Notes on conflicts

[HobbesACW]

Hi folks, info on some of the conflicts of the period and abridged faction notes from the manual. I thought some might find this useful.

Wars
280-275 BC The Pyrrhic War
A war fought by Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus. Pyrrhus was asked by the people of the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy to help them in their war with the Roman Republic. A skilled commander, with a strong army fortified by war elephants, Pyrrhus enjoyed initial success against the Roman legions, but suffered heavy losses even in victory. Worn down by the battles against Rome, Pyrrhus moved his army to Sicily to instead war against the Carthaginians. After several years of campaigning, he returned to Italy in 275 BC, where the last battle of the war was fought, ending in Roman victory. Following this, Pyrrhus returned to Epirus, ending the war.

279 BC Celtic Invasion of Greece
Gallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a southeastern movement into the Balkan peninsula from the 4th century BCE. Although Celtic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian Basin, there were notable incursions, and settlements, within the Balkan Peninsula itself. From their new bases in northern Illyria and Pannonia, the Gallic invasions climaxed in the early 3rd century BC, with the invasion of Greece. The 279 BC invasion of Greece proper was preceded by a series of other military campaigns waged toward the southern Balkans and against the kingdom of Macedonia, favoured by the state of confusion ensuing from the intricated succession to Alexander. A part of the invasion crossed over to Anatolia and eventually settled in the area that came to be named after them, Galatia.

264-241 BC The First Punic War
For more than 20 years, Carthage and Rome struggled for supremacy, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. The war signalled the beginning of a strategic transformation in the western Mediterranean. Carthage began the war as the great sea-power of the western Mediterranean, while Rome had but a small fleet of fighting ships. Over the course of the war, Rome built up a powerful navy, developed new naval tactics, and strategically used their navy, army, and local political alliances on Sicily in order to achieve a victory that expelled the Carthaginians from Sicily. The First Punic War ended with a treaty between Rome and Carthage.

229–228 BC The First Illyrian War
Rome was concerned that the trade across the Adriatic Sea increased after the First Punic War at a time when Ardiaei power increased under queen Teuta. Attacks on trading vessels of Rome's Italic allies by Illyrian pirates and the death of a Roman envoy named Coruncanius on Teuta's orders, prompted the Roman senate to dispatch a Roman army under the command of the consuls Lucius Postumius Albinus and Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus. Rome expelled Illyrian garrisons from a number of Greek cities including Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra, Pharos and established a protectorate over these Greek towns. The Romans also set up Demetrius of Pharos as a power in Illyria to counterbalance the power of Teuta.

220-219 BC The Second Illyrian War
The Roman Republic was at war with the Celts of Cisalpine Gaul, and the Second Punic War with Carthage was beginning. These distractions gave Demetrius the time he needed to build a new Illyrian war fleet. Leading this fleet of 90 ships, Demetrius sailed south of Lissus, violating his earlier treaty and starting the war. Demetrius' fleet first attacked Pylos, where he captured 50 ships after several attempts. From Pylos, the fleet sailed to the Cyclades, quelling any resistance that they found on the way. Demetrius foolishly sent a fleet across the Adriatic, and, with the Illyrian forces divided, the fortified city of Dimale was captured by the Roman fleet under Lucius Aemilius Paulus. From Dimale the navy went towards Pharos. The forces of Rome routed the Illyrians and Demetrius fled to Macedon, where he became a trusted councillor at the court of Philip V of Macedon, and remained there until his death.

