11-25-2016, 08:06 PM
(11-25-2016, 05:52 PM)Bryan Wrote: What did Caesar do when he wanted to lead flagging infantry? He got off his horse, grabbed an infantryman's scutum, and moved to the very front of the ranks, exhorting and leading by example. And he usually needed to do this only after the centurions and standard bearers were all casualties.
It's worth quoting that passage:
Gallic Wars 2.25: ...all the centurions of the fourth cohort were slain, and the standard-bearer killed, the standard itself lost, almost all the centurions of the other cohorts either wounded or slain... having therefore snatched a shield from one of the soldiers in the rear (for he himself had come without a shield), [Caesar] advanced to the front of the line, and addressing the centurions by name, and encouraging the rest of the soldiers, he ordered them to carry forward the standards, and extend the companies, that they might the more easily use their swords. On his arrival, as hope was brought to the soldiers and their courage restored, while every one for his own part, in the sight of his general, desired to exert his utmost energy, the impetuosity of the enemy was a little checked.
Very clear evidence here that the centurions, at least in this period, all fought at the front, and if a senior commander (Caesar in this case) wanted to give orders he would go to the front line to do it, not try and shout from the rear.
This and the other bits of evidence (Polybius and Vegetius) provide, I think, good enough proof that centurions fought at the front - that was where they were expected to be, that was where they were most effective, and they would need a very good excuse to be anywhere else!
Nathan Ross
