- The Army, Weapons and Fighting -
Marcellus killed Britomarus, the Insubrian leader, at Clastidium (222 Be). It is told
that in the battle Britomarus advanced, and picking out Marcus Claudius Marcellus
by means of his badges of rank, shouted a challenge and brandished his spear. He
was an outstanding figure not only for his size but also for his adornments; he was
resplendent in bright colours and his armour shone with gold and silver.
MERCENARIESIn 369-368 Be some 2,000 Celtic soldiers were hired by Dionysius I of Syracuse and
sent to Greece to help his ally Sparta against Thebes; they received pay for five
months. Celtic mercenaries played an important part in the wars of the western
Mediterranean, in Asia Minor and in Egypt from the fourth century Be; from these
encounters we learn something of the warfare and tactics of the Celts themselves,
even if it is only in comparison to contrasting approaches (Xenophon, Hellenica
VII.I.20; Diodorus Siculus, History XV.7o.I). Pyrrhus with a host of Celtic soldiers
defeated Antigonus of Macedonia and his Celtic followers. Later Pyrrhus captured
Aegae, the cult centre of the royal house and left the Celts to garrison the city. Driven
by their insatiable appetite for money, they dug up the tombs of the rulers and stole
their treasures (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 1.13.2; Plutarch, Pyrrhus 26.6). From
this time on it could be said that no eastern king waged war without Celtic warriors.
Such was the terror of the Celtic name, and so sure the success of their arms that the
kings thought they could not protect their royal power nor recover it, if lost, with-
out the support of Celtic valour. Ptolemy II Philadelphus brought in 4,000 Gauls
(277-276 Be), but he caught them plotting to take over Egypt. He put them on an
uncultivated island where they murdered one another or perished from hunger. In
another unsuccessful campaign the Celts who were serving with Attalus I, King of
Pergamon, became discontented with the hardship of the march, chiefly because they
were accompanied by their wives and children, and refused to go on. Attalus made
all sorts of offers to make them stay, but finally led them back to the Hellespont
(Polybius, Histories v.77-8).
The Carthaginians recruited Celts for their army in Sicily (250-241 Be), and
during the Punic Wars Gauls and Iberians (usually cavalry) fought in all the major
battles of Hannibal. Army leaders of both camps were aware of the fickleness and
treachery of the Gauls. Scipio remembered the perfidy of the Boii. Hannibal,
constantly on guard against attempts on his life, even had various wigs made to give
the impression of a man of a different age (Polybius, Histories 1.43, 67, 77).
To make a list of the mercenary groups and to marvel at the large numbers involved
is easy; to explain how the system, begun by Dionysius of Syracuse in 369 Be and
lasting three centuries, worked is quite baffling. It is important to give an account of
mercenary activity, however, for even if the numbers are widely exaggerated, the
readiness of large bands of warriors to travel over great distances is well recorded
- movements that are for the most part undetected from archaeological evidence.
Mercenary groups such as these must also be among the first where financial gain
rather than political or economic pressures was paramount - with consequential
effects on the economies around them. But they must often have become so detached
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