Did Barbarians lack common sense teamwork tactics (I distract him,you backstab him)?

[Nathan Ross]

"I duel this Roman Legionnaire" while other Celt warriors sneak behind him and cut the Roman soldier from behind.

Ancient battles were not mass brawls (although they often appear that way in movies!) - when you have several thousand armoured troops with shields in close formation four or eight men deep, every man trained to protect the soldier beside or in front of him, it's pretty difficult to sneak up behind anybody!

But the 'barbarians' (of whatever sort) were not crazed berserkers either - even if Roman historians tend to describe them that way... Except in cases of rout, when every man is trying to save himself, men in close combat will instinctively bunch together for mutual protection and assistance. So even relatively untrained men, armed with shield and spear, will tend to adopt a form of rudimentary small-unit tactics, rather than just flinging themselves at the enemy.

Close combat was exhausting, and probably rather brief and sporadic, with the lines clashing and then drawing apart to regroup and rest before clashing again. Once one or other side broke formation, the fight turned into more of a general slaughter. On the rare occasions when it was Romans who broke first (and it did happen - the legions were not invincible), then doubtless individual legionaries could find themselves surrounded and outmatched by several barbarians at once. But that would not be the usual pattern of battle.

There have been a number of studies and hypotheses about what might have happened on the ancient battlefield. You might be interested in this summary of recent theories:

http://www.garyb.0catch.com/intro_update...pdate.html