Osprey Men-at-Arms 180 : Rome's Enemies (4) : Spanish Armies

On the battlefields of ancient Spain, the Republican Roman army suffered the unpleasant surprise produced by Hispanic tactics with differed considerably from their own hoplite methods. After a great deal of preparatory chanting and ritual dancing, the Celt-Iberians would attack en masse and in apparent disorder. At a pre-arranged signal the attack was halted, and the warriors would retreat, giving an appearance of defeat. This sequence might be repeated over and over again during several days; and each withdrawal obliged the Romans to mount a pursuit, while maintaining their formations. Finally, after several attacks of this kind, it sometimes happened that the Romans lost their discipline - or their nerve - and broke formation to pursue the retreating warriors. At this point the Hispanics would quickly regroup, mounting a counterattack and frequently decimating the legionaries in detail - who, being more heavily equipped and armoured, were less agile in individual combat. Rafael Treviño explores the organisation, tactics, history, arms and armour of Rome's Spanish enemies, accompanied by numerous diagrams, illustrations, museum photographs and eight full page colour plates by Angus McBride.

Contents

• The Peoples of Protohistoric Spain
• Warfare in Ancient Spain
• Chronology
• Impact of the Hispanic Wars on Rome
• The Campaigns of Viriatus
• The Numantine Wars
• Armour and Weapons
• Hispanic Cavalry
• Balearic Slingers
• The Plates