Caesars Spaniards

[Guest todger of rome]

hello i have question

 

caesar in his invasion of Gaul refers to spanish horse (BG, v.28) this is the only reference to them. do we know of any others he took or other nationalities

 

caesar gives them little credit but being a roman this is no graet surprise. however the gauls he enlists in the conquest behave admirably i see his perpose but surely the spanish played a further role. the leader is after all named and we are told he undertook diplomatic missions.

 

any suggestions would be appreciated

 

yours faithfully

 

Todger of Rome

[Hamilcar Barca]

I'm afraid I don't know that much about the Spanish cavalry in Gaul. The Romans had all sorts of nationalities fighting for them as auxillaries, most of which didn't get credit unless they played a crucial role in victory. But during the latter stages of his Gallic campiagns Caesar made good use of the heavy Germanic cavalry who played a vital role at Alesia. But I think the reason that his Gallic legions got so much credit was because of their contribution to his victory over Pompey at Pharsalus.

[P.Clodius]

Caesar made great use of german cavalry, they constituted the majority during the Galic conquest.

[Primus Pilus]

Caesar used 'Spanish' cavalry in Africa but the translated versions aren't very specific. I'll take a look at the Latin texts to see if I can decipher the actual tribe.