01-27-2011, 02:47 AM
By the time of the civil wars the Greek states had been part of the Roman empire for quite a while, and I doubt whether any would have maintained their own independent armed forces. The Gallic cavalry mentioned by Lorenzo came from outside the empire, and so would have kept their own 'native' dress and equipment. Within the Hellenistic world, Rome had been the paramount military power for several centuries, and the Greek or Hellenistic troops around at the time of Pharsalus would probably, I think, have appeared more or less like legionaries.
A lot of the 'legions' of the civil wars seem to have been pretty ad-hoc affairs, raised very quickly and equipped very cheaply. Unless Sparta and other states really did keep their own armies - or at least their own armouries - then I'd imagine that the majority of their 'allied' forces would be hastily levied men with a couple of javelins, some sort of sword and a shield, trained to fight in Roman fashion.
- Nathan
A lot of the 'legions' of the civil wars seem to have been pretty ad-hoc affairs, raised very quickly and equipped very cheaply. Unless Sparta and other states really did keep their own armies - or at least their own armouries - then I'd imagine that the majority of their 'allied' forces would be hastily levied men with a couple of javelins, some sort of sword and a shield, trained to fight in Roman fashion.
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