218-201 BC The Second Punic War
The second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic and its allied Italic socii, with the crucial participation of Numidian-Berber armies and tribes on both sides. The war was to a considerable extent initiated by Carthage at Saguntum in Spain and is marked by Hannibal's surprising overland journey and his costly crossing of the Alps, followed by his reinforcement by Gallic allies and crushing victories over Roman armies in the Battle of the Trebia and the ambush at Trasimene. In the following year (216), Hannibal's army defeated the Romans again, this time in southern Italy at Cannae. In consequence of these defeats, many Roman allies went over to Carthage, prolonging the war in Italy for over a decade. Against Hannibal's skill on the battlefield, the Romans deployed the Fabian strategy. Roman forces were more capable in siege warfare than the Carthaginians and recaptured all of the major cities that had joined the enemy, as well as defeating a Carthaginian attempt to reinforce Hannibal at the Battle of the Metaurus. In the meantime, in Iberia, which served as the main source of manpower for the Carthaginian army, a second Roman expedition under Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major took Carthago Nova by assault and ended Carthaginian rule over Iberia in the Battle of Ilipa. The final engagement was the Battle of Zama in Africa between Scipio Africanus and Hannibal, resulting in the latter's defeat and the imposition of harsh peace conditions on Carthage, which ceased to be a major power and became a Roman client-state.

214-205 BC The First Macedonian War
Fought by Rome, allied (after 211 BC) with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against Philip V of Macedon. There were no decisive engagements, and the war ended in a stalemate.
During the war, Macedon attempted to gain control over parts of Illyria and Greece, but without success. It is commonly thought that these skirmishes in the east prevented Macedon from aiding the Carthaginian general Hannibal in the war with Rome.

200-197 BC The Second Macedonian War
Fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. The result was the defeat of Philip who was forced to abandon all his possessions in southern Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor.

195 BC The Laconian War
Fought between the Greek city-state of Sparta and a coalition composed of Rome, the Achaean League, Pergamum, Rhodes, and Macedon. As a result of Roman victory Sparta lost its position as a major power in Greece. Subsequent Spartan attempts to recover the losses failed and Nabis, the last sovereign ruler, was eventually murdered. Soon after, Sparta was forcibly made a member of its former rival, the Achaean League, ending several centuries of fierce political independence.

192-188 BC The Roman–Seleucid War
A conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire. The fighting took place in Greece, the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor. The war was the consequence of a cold war between both powers, which had started in 196 BC. In this period Romans and Seleucids had tried to settle spheres of influence by making alliances with the Greek minor powers. The fighting ended with a clear Roman victory. In the Treaty of Apamea the Seleucids were forced to give up Asia Minor, which fell to Roman allies. As a main result of the war the Roman Republic gained hegemony over Greece and Asia Minor, and became the only remaining major power around the Mediterranean Sea.

181-179 BC The First Celtiberian War
When the Second Punic War ended, the Cartaginians relinquished the control of its Hispanic territories to Rome. The Celtiberians shared a border with this new Roman province. They started to confront the Roman army acting in the areas around Celtiberia and this led to the First Celtiberian War. The Roman victory in this war and the peace treaties established by the Roman praetor Gracchus with several tribes led to 24 years of relative peace.

171-168 BC The Third Macedonian War
Fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman feelings around Macedonia. Tensions escalated and Rome declared war on Macedon. Most of the war was fought in Macedon as well as neighbouring Thessaly, where the Roman troops were stationed. After an inconclusive battle at Callinicus in 171 BC, and several more years of campaigning, Rome decisively defeated the Macedonian forces at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, bringing the war to a close.
Rome's victory ended the Antigonid dynasty and brought an effective end to the independence of the Hellenistic kingdom of Macedon.

168 BC The Third Illyrian War
In 171 BC, the Illyrian king Gentius was allied with the Romans against the Macedonians. But in 169 BC he changed sides and allied himself with Perseus of Macedon. During the Third Illyrian War, in 168 BC, he arrested two Roman legati and destroyed the cities of Apollonia and Dyrrhachium, which were allied to Rome. He was defeated at Scodra by a Roman force under L. Anicius Gallus.

155-139 BC The Lusitanian War
A war of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic. The Lusitanians revolted on two separate occasions (155 BC, and again in 146 BC) and were pacified. In 154 BC, a long war in Hispania Citerior, known as the Numantine War, was begun by the Celtiberians. It lasted until 133 and is an important event in the integration of what would become Portugal into the Roman and Latin-speaking world.

