I think Livy's bigger picture of his first books are reliable, but the ity-gritty details are something I'm always sceptical of. So no, I'm not throwing away all of his work, I'm just questioning what is questionable.
And yes I agree that primary sources are more important than secondary, which is why I find Dion. and the archaeological more reliable. Livy is not a primary source in this case.
Scutum have been in use inside Italia since the Villanovan culture (arguablly the birth of the scutum), and many variations throughout the peninsular would have appeared since then.
Dion. actually has evidence to back him up (frescos, pottery art), Livy just has himself. Like I said, the only represenation of the shield Livy describes was found in Etruria. Nothing has been found in Samnium yet except for hoplon, rim-less circular shields, and thureos.
I'm not saying Livy's shield is fantasy, I'm saying it didn't exist at the time that's relevant to us (Samnite Wars to the early 3rd C BCE).
Well that's fine, because this isn't my profession...... Is really not professional
At the end of the day, I don't care if I convince you or not, because I can accept the fact that there's very little facts about the ancient words, when compared to theories. I can accept the fact that not everyone is going to agree with me, and I'm fine with other people having their own opinions too. I'm just sharing my views here, and if you disagree I'm not going to complain fyi, you're not convincing me either