- Chapter Four -
The flamboyant helmets of the first phases of La Tene are well known, but
the practical weapons of Late La Tene are part of a warrior panoply that is less
frequently described. Iron helmets, for example, from Port bei Nidau (Bern),
Giubiasco (Ticino) and Novo mesto (Slovenia) (Schaaff 1974; 1980; 1988: 302-9) have
stout neck protection and practical cheek-pieces. The weaponry of the warrior burial
from Grave 169 at Novo mesto has been reconstructed by Andre Rapin (Figure 4.3),
a researcher whose illustrations of Celtic warriors has done much to inform recent
work in France; Rapin has kindly brought the illustrations up to date in the light of
his research on sword-belts and using the evidence of the helmet from Smarjeta-Vinji
(also in Slovenia). The cheek-pieces of such helmets, and doubtless the crests, retain
some of the decorative ideals of earlier types, but there is no doubt that these are
pieces of defensive armour appropriate to the grim reality of the battlefield. It is to
the armourers' credit that aspects of the design were adopted in the Roman legionary
helmet of the first century AD.
The famous Waterloo Bridge helmet dredged from the Thames in 1868 demon-
strates that pieces of parade gear still had a place in the first century BC in eastern
England (Megaw 1970: 170). The bronze head-piece, decorated in repousse
and applied roundels of red enamel or cupric glass, is a unique piece of flamboyant
headgear like that from La Gorge Meillet, and it is unfortunate that it has found such
a firm place in many popular reconstructions of British warriors. The helmeted heads
on the bucket from Aylesford in Kent, however, surmounted with luxuriant
crescentic crests, may serve to illustrate how illusory any search for the norm may
be (Megaw 1970: I 19-20).
CELTIC HORSEMANSHIP
Prowess in horsemanship is difficult to evoke from the archaeological record alone;
certainly bridle bits and harness fittings show a love of finery and display. Spurs are
shown on the Gundestrup Cauldron. It is as horsemen that Celtic warriors made
their greatest impression on classical authors. 'The whole race of Gauls is madly fond
of war,' writes Strabo (Geography IV.4.2). 'Although they are all fighters by nature,
they are better as cavalry than as infantry.. .. The best of the Roman cavalry is
recruited from among them.' Another tribute comes from Plutarch: 'The Gauls
are particularly formidable at fighting on horse-back and they are reputed to be
excellent in this arm above any other' (Marcellus 6).
According to Pausanias there was at the time of the Celtic invasion of Greece a
certain cavalry exercise called trimarcisia (marca is the Celtic word for a horse). It
involved three horsemen, a chieftain and two grooms. The grooms would stay
behind ready to supply their master with a fresh horse if his were wounded; one
groom would take his place if he were injured or killed, and the other would take
him back to camp if he were wounded. The idea behind this was to keep the number
of their horsemen complete (279 BC) (Pausanias, Guide to Greece x.19).
At the battle of Ticinus the Roman javelin-throwers fled, terrified by the approach-
ing charge and of being trampled underfoot by the horsemen. The cavalry forces met
head-on and soon so many had dismounted that it became a mixed action of cavalry