154-151 BC The Second Celtiberian War
One of three major rebellions by the Celtiberians against the presence of the Romans in Hispania. The Roman senate objected to the Belli town of Segeda building a circuit of walls, and declared war. At least three tribes of Celtiberians were involved in the war: the Titti, the Belli and the Averaci. After some initial Celtiberian victories, the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus inflicted some defeats and made peace with the Celtiberians. The next consul, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, attacked the Vaccaei, a tribe living in the central Duero valley which was not at war with Rome. He did so without the authorisation of the senate, with the excuse that the Vaccaei had mistreated the Carpetani. The Second Celtiberian War overlapped with the Lusitanian War of 155–150 BC.

150-148 BC The Fourth Macedonian War
Fought between the Roman Republic and a Greek uprising led by the Macedonian pretender to the throne Andriscus. Pretending to be the son of former king Perseus, who had been deposed by the Romans after the Third Macedonian War in 168 BC, Andriscus sought to re-establish the old Macedonian Kingdom. Andriscus, after some early successes, was eventually defeated by the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus at the Second Battle of Pydna in 148 BC, and the uprising subsequently collapsed. Two years later Macedonia became a Roman province.

146 BC The Achaean War
An uprising by the Greek Achaean League, an alliance of Achaean and other Peloponnesian states in ancient Greece, against the Roman Republic just after the Fourth Macedonian War. Rome defeated the League swiftly, and as a lesson, they destroyed the ancient city of Corinth. The war ended with Greece's independence taken away, and Greece became the Roman provinces of Achaea and Epirus.

135-132 BC The First Servile War
An unsuccessful slave rebellion against the Roman Republic. The war was prompted by slave revolts in Enna on the island of Sicily. It was led by Eunus, a former slave claiming to be a prophet, and Cleon, a Cilician who became Eunus's military commander. After some minor battles won by the slaves, a larger Roman army arrived in Sicily and defeated the rebels.

112-106 BC The Jugurthine War
A war between Rome and Jugurtha of Numidia, a kingdom on the north African coast approximating to modern Algeria. Jugurtha was the nephew and adopted son of Micipsa, King of Numidia, whom he succeeded on the throne, overcoming his rivals through assassination, war, and bribery. The war constituted an important phase in the Roman subjugation of Northern Africa, but Numidia did not become a Roman province until 46 BC. Following Jugurtha's usurpation of the throne of Numidia, a loyal ally of Rome since the Punic Wars, Rome felt compelled to intervene.

104-100 BC The Second Servile War
An unsuccessful slave uprising against the Roman Republic on the island of Sicily.

91-88 BC The Social War
The war was waged between the Roman Republic and several of the other cities in Italy, which prior to the war had been Roman allies for centuries. It was started by the Picentes because the Romans didn't want to give them Roman citizenship so the Italian groups had less rights. The Romans won and committed genocide upon the Samnites but gave most other cities the right to citizenship because they didn't want another war.

89-85 BC The First Mithridatic War
The Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Rome were led by Mithridates VI of Pontus against the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Bithynia. The war lasted five years and ended in a Roman victory which forced Mithridates to abandon all his conquests and return to Pontus.

88-87 BC Sulla's First Civil War
One of a series of civil wars in ancient Rome, between Gaius Marius and Sulla. This was also the first in a succession of several internal conflicts, which eventually led to the dissolution of the Roman Republic and establishment of Julius Caesar as dictator.

83-81 BC The Second Mithridatic War
The second Mithridatic war was fought between King Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman general Lucius Licinius Murena. At the conclusion of the First Mithridatic War, Sulla had come to a hasty agreement with Mithridates that allowed the latter to remain in control of his Kingdom of Pontus, but relinquishing his claim to Asia Minor and respecting pre-war borders. Murena, as Sulla's legate, was stationed in Asia as commander of the two legions formerly under the command of Gaius Flavius Fimbria. Murena invaded Pontus on his own authority claiming that Mithridates was re-arming and posed a direct threat to Roman Asia Minor. After several inconclusive skirmishes, Mithridates inflicted a minor defeat on Murena and forced his withdrawal from Pontus. Peace was restored on the orders of Sulla.

