01-03-2019, 02:07 AM
I've read on the Battle of Allia and apparently a major cause of defeat was the fact that the Gauls were yelling out terrifying war screams that played a major role in breaking the Roman Phalanx.
However this was before the Marian reforms and was at a time when the Romans were farmer-soldiers so this did not surprise me.
However I also read years after the Marian reforms, when the Roman Legions were confronted with the Gauls and other "Barbarians" there are descriptions of Roman soldiers shaking in fear at the initial phases of the battle when the Barbarians were yelling out their fierce war cries.
In some cases Roman Legions were paralyzed according to various stuff on the internet that they cannot move or maintain ranks.
I am curious what makes hordes of screaming Barbarians so scary to even train soldiers like the Romans? Modern military standards would consider the thoughts of fearing an enemy force simply because it screams and yells so much as a mark of poor discipline!
Its not just Ancient Warfare. I have read of the "Rebel Yell" that the Confederate Infantry would use. Granted they were trained and organized as opposed to the Barbarian Hordes, but I'm really amused why Union soldiers would be terrified of this tactic well in fact more dangerous things were taking place like bullets were being fired.
So what make warscreams so scary that they could lower morale and even make entire units collapse?
However this was before the Marian reforms and was at a time when the Romans were farmer-soldiers so this did not surprise me.
However I also read years after the Marian reforms, when the Roman Legions were confronted with the Gauls and other "Barbarians" there are descriptions of Roman soldiers shaking in fear at the initial phases of the battle when the Barbarians were yelling out their fierce war cries.
In some cases Roman Legions were paralyzed according to various stuff on the internet that they cannot move or maintain ranks.
I am curious what makes hordes of screaming Barbarians so scary to even train soldiers like the Romans? Modern military standards would consider the thoughts of fearing an enemy force simply because it screams and yells so much as a mark of poor discipline!
Its not just Ancient Warfare. I have read of the "Rebel Yell" that the Confederate Infantry would use. Granted they were trained and organized as opposed to the Barbarian Hordes, but I'm really amused why Union soldiers would be terrified of this tactic well in fact more dangerous things were taking place like bullets were being fired.
So what make warscreams so scary that they could lower morale and even make entire units collapse?
