Late La Tene swords, Celts fighting for Rome...

[Luka Borščak]

Hello people! My first post here on RAT after some reading of the old threads.
I'm thinking of ordering a custom La Tene sword to broaden my sword collection and after some research I decided for a late La Tene sword. I like them because of their great diversity (blade lengths, cross sections, tip shapes, fullers...). Most of the examples I found in the books or on the internet are from Celtic areas north of Alps, still free from Romans. But I wondered about the Celts allied to Rome and who fought for Rome as allies or auxiliaries. Does anybody how did that function? A Celtic tribe allies itself with Rome, it sends few hundreds/thousands warriors to fight with Romans, do they fight under their own tribal chiefs? Do they fight in their traditional manner with their old weapons or Romans impose some kind of standardization and issued weapons to them? What was the difference between allied Celtic troops and auxiliaries (if any)? Northern Italian Celtic tribes were conquered about 200BC, are there swords found from these areas from 2nd and 1st century BC? Were they different than swords from the still independent Celtic areas?
Thanks in advance people!

[Ariovistus]

Typically auxiliaries would be given uniform equipment, not the same as a legionary, but depending on their specialty (i.e., cavalry, infantry, or missile). During Arminius' service in the Roman military he was an officer that led a contingent of Germanic auxiliary cavalry. It would most likely have been done that way (auxiliaries being led by a compatriot) so there would be no discrepancies based on language/cultural views. Celtic auxiliaries would probably have been armed with a gladius for infantry and a longer spatha if cavalry. As for allies, I am not quite sure; I guess it all depends on the scenario. If the Romans were pressed for man power I could see them calling upon local allies (much like the Aedui during the Gallic Wars) for assistance. In that case they would most likely be armed with their native weaponry, such as a La Tene type sword, or given equipment if needed.

Gallic Po River valley tribes (those of Northern Italy) would have had relatively the same style weaponry as their counterparts over the Alps. When they were conquered circa 200 b.c. the Roman army was not quite as standardized as it would once become (the Marian Reforms did not happen until 107 b.c.) so the Gauls that served in the Roman military, if any, would have used whatever they owned; this is why only wealthy Roman citizens were amongst the mounted Equites, they could afford all of the cavalry gear.
Hope that helps.

[Luka Borščak]

Yes, it helps, thanks. Does Ceasar says which tribes fought for him in the Gallic Wars? The cavalry with which he attacked the relieving Galllic army at Alesia from behind, is it known if it was regular auxilia or maybe allied celtic cavalry? Is there a translation of his Gallic Wars somewhere on the internet maybe?
Also, I have seen very late La Tene swords mentioned (1st century AD) still retaining typical celtic stylized hilts, not simplified like auxiliary spatha hilts. Where would such swords still be used in the first century? Eastern European Celts maybe?
A good extensive book recommendation for such questions would be very welcome too.

[Ariovistus]

Caesar mentions several tribes as being "Friends of Rome", with the Aedui foremost amongst these, "Caesar did likewise, sending forward the whole of his cavalry, four thousand in number, which he had raised from the whole of the Province, from the Aedui, and from their allies..."(Book I, [15]). The Roman Province, Narbonensis, was inhabited by many tribes at the time of the Gallic War, the largest of these included: the Volcae, Vocontii, and Allobroges.

During the siege of Alesia much of the cavalry on the Roman side was actually German, these were sent out to meet the enemy head on. Those amongst the 6,000 cavalry, led by Caesar himself, that left the fortifications to take on the relief army was most likely Roman and only the most trusted of their Gallic allies. The Gallic tribes (that were not part of the Province) still allied to Rome at this point in war were only the Remi and Lingones; even the faithful Aedui had gone to the side of Vercingetorix.

I do not know about any full online translations but I do know of some great ebooks in English that you can find on youtube (here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snft290-FRc). When listening it helps to view a map of the geography and tribes/cities so that you know what is going on. I would highly recommend getting a physical copy as well.

La Tene culture (and undoubtedly weapons) remained very prominent through the 1st Century A.D. in Britain. The Claudian invasion of Britain did not begin until 43 a.d. and was never effectively ended. There could have been La Tene style swords in use up until 200 a.d. in the more northern reaches of Britannia. As for mainland Celts, the Boii and Nori were relatively untouched during the Gallic Wars. The Boii were rather peacefully subdued in 8 a.d. and Noricum around 16 b.c.. You must also not forget the extremely far reaching tribes that resided in parts of Germania, Illyria, and even Anatolia.

I am also a member on the forum Kelticos, it is a reenactment and general history site for Iron Age tribes, I would highly recommend you check it out. I think most of your questions about the Celtic peoples would be eagerly answered there.
Glad to be of assistance.

[Luka Borščak]

Thank you, your posts have been very helpful, I'm going to register on kelticos forum too to see what's going on there.
About the "far reaching tribes", it would be bad if I forgot them since I live in the former province of Panonnia. But it seems that these areas were also conquered, some even before Gallic wars, some after. Galatia too. The best candidate for uninterrupted La Tene culture seems to be Przeworsk culture although it's a mix of several cultures and it's hard to say if the people themselves were of Celtic or Germanic stock:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przeworsk_culture
http://www.antiquitas.pl/Antiquitas_Kory...c_eng.html
Btw, if you're interested, you can check out some of the Illyrian/Celtic and Roman stuff found in my country (Croatia) in my album on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/luka.borscak/me...232&type=3

[S. Marcer]

Hello!
On this topic it comes to my mind an interesting and recent book (in french) titled "Armement et auxiliaires gaulois (IIe-Ier siècles avant notre ère (2010)", which offers a renewed vision on the subject of gallic auxiliairies during the Late Roman Republic, with a nice catalog of archaeological finds.
Furthermore, on the late La Tene swords (La Tene D) you can find a large gallery in the volume: “Gewässerfunde aus Port und Umgebung. Katalog der latène- und römerzeitlichen Funde aus der Zihl (2002)”
More generally about the Celts in the Italian peninsula a very valuable job is the article (in french) of T. Lejars " Les Celtes d’Italie" (free pdf).
If you want, you can also take a look at this short thread where was also discussed the Celtic armament between 50BC-1st century AD

I hope this can be useful.

Best

S.M.

[Luka Borščak]

Thank you, everything not on English or Croatia is not very useful for me but that thread was useful, thank you.
Btw, here is an interesting journal I found, lots of interesting articles on it.
http://balkancelts.wordpress.com/

[petar]

According to this, Celts made up circa 25% of the Roman peregrine population:

http://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2012/05...e-balkans/