82 BC Sulla's Second Civil War
A civil war fought between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius the younger.

80-72 BC The Sertorian War
A conflict of the Roman civil wars in which a coalition of Iberians and Romans fought against the representatives of the regime established by Sulla. It takes its name from Quintus Sertorius, the main leader of the opposition to Sulla. The war is notable for Sertorius' successful use of guerrilla warfare. The war ended after Sertorius was assassinated by Marcus Perperna who was then promptly defeated by Pompey.

73-71 BC The Third Servile War
Also called The War of Spartacus, was the last in a series of slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Servile Wars. The Third was the only one directly to threaten the Roman heartland of Italia. It was particularly alarming to Rome because its military seemed powerless to suppress it.

73-63 BC The Third Mithridatic War
When Sulla died in 78 BCE, the tentative peace that he maintained started to crumble. Mithridates began building another massive army and started a new campaign to expand his borders. The Roman consuls Cotta and Lucullus prepared for war, with Cotta gathering a naval fleet and Lucullus planning to invade Pontus. The war began and the Romans realized quickly that Mithridates' army was much larger than they anticipated. Cotta was defeated at the Battle of Chalcedon in 73 BCE, but Lucullus' forces arrived in the region soon after, stopping the Pontic advance. Lucullus then went on the offensive, scoring a major victory at Battle of the Rhyndacus River. Mithridates fled back to Pontus, followed by Lucullus. City by city, Lucullus conquered Pontus, forcing Mithridates to flee again to the neighboring territory of Armenia. The war ended in defeat for Mithridates, ending the Pontic Kingdom, and resulted in the Kingdom of Armenia becoming an allied client state of Rome.

58-50 BC The Gallic Wars
A series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes and culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole of Gaul. While militarily just as strong as the Romans, the internal division between the Gallic tribes helped ease victory for Caesar, and Vercingetorix's attempt to unite the Gauls against Roman invasion came too late.

54 BC+ The Roman–Persian Wars
A series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranian empires: the Parthian and the Sasanian. Several vassal kingdoms in the form of buffer states as well as several allied nomadic nations also played a role. The wars were ended by the Arab Muslim invasions, which led to the Fall of the Sasanian Empire and huge territorial losses for the Byzantine Eastern Roman Empire, shortly after the end of the last war between them. Lasting over 680 years, the Roman–Persian War was the longest conflict in human history. Despite this, the frontier remained largely stable.
A game of tug of war ensued: towns, fortifications, and provinces were continually sacked, captured, destroyed, and traded. Neither side had the logistical strength or manpower to maintain such lengthy campaigns far from their borders, and thus neither could advance too far without risking stretching its frontiers too thin.

49-45 BC The Great Roman Civil War
A series of political and military confrontations, between Julius Caesar, his political supporters, and his legions, against the Optimates, the politically conservative and socially traditionalist faction of the Roman Senate, who were supported by Pompey and his legions. Caesar had emerged as a champion of the common people, and advocated a variety of reforms. The Senate, fearful of Caesar, demanded that he relinquish command of his army. Caesar refused, and instead marched his army on Rome. Pompey fled Rome and organized an army in the south of Italy to meet Caesar. His forces later escaped to Greece. The war was a five-year-long politico-military struggle, fought in Italy, Illyria, Greece, Egypt, Africa, and Hispania. Pompey defeated Caesar in 48 BC at the Battle of Dyrrhachium, but was himself defeated much more decisively at the Battle of Pharsalus. The Optimates under Marcus Junius Brutus and Cicero surrendered after the battle, while others, including those under Cato the Younger and Metellus Scipio fought on. Pompey fled to Egypt and was killed upon arrival. Scipio was defeated in 46 BC at the Battle of Thapsus in North Africa. He and Cato committed suicide shortly after the battle. The following year, Caesar defeated the last of the Optimates in the Battle of Munda and became Dictator perpetuo.

