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+--- Thread: "De Bello Civili": infantry attacks cavalry. Some (/showthread.php?tid=1282)
"De Bello Civili": infantry attacks cavalry. Some - TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS - 06-22-2004
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In Caesar's "Commentarii De Bello Civili" (III,94), I read that in the battle of Pharsalus (48 BC), the Caesar's fourth line infantry cohortes attacked and defeated the Pompeius' cavalry. Appianus (Bella Civilia II,76), Plutarcus (Iulius Caesar 45 and Cn. Pompeius 69-71) plus Florus (II, 13) tell about the clear Caesar's order to his infantry to use the spears like swords and hit the faces of the enemy cavalry men.<br>
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Now I ask:<br>
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is the Kalkriese cavalry mask (9 AD) the most ancient roman military mask ever discovered?<br>
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If yes, can we assume that the roman Army started to use the masks in combat in the period from 48 BC to 9 AD, due to this new (?) tactics?<br>
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It's hard to believe that those spears were pila (unconfortable for that purpose), I rather believe that they were auxiliary spears, but that was the fourth line of the Caesar's Army, so, why auxiliares were so behind?<br>
<br>
Valete<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
"De Bello Civili": infantry attacks cavalry - Anonymous - 06-22-2004
Plutarch refers to the infantry spears in this case as "hyssoi", an unusual Greek word which seems specifically to mean the pilum - it's the term Polybios uses for the pilum in his detailed account of Roman military institutions, for instance. It is hardly likely to be used for "auxiliary spears" - even assuming such a thing existed in Caesar's day. <p></p><i></i>
Re: "De Bello Civili": infantry attacks cavalry - Muzzaguchi - 06-22-2004
Hi,<br>
<br>
Polyaenus 8.23, if memory serves, states that the reson for this command was that Pompey's cavalry were young, new recruits and therefore worried about recieving scarring wounds to the head.<br>
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It seems more an expedient tactic in the circumstances rather than a new direction in tactics against cavalry.<br>
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Cheers<br>
<br>
Muzzaguchi <p></p><i></i>