- The Army, Weapons and Fighting -
emphasis on individual effort, but if the attack failed, it became clear that the Celts
lacked the essential skills of military organization.
The Insubres and the Boii wore trousers and light cloaks, but the Gaesatae, in
their love of glory and defiant spirit, had thrown off their garments and taken
up their position in front of the whole army naked and wearing nothing
but their arms .... The appearance of these naked warriors was a terrifying
spectacle, for they were all men of splendid physique and in the prime of life.
In later times, however, when the Celts were acting as mercenaries, they had to
make some modifications in their dress and movements to fit in with the regulations
of the army in which they were serving. At the battle of Cannae (216 Be) the Celts
were naked from the navel up and the Iberians wore dazzling white linen shirts
bordered with purple. But some Celts in Asia Minor still fought naked, and their
wounds were plain to see, because their bodies were white, never exposed except in
battle (Livy, History xXIl.46 and XXXVIII.2I). Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote in
scorn, 'Our enemies fight naked. What injury could their long hair, their fierce looks,
their clashing arms do us? These are mere symbols of barbarian boastfulness'
(History of Rome XIv.9). But the Celts were fighting naked, not because they were
boastful and arrogant, but in accordance with religious and social customs.
TRUMPETS AND NOISE
The fine order and the noise of the Celtic host terrified the Romans, for there
were countless trumpeters and horn-blowers, and since the whole army was
shouting its war-cries at the same time there was such a confused sound that
the noise seemed to come not only from the trumpeters and soldiers but also
from the country-side which was joining in the echo.
(Polybius, Histories 11.29)
This tactical use of noise is variously described as wild outbursts, hideous songs,
and a thoroughly terrifying sound; in Asia Minor, their yells and their leaping, the
dreadful noise of arms as they beat their shields in some traditional custom was
orchestrated to terrify the enemy. The Carthaginians also, when attempting to cross
the Rhone, saw the Gallic warriors come surging to the bank howling and singing as
was their custom, shaking their shields above their heads and brandishing their spears
(Livy, History 1.J7; XXXVIII.I7; xXI.28).
According to Caesar's description of the Gauls they were no less demonstrative.
'In their usual custom they raised their shout of triumph (ululatus) and broke our
ranks; elsewhere the same words are used in a less triumphant situation when the
Gauls encouraged their comrades with shouts and yells (clamore et ululatu)' (Caesar,
De Bello Gallico v.37; vII.8o). There was also the noise of the trumpeters and horn-
blowers. 'They had trumpets peculiar to them and barbaric in sound: for when they
blew upon them, they produced a harsh sound, suitable to the tumult of battle'
(Diodorus Siculus, History v.30.3). The trumpet (or carnyx) is represented on Celtic
coinage, on classical sculpture, notably at Pergamon in Asia Minor, at Orange, on an53