42 BC The Liberators' Civil War
Started by the Second Triumvirate to avenge Julius Caesar's murder. The war was fought by the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (the Second Triumvirate members) against the forces of Caesar's assassins Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in 42 BC.

41-40 BC The Perusine War
A civil war of the Roman Republic, fought by Lucius Antonius and Fulvia to support Mark Antony against his political enemy, Octavian. Fulvia and Antony's younger brother, Lucius Antonius, raised eight legions in Italy. The army held Rome for a brief time, but was then forced to retreat to the city of Perusia. During the winter, Octavian's army laid siege to the city, finally causing it to surrender due to starvation. The lives of Fulvia and Lucius Antonius were both spared, but Antonius was sent to govern a Spanish province. Fulvia was exiled to Sicyon.

40-33 BC Antony's Parthian War
A major conflict between the Roman Republic, represented in the East by the triumvir Mark Antony, and the Parthians. Although the campaign ended in distastrous defeat for Antony, the war became a strategic draw when peace was later negotiated by Augustus.

32-30 BC The Final War of the Roman Republic
The last of the Roman civil wars of the republic, fought between Mark Antony (assisted by Cleopatra) and Octavian. After the Roman Senate declared war on the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, Antony, her lover and ally, betrayed the Roman government and joined the war on Cleopatra’s side. After the decisive victory for Octavian at the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra and Antony withdrew to Alexandria, where Octavian besieged the city until both Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide.


Factions
Romans
Legions of this period were theoretically 4,200 strong, consisting of 1,200 hastati, 1,200 principes, 600 triarii and 1,200 lightly equipped velites. Each legion also had 300 cavalry.
Allied alae, which were usually present in equal numbers to legions, were similarly organised but had three times as many cavalry.
Pre-Marius’ reforms of 105 BC a unit of 480 men represents four maniples. Each unit of hastati and principes is assumed to comprise maniples of both types in chequerboard formation.
Post 105 BC legionaries were no longer divided into hastati, principes and triarii, but were uniformly equipped with oval shield, mail, pilum and sword. Maniples were replaced by larger tactical units called cohorts. Each legion had ten cohorts, each of 480 men at full strength.
Hastati originally fought as spearmen, and later as swordsmen. They were originally some of the poorest men in the legion, and could afford only modest equipment—light chainmail and other miscellaneous equipment. The Senate supplied their soldiers with only a short stabbing sword, the gladius, and their distinctive squared shield, the scuta. The hastatus was typically equipped with these, and several soft iron tipped throwing spears called pila. Their usual position was the first battle line.
Principes were spearmen, and later swordsmen. They were men in the prime of their lives who were fairly wealthy, and could afford decent equipment. They were the heavier infantry of the legion who carried large shields and wore good quality armour. Their usual position was the second battle line.
Triarii were the oldest and among the wealthiest men in the army and could afford high quality equipment. They wore heavy metal armor, large shields and were equipped with spears (hasta) and considered to be elite soldiers. Their usual position being the third battle line.
Velites were light infantry and skirmishers who were armed with a number of darts (hastae velitares) to fling at the enemy. They also carried gladii, for use in melee. They rarely wore armour as they were the youngest and poorest soldiers in the legion. They did carry small wooden shields (parma) and wore a headdress made from wolf skin. A number of Velites were attached to each maniple. They were typically used as a screening force, driving off enemy skirmishers and disrupting enemy formations before retiring behind the lines to allow the heavier-armed hastati to attack. They were normally the ones who engaged war elephants and chariots if they were present on the field.

