Cavalry in ancient Hispania

[Lion.Kanzen]

 

Origin.

The expansion of the horse, which began around 2000 BC in the Eurasian steppes, ended precisely in the Iberian Peninsula when two opposing currents and two opposing horses were mixed. Curiously, it was not Indo-European horses that first arrived in Hispania from the Pyrenees, but Berber horses.

In the 13th century BC several Berber tribes arrived in the south of the peninsula, bringing with them Libyan horses, i.e. a cross between the great Aryan horse and the hardy Mongolian horse, which therefore retained the predominant characteristics of the latter. All classical authors (Mela, Pliny, Silius, etc.) coincide in their description: great height (1.55 m), proportionate body, beautiful subconvex head and ugly haunches (due to its drooping croup, unknown at that time in Europe), resistant and very brave, qualities highly valued by the Romans, who preferred it to the Italic.

 

The primitive settlers of the southwestern peninsular developed a rich culture known only by the name of its capital, Tartessos. Their exploitation of the mineral deposits of Huelva and their wealth materialized in splendid gold jewelry attracted Phoenician traders who founded the colony of Gades (Cadiz) around 1000 BC. Later they would found other factories in Malaka (Malaga), Sexi (Adra), Ebussus (Ibiza) and Kart Hadash (Cartagena).

 

The Turdetans knew the war chariot, as demonstrated by the remains found in Toya (Jaén), the biga model of Santa Elena and the relief of Cigarralejo (Murcia).

 

Thanks to the good climatic conditions in the south of the peninsula, horses prospered rapidly, and their numbers increased notably thanks to the contribution of Numidian specimens during the Punic Wars. Although they shared origin and, therefore, genetic traits, having developed for a millennium in different habitats, the Turdetan had more class, greater volume, more strength, more agility and better aesthetics. After crossing with the convex specimens brought by the Vandals, and with hypermetric Danish specimens imported in the 16th century, it gave rise to a 1.60 m horse whose ultra-convex profile was fortunately and systematically modified through crosses with the rectilinear Arabian until the current Andalusian horse was obtained.

 

 

Levantine painting shows innumerable scenes of archers and horses, to the point that many historians, believing them to be contemporary to those of Altamira, consider the Iberian Peninsula to be the cradle of both. Those of the Sautuola shelter in Nerpio stand out for representing in great detail what Brodrick considers to be the typical Spanish occupation: the civil war. Among the equestrian ones, the horseman with Greek helmet of Gasulla (Castellón) stands out that, probably, it was not but the representation of a foreign warrior made by an astonished native, in a similar way to those made by the pre-Hispanic Patagonians.

 

The progressive knowledge of the Indo-European invasions and colonizations minimized the role of the Mediterranean substratum in the Iberian civilization, but today it is known that this was the result of a process of acculturation carried out by continuous contacts with Greek traders. They began to arrive around 575 BC to the coasts of Levante from Masilia, founding the commercial colonies of Emporium (Ampurias), Akra Leuke (Alicante) and Hemeroskopeion (Denia), with Cape La Nao as a natural border with the Phoenician-Carthaginian area of influence.

 

As with the Celtic, the Iberian does not respond to a differentiated ethnic concept, but only to a geographical area occupied by peoples with a common culture, differentiated from the Celtic of the northwest and the Turdetan of the south. In fact, they consumed their energies in fighting each other, which is why they were so easily conquered by the Carthaginians and Romans despite the courage they later showed as mercenaries of both.

 

Hired as mercenaries both by the Carthaginians and, later, by the Romans, the Iberians achieved well-deserved fame. The Iberian horseman wielded, not emblazoned, a round, small and somewhat concave shield called caetra, of Celtic origin, which was usually carried hanging on the horse's right back. At later dates it was replaced by the scutum, larger and circular in shape. The typical Iberian helmet was made of leather, but thanks to trade with Greece, Corinthian models with crescent crests or purple plumes were introduced, with or without cheeks. The scarce remains of metallic breastplates are of doubtful ascription, being more probable that they were made of leather.

 

The lance (soliferrum) was made of a single piece of metal with a hexagonal or rectangular section, but was not used by the horsemen as the stirrup was unknown. Instead, they used the javelin (falarica), which had a square section tip and a fir shaft three feet long, each warrior carrying a large number of them. Generally, they used them with flamed and flaming points to disorganize the enemy and force him to get rid of his shield after the first volley, putting him at a disadvantage in the melee. The sling was also widely used, especially in the Balearic Islands, but there is no record that it was used by horsemen.

 

However, the offensive weapon par excellence was the falcata, a saber with a single curved edge, long and sharpened tip, and a closed hilt with animalistic shapes. It is believed that it was brought to the West by the Etruscans and to Iberia by the Tartessians, although very similar pieces have also been found in Greece and Macedonia. They were built with iron pieces that would have resisted rust after being buried for two to three years. Secondarily, a short dagger (kopis), the double axe (bipennis) and throwing maces (cateia) were used. The large number of falcatas found shows that their use was widespread among the Iberians, with no difference in hierarchies.

