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Single combat is a duel between two single warriors which takes place in the context of a battle between two armies. Often, it is champion warfare, with the two considered the champions of their respective sides. Instances of single combat are known from Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The champions were often combatants who represented larger, spectator groups. Such representative contests and stories thereof are known worldwide. Typically, it takes place in the no-man's-land between the opposing armies, with other warriors watching and themselves refraining from fighting until one of the two single combatants has won. But single combat could also take place within a larger battle. Both ancient and medieval warfare did not always rely on the line or phalanx formation. The Iliad notably describes the battles of the Trojan war as a series of single encounters on the field, and the medieval code of chivalry, partly inspired by this, encouraged the single combat between individual knights on the battlefield, in which the loser was not usually killed but taken captive for ransom. This tradition ended in the 14th century due to the use of the longbow and the pike square against mounted knights (Battle of Crécy, Battle of Laupen), and the tradition of single combat was continued away from the battlefield, with the ''pas d'armes'' and the early modern duel. ==Antiquity== An important episode in "The Tale of Sinuhe", one of the most well-known works of Ancient Egyptian literature, concerns the protagonist - an Egyptian exile in Upper Retjenu (Canaan) - defeating a powerful opponent in single combat. Duels between individual warriors are depicted in the Iliad, including those between Menelaus and Paris and later between Achilles and Hector. The Hebrew Bible also includes a few accounts of single combat, the most famous being David versus Goliath. Single combat is mentioned quite frequently in the history of Ancient Rome – Romulus defeated Acro, king of Caenina for the spolia opima; The Horatii's defeat of the Alba Longan Curiatii in the 7th century BC is reported by Livy to have settled a war in Rome's favor and subjected Alba Longa to Rome; Aulus Cornelius Cossus defeated Lars Tolumnius, king of the Veientes in single combat and took the spolia opima. In the 5th century BC; Marcus Claudius Marcellus took the ''spolia opima'' from Viridomarus, king of the Gaesatae, at the Battle of Clastidium (222 BC); and Marcus Licinius Crassus from Deldo, king of the Bastarnae (29 BC). Depictions of single combat also appear in the Hindu epics of the Mahābhārata and the Ramayana. Single combats are often preludes to battles in the Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms and are featured prominently throughout the epic. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「single combat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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