Hellenistic Kingdoms (Macedon, Seleucids, Ptolemaic Egypt etc.)
The Hellenistic kingdoms of this period resulted from the break-up of Alexander the Great’s empire on his early death (323 BC). The mainstay of their armies was the Macedonian pike phalanx, supported by lighter infantry (thureophoroi spearmen, Thracians, and assorted light infantry with bows, javelins or slings), war elephants and excellent lancer cavalry.
The Macedonian Phalanx Developed by King Philip II of Macedon in the 4th century BC, used by his son Alexander the Great to conquer the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the Macedonian phalanx was the invincible infantry of its day. Armed with the 18ft (5.5m) pike (sarissa), the spear points of the first 5 ranks projected beyond the front rank, forming an impenetrable wall of spears. The commonest formation was 16 ranks deep, although other formations were used at times. The Roman victories against Hellenistic armies were mostly a result of the Romans exploiting their more flexible formations to catch the phalanx at a disadvantage.
Thureophoroi carried a large oval shield (thureos), and usually wore a helmet but no body armour or greaves. When fighting in the main battle line, they used an 8ft (2.5m) thrusting spear, with a sword as secondary weapon. Sometimes they operated as euzonoi, substituting javelins for their spears and deploying as skirmishers. Some thureophoroi wore chainmail body armour and were called thorakitai.
Most mercenary infantry in the Eastern Mediterranean during this period served as thureophoroi, who could be used to support the flanks of the pike phalanx.
Xystophoroi fought as charging armoured lancers, rather than using the skirmishing tactics of earlier Greek cavalry.
Cataphracts were the ultimate development of ancient lancers, cataphracts were armoured from head to toe, riding armoured horses.
War Elephants used by the Hellenistic kingdoms, the Carthaginians and even the Romans, were a major feature of warfare in this period. They were feared by all troops, but were particularly effective against cavalry, whose horses they terrified. As well as being hard to obtain and expensive to maintain, they were something of a risky weapon sometimes panicking and disrupting their own troops.
Scythed Chariots used by the Seleucid and Pontic kingdoms were designed to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy. When successful their effect could be devastating. However, they were fairly easy to counter with light foot archers, slingers and javelinmen, who could shoot at the horses while dodging out of the way of the chariots.

Carthaginians
After losing Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica to the Romans in and after the 1st Punic War, the Carthaginians concentrated on expanding their empire in Spain under the command of Hannibal’s father Hamilcar Barca. After Hamilcar’s death in 228, his son-in-law Hasdrubal the Fair took command. He, however, was assassinated in 221, following which Hannibal became commanderin-chief. His siege and capture of Saguntum, a Roman ally in Spain, in 219 triggered the start of the 2nd Punic War.
Carthaginian armies followed neither the Roman nor the Hellenistic system. They did not use a pike phalanx. Instead their armies largely consisted of mercenaries recruited from all over the Western Mediterranean, including Numidians, Libyans, Spanish and Gauls, amongst others. Their heaviest infantry was organised as a spear-armed phalanx. They tended to recruit large numbers of good quality cavalry, usually giving them a cavalry advantage against the Romans. They also used war elephants.

Syracuse
Syracuse, on the south-east coast of Sicily, was founded in the 8th century BC by Greek settlers from Corinth and Tenea. She became the dominant power in eastern Sicily, while (prior to the First Punic War) Carthage controlled the west. The two states were in frequent conflict. In the Second Punic War, Syracuse allied with Carthage against Rome, thus sealing her own fate. After a three year siege, the city was captured and sacked by the Romans in 211 BC. During the siege, Archimedes, the great Syracusan mathematician and engineer, devised various secret weapons that were used in the defence of the city. Archimedes was killed during the sack of the city.
The Syracusan army consisted mainly of conventional Greek hoplite spearmen, supplemented by various mercenaries.

Spanish
The tribes of the Iberian peninsula in this period were divided into three main tribal groupings – Iberians, Lusitanians and Celtiberians. Called scutarii by the Romans because of their large oval shield (scutum), Spanish (Iberian) foot were much sought after as mercenaries or allies by the Carthaginians and Romans. Armed with heavy javelins and sword, their charge was fierce and hard to resist. They were undisciplined when victorious but resolute in defeat, often making desperate suicidal charges or even committing mass suicide rather than surrender when besieged. They were famous for their
mobility over the craggy wooded hills of Spain. They were fond of ambushes and all forms of guerrilla warfare - the Roman pacification of Spain was a long and painful process.
Their skirmishers were called caetrati by the Romans after their smaller round shield (caetra). Their cavalry were few in number but of good quality.
The Celtiberians were of Celtic origin. Their scutarii were similarly equipped to Iberians, but less adept in rough and broken terrain.
Lusitanian foot were all caetrati rather than scutarii, but a proportion at least were equipped for close combat, some even wearing mail.