 

The Iberian statuary presents notable examples of horsemen, highlighting the one from Bastida de Mogente (with a large crest), the two from the Coll de los Jardines and the three from the sanctuary of La Luz. In the sanctuary of Cigarralejo 56 statuettes of horses and 21 of mares with their foals have been found. They present complete bridles adorned with bangs, tassels and metal pieces, petral, reins, bits and the primitive Iberian saddle or ephippion, consisting of a simple leather, wool or vegetable fabric cover, held by a girth and, in many cases, with a pad on the withers to hold the reins and thus leave the hands free for combat. However, the Palencia rider offers the only representation of an authentic saddle from this period. Many bronze spurs have been found in Numancia, Sorba, Mataró, Archena, Jaén, etc., being well represented in the paintings of Liria. Thanks to the excavations of the Marquis of Cerralbo in Anguita, we know that horses were already shod in Hispania around the 4th century BC, while in the classical world this practice was not generalized until two hundred years later.

Celts.

The first European culture to enter the Iberian Peninsula was that of the Urn Fields, which spread through Catalonia around 1250 BC, apparently coming from Lausatia (Poland). There are no grave goods because the cremation rite was imposed, but in some deposits of weapons found in rivers appear short bronze swords with central ribbing and reed hilt, as well as helmets and shields that combined bronze with wood. Curiously, the settlements of this culture were mostly in valleys and lacked walls, which gives an idea of a more or less peaceful agricultural society.

 

Around 1050 BC the first tribes of the Hallstatt culture began to arrive, extending along the Atlantic coast up to the mouth of the Guadiana, where they made contact with the Tartessians. From then on they settled in forts located in places of easy defense and with walls disproportionate to the number of dwellings. To protect themselves from enemy cavalry they had a moat and a surface of driven stones. All this gives an idea that their settlement was not peaceful or that their tribes fought against each other for the possession of the land. Strabo defined them as

 

mountain people accustomed to banditry, sober, with long hair that they girded with diadems to fight, they bathed in the cold water of rivers and lakes that they navigated with their leather skiffs, they drank beer and fed on goat meat.

Their most characteristic weapons would be the heel axe and an iron sword, of about 40 cm, with hilt in the form of antenna. From 750 BC they were replaced by the long swords of the La Téne type, manufactured with such a perfected technique that the Roman legionaries copied them for their gladius hispaniensis. The knives have a blunted back. The typical shield was concave of leather and braided ribs, circular in shape and with a convex metallic umbo in the center, rings and clamps. According to Strabo, they used a helmet with three crests but, in the end, the European pointed helmet prevailed.

 

The Celts brought with them their chariots pulled by ponies, of smaller height but very resistant to fatigue. They were ellipometric horses (1.25 m tall), with small, flat heads, short ears, strong croup, abundant hair, long manes, dark brown coats and no mirrors on the hindquarters (like donkeys). Its most genuine descendants are the Basque-Navarrese jaca and the Asturcón. They spread along the Cantabrian coast and all the Atlantic coast up to the mouth of the Betis (Guadalquivir). The stelae from Extremadura and Portugal reproduce Celtic chariots, generally with four wheels, open at the back and with a lance for two horses. As in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, the spoked wheel is reserved for the war chariot, while the transport wagon retains the solid ones.

 

Epona was also venerated in Spain, as attested by an inscription on the front of the church of Paramio (Zamora) which reads: DVERIA EPPONE RITIS, possibly from the second century AD, and which could refer to the contributions that the people of the lands of the Duero had to make to pay for the rites in honor of the goddess. This inscription has the particularity that it presents the name of the goddess with a double P, which does not happen with other inscriptions in the Iberian Peninsula.

Roman Hispania.

In 1908, the act of granting citizenship to a group of Iberian horsemen for their valiant performance in the battle of Asculum against the Marsos (89 BC) was discovered in the Capitol.

 

Other Hispanic contingents served in Britannia, Pannonia, Noricum, Illyria, Dacia, Syria, Cappadocia, Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica and Mauretania, at the rate of about 7,000 recruits per year. More than a hundred cohorts and numerous alae bore ethnic names of Celtic peoples, while the Turdetans and Iberians, more Romanized, were directly included in the legions. Numerous funerary stelae scattered throughout the Old World recall these unknown Hispanic soldiers who watered distant battlefields with their blood.

 

Many of them achieved fame and fortune although, in numerous occasions, they also served as hostages to avoid the uprising of their towns of origin. Although according to Polybius they were especially valuable in the guerrilla and in the skirmish, when the legion was in difficulties they did not hesitate to put foot to earth and to fight next to the infantry, like primitive dragoons.

 

It is especially interesting a fragment of the Tactics of the Greek Arrian about an equestrian exercise practiced by the Cantabrian horsemen and that was known in Rome as Cantabricus Impetus. It deserved the praise of Hadrian in a harangue to praise the Cohors II Hispaniorum Equitata, encamped in Numidia. Arrian describes two squadrons armed with javelins advancing in a line in opposite directions until they formed a circle. From there each rider was to throw his javelin at the center of the opposing shield, without wounding either the rider or the horse. In this first exercise known as "real fire", not only the skill of the throw was rewarded, but also the serenity of the person who received the impact.

