Unit Browser for RTR: Imperium Surrectum

Short description

These noble horsemen are heavily armoured and prove their worth in Celtic society by winning battles, sometimes all on their own.

Description

These wealthy noblemen form a heavily armoured and expensive cavalry unit that is very powerful. Carrying spears, helmets and reinforced round shields, they are made up of experienced and influential warriors. Although their numbers may be few, they can turn the tide in many a battle by sheer weight and daring.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Different from the older cultures of the Near East or Egypt, the societies of ancient Western and Northern Europe were (still) very dynamic. As the Greek historian Polybios notes when describing the Celts of Northern Italy at the end of the 3rd century BC: "They treated comradeship as of the greatest importance, those among them being the most feared and most powerful who were thought to have the largest number of attendants and associates. " (Polyb. II, 17, 12). His successor Poseidonios of Apameia, who wrote the Histories after Polybios, adds: "When several (Gauls) dine together, they sit in a circle; but the mightiest among them, distinguished above the others for skill in war, or family connexions, or wealth, sits in the middle, like a chorus-leader" (Athen. IV, p. 152B). Taken together, these two quotes show that Gallic nobles weren't just nobles because their fathers had been nobles, as was the case in medieval Europe. The first reason Poseidonios mentions is their "skill in war", and only then their family and their riches. It was courage in war that won them the supporters and retainers mentioned by Polybios, and as leaders of such warbands, they were considered to be nobles. It obviously also brought them wealth, and the most prized possession men in antiquity could attain was a horse. This was also true for the Galatians, for whom horses were even more important, as they needed to be extremely mobile on their trek through Greece and Asia Minor and their constant raids into the territories of their neighbours. The Galatian nobility had proven their bravery and dexterity as warriors for years and thus became excellent horsemen.