Numidians and Moors
The ancient Numidians and Moors were semi-nomadic Berber tribes living in North West Africa. The Numidian kingdom was west of Carthage and the Moorish kingdom beyond that.
Numidian and Moorish cavalry and foot fought mainly as javelin skirmishers, in which role they were expert, harassing the enemy with javelins but using superior speed and agility to evade their charges.
They were fond of ambushes and other tricks, and made excellent use of terrain. They were at their best in pursuit of fleeing enemy, but when put to flight themselves would flee for two or three days
before risking stopping.

Celts (Gauls, Ancient Britons and Galatians)
The history of the relationship between Gauls and Rome is one of conflict lasting centuries. In 387 BC the Senones under Brennus defeated the Roman army and sacked Rome itself. This trauma was forever to colour Roman relations with the Gallic tribes. Their infantry usually advanced in good order in close formation, the advance culminating in a fierce massed charge. The bravest warriors, such as the Gaesati, often fought naked apart from their shields and weapons. Gallic infantry mainly fought in close order, often with overlapping shields, and were disadvantaged in rough terrain, but some hill tribes probably fought in looser order in their familiar terrain. Gaesati were a Gallic warrior society. Large Gallic armies were usually coalitions of several tribes. Gallic armies also fielded high quality cavalry, often in large numbers.
The lowland British tribes made much use of their extremely manoeuvrable light chariots, which drove rapidly about the battlefield inspiring terror in the enemy. Their cavalry were lighter than their Gallic equivalents, but were ideal for operating in close cooperation with the chariots. However, the bulk of most armies consisted of foot. Most of these charged fiercely with javelin and sword, but large numbers of slingers could also be fielded, particularly by the south-western tribes. In 54 BC, after an initial defeat, Cassivellaunus sent most of his infantry home and fought a guerrilla campaign against Caesar using his 4,000 charioteers.
The Galatians were a group of Celtic tribes who invaded Macedonia, Greece and Thrace in 280 BC. They were eventually ousted by Antigonos Gonatas of Macedon. Three tribes, the Trocmi, Tolistobogii and Tectosages crossed over to Asia Minor at the invitation of Nicomedes I of Bithynia, who wanted their help against his brother. They proceeded to devastate Asia Minor. They were eventually defeated by the Seleucid king Antiochos I in 273. Following this they settled in central Anatolia, this region subsequently being known as Galatia. In 189 they were defeated by the Romans under Gnaeus Manlius Vulso.
Thereafter their power declined. During the reign of Mithridates VI of Pontus, they came under Pontic hegemony. In 64, following the defeat of Mithridates, Galatia became a Roman client state under the chieftains (tetrarchs) of the three tribes. The tetrarch of the Tolistobogii, Deiotarus, was soon after raised by the Romans to the status of king. He re-organised his army as Roman style legionaries – raising two full legions.

Illyrians
Illyria occupied the area east of the Adriatic Sea and north-west of Greece. The Illyrian tribes were fond of raiding by land and sea for slaves and loot. Unlike most ancient peoples, they armed their slaves, who fought alongside them in battle. In this period the Illyrians fought in formed bodies of spearmen.

Thracians
The Thracians, living in a large area of south-eastern Europe, north and north-east of Macedon and Greece, spent much of their time fighting among themselves. Parts of Thrace intermittently came under rule by the Macedonians and eventually the Romans. In the Hellenistic period many of their foot were armed with the dreaded two-handed rhomphaia, a curved blade with the cutting edge on the inside of
the curve, on the end of a long handle. They also had many light cavalry with javelins or bow, and a few armoured noble cavalry.

