Caesar\'s Auxillaries

[Q Rutilius]

I am not sure what topic to post this under, but since it concerns historical tactics I will post it here.<br>
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Do we know where Caesar (or other generals of the late republican era) tended to place their auxillaries in the battleline?<br>
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I play GMT's SGBoH and the archers and slingers are generally palced in front of the legions in a long thin line with huge gaps between each unit. This has got me to thinking. Would the Romans do this all the time? Why not attach the archers to the legions, ie a certain number of archers would be placed to support a particular legion? Or, why not place the auxillaries on a flank that may need to be beefed up?<br>
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This is not a gaming question. Rather, playing a game has got me thinking about tactics of the era.<br>
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So I guess my question can be summed up as: where did Caesar (and other generals) put his auxillary missle troops? <p></p><i></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Skirmishers in a long thin line up front are the traditional deployment, providing a screen for the rest of the army to shake out into their proper formation, then withdrawing through the gaps in the line.<br>
Browsing through Le Bohec's <em>César. Chef de Guerre</em>, auxiliaries - besides cavalry - seem rare. It may well be that Caesar didn't find them all that interesting to talk about, giving pride of place to the legions, except when they stood out for one reason or another.<br>
I see here in the report on the battle of Thapsus, that archers and slingers were posted behind the legions on the wings, to counter cavalry and elephants. Without doubt, Caesar mentions them there because they have a specific role against the greyskins.<br>
<p>Greets<br>
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Jasper</p><i></i>

[Q Rutilius]

Jasper:<br>
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That's exactly what I was thinking of. It makes sense to put the auxilliaries out front in a long thin line. I'm not so sure that it makes sense to assume that they did it that way every single time. And you're right, Caesar does not talk about his auxilliaries very much. <p></p><i></i>

[Crispvs]

He doesn't mention his tribunes or supply column much either but we can be sure he had them.<br>
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Crispvs <p></p><i></i>

[JRSCline]

I disagree somewhat, insofar as "mentioning" goes. In the <em>Gallic War</em>, Caesar spends many pages relating his problems with forward logistics, his resourcing of corn, his dispatch of forage parties, winter quartering, etc. One of the remarkable (and underappreciated) achievements of Caesar's campaign is how successfully he was able to operate in unfamiliar territory and unsupplied (or at best, minimally supplied) conditions.<br>
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See Jon Roth's <em>Logistics of the Roman Army at War</em> for more on Roman log ops.<br>
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Cheers,<br>
Jenny <p></p><i></i>