. Percy's advantage is that he does not fight with a pattern, however, pulling off unorthodox moves in the middle of battle requries stamina, and if the Romans did one thing well both in history and in the books, it's outlasting their enemies. For now, let's assume they are on equal footing when it comes to swordsmanship. Assuming Jason can fend off Percy long enough, it'll result in either of two results. The first scenario is one in which Percy altogether fails to penetrate Jason's defences and simply tires himself out in doing so, resulting in Jason being able to overwhelm Percy in this state. The second is one in which Percy is forced to fight in a much more linear manner without using any unorthodox/"on-the-spot" tactics (ex. somersaulting behind the enemy, rolling to one side) to preserve his stamina, the kind of fight which would suit Jason, as he'd then be able to analyze Percy's patterns of attack. This being said it does not take into account demigod abilities/powers. As such, who wins is also dependent on the location they're fighting in, any available boons to either side (e.g. water for Percy) and which abilities they choose to use.