Spartacus’s Slave Revolt
In 73 BC Spartacus was one of 70 gladiators who broke out of the school of Lentulus Batiatus in Capua. They then defeated a small force sent to recapture them, taking their arms and armour to add to their arsenal. Over the next few weeks the rebels moved to a more defensible position on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius and many more escaped slaves swelled their ranks.

Jewish Kingdoms
In 167 BC, Mattathias the Hasmonean, a Jewish priest, began a revolt against the Seleucid king Antiochos IV Epiphanes in response to decrees banning Jewish religious practice. His son Judah Maccabee led the Jewish rebels to victory over the Seleucid forces on several occasions, but was killed in the defeat of Elasa in 160. His brothers Jonathan and Simon continued the fight, eventually securing Judaean independence and establishing the Hasmonean dynasty of Priest Kings. The Hasmonean Jewish army largely consisted of Hellenistic-style thureophoroi, supported by light infantry and heavy and light cavalry.

Skythians/Saka
At the start of this period the Skythians/Saka were the dominant nomadic tribes of the Eurasian steppe. Saka was the name given by the Persians to their eastern tribes, including the Massagetae, the Dahae (including the Parni who became the Parthians) and possibly the Yueh-chi prior to their conquest of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom circa 130 BC. Several Indo-Skythian kingdoms were founded in western India in the early 1st century BC. Skythian/Saka armies consisted mainly of horse archers and specialised in skirmishing tactics. As the period continued they were gradually pushed out of their western territories by the Sarmatians.

Sarmatians
During this period the Sarmatians pushed the western Skythians out of much of their territory. At the height of their power, they ruled from the Volga to the Danube. The main strength of Sarmatian armies was their horsemen. Iazygian and Siracae cavalry were mostly lancers by this period, carrying but not making much military use of bows. Scale armour for man and horse was popular, sometimes metal, mainly of horn or lacquered leather. Many Siracae lancers were unarmoured. The Rhoxolani were slow to adopt the lance, most of their cavalry retaining an older style of equipment comprising bow, light spear, wicker shield and leather armour. Some Sarmatian women fought as warriors, wearing the same costume as the men, but with long braided hair. Sarmatian armies could also include a fair number of subject foot.

Parthia
The Parthian Kingdom at its height covered the whole of modern Iran as well as parts of the surrounding regions. Founded in 250 BC by the nomadic Parni (a branch of the Saka Dahae), the kingdom was ruled by the Arsacid dynasty. Parthia expanded east, south and west, taking over the eastern provinces of the Seleucid Kingdom. Eventually it came into conflict with the expanding Roman empire. The Parthians successfully halted Roman expansion in the east, their combination of light horse archers and heavily armoured cataphracts proving more than a match for the legions. The two empires
continued as uneasy neighbours until the Parthian kingdom was overthrown by its Sassanid Persian vassals in 225 AD.

Armenia
The mountains of Armenia allowed the kingdom to maintain its independence from the great empires throughout this period. During the reign of Tigran the Great (95-55 BC), Armenia filled a power
vacuum left by the weakening of the Parthian kingdom by nomad invasions and the collapse of the Seleucids, gaining a short-lived empire including Mesopotamia, Syria and Media-Atropatene. Tigran allowed Mithridates VI of Pontus to seek refuge in Armenia after his defeat by the Romans under Lucullus in 70 BC. The following year Lucullus invaded. He defeated the Armenian army twice but failed to capture Tigran or Mithridates. Mithridates returned to Pontus with 8,000 men. In 66 BC, with a new Roman army under Pompey the Great advancing into Armenia, Tigran capitulated. He was forced to give up his empire, but was allowed to keep his original kingdom, and ruled it as a Roman client. Armenian armies consisted of a mixture of cataphracts, horse archers and large numbers of mountain infantry with javelins or bows.

Indians
Ancient Indian armies consisted of a fourfold division into elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry, in decreasing order of prestige. The elephants and chariotry were formidable, but the cavalry was of no great quality. The vast majority of the infantry were unarmoured archers, although some were instead equipped with javelins and shield.

Cheers,
Chris