 

As a result of the mixture between the Libyan and Celtic horses, another one called celdón or fieldón was produced. Of intermediate height (1.40 m), it used to be shod and corded, with a large head, subconvex profile, narrow chest, large hooves, very resistant and apt for draught, especially for its tendency to the carrying or walking gait (trepidarii). From the Meseta it was exported to the Italian circuses, displacing the Cisalpine horses in chariot races. Sometimes confused with the asturcón because the Romans believed them to come from Astúrica, its most direct representative would be the Galician jaca (not to be confused with the homonymous pony). Donkey and mule cattle were also important during the Roman period, with Menorcan hinnies standing out for their quality, size and strength.

 

The embouchures used at that time in the peninsula were very similar to the current ones of fillet and sticks. There have also been found some "flavored" that refreshed the mouth and stimulated salivation, highlighting the one found in Almedinilla (Córdoba) currently in the Archaeological Museum of Madrid. From the Roman period, the beds in the shape of an openwork wheel with a diameter of 55 mm, decorated with legends and crowned by a trapezoidal ring for fastening to the head are outstanding, especially those found in Fontaneda (Portugal) and Pedrosa de la Vega (Palencia).

 

Source:

http://caballipedia.es/La_caballería_en_la_Hispania_antigua

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Lion.Kanzen

[Lion.Kanzen]

https://www.honga.net/totalwar/rome2/faction.php?l=en&v=rome2&f=rom_turdetani

It seems to me that horseback units are missing in the Iberians

@Thorfinn the Shallow Minded

Sword cavalry and spear cavalry.

The Lancer I don't know from what source you got it, it has no historical context.

[Lion.Kanzen]

@soloooy0

Necesito ayuda con la caballería Ibera.

Necesito saber cuáles unidades usaban espada.

 

Ayer mientras jugaba en mi mod estaba viendo que no tienen caballería de espada ni de lanza, pero trae una de choque de dudosa procedencia.

[Lion.Kanzen]

Cavalry 

Iberian peninsular cavalry was particularly renowned. Chronicles continually extol Spanish horses, describing them as fast, strong and well tamed. They were accustomed to climb mountainous roads, easily leaving behind their Italic homologues, and were also taught to obey their owners and wait for them if dismounted in midst of the battlefield. This was a custom of Ilergete and Celtiberian cavalrymen, as they often dismounted to fight on their feet at a possible tactical necessity, relegating their mounts as ways to retreat quickly.[2] Another tactic favored in Hispania saw riders carrying a second warrior in their horses, who they would deploy to form contingents of footsoldiers before extracting them from the battlefield the same way.[2] Others would use shock troops tactics, wearing armor and wielding spears and heavy shields.[6]

 

Spanish horsemen worked as mercenaries first by Carthage and later by Rome. During the Second Punic War, riders from Celtiberia, Lusitania and Vettonia were used by Hannibal as heavy cavalry, in stark contrast to the more famed Numidian skirmishing cavalry.[6] Livy compared them favorably against the Numidians, stating that Spanish riders were "their equals in speed and their superiors in strength and daring".[9] Among them is mentioned a unit from the Celtiberian city of Uxama, whose riders wore helmets with jaws of beasts to scare their enemies away.[10] Due to their performance at the battles of Trebia and Cannae, Livy would even state that Hispanic cavalry was superior to any other in the war.[2][4] This eventually led the Roman military to ask for their own horsemen to the Celtiberian cities under their domain, using them to counter their Carthaginian homologues and exerting psychological warfare on them.[11]

 

After the Punic Wars and the Roman conquest of Hispania, Roman military acquired peninsular horses and riders as auxiliaries. Particularly famous examples are found in the late alae quinquagenaria, which contained three Astur Ala Asturum forces, two Arevaci Ala Arevacorum and a famed Vetton contingent named Ala Hispanorum Vettonum.

[Lion.Kanzen]

@Duileoga necesito ayuda con la caballería de la antigüedad.

@Genava55

I need Celtiberian references

[Lion.Kanzen]

the celtiberan cavalry was used and even used heavy infantry shields.

 

https://europabarbarorum.fandom.com/wiki/Iberi_Equites_Scutarii_(Iberian_Medium_Cavalry)

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Lion.Kanzen

[Yekaterina]

@Lion.Kanzen Would you like me to do something about this?

Do you want me to make an Iberian Sword cav unit and a chariot for them?

[Genava55]

2 hours ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

I need Celtiberian references

 

de Frías, M. S. (2010). Sobre algunos textos clásicos referentes a la caballería de los celtíberos y al simbolismo de sus armas. Gladius, 30, 137-154.

227-Texto del artículo-233-1-10-20110202.pdf

+

https://www.academia.edu/729176/_Aristocratic_riders_and_the_appearance_of_a_true_cavalry_in_the_Iberian_Iron_Age_to_copnceptually_different_ambits_in_Spanish_Aristócratas_a_caballo_y_la_existencia_de_una_verdadera_caballería_en_la_cultura_ibérica_dos_ámbitos_conceptuales_diferentes_

Edited June 4, 2021 by Genava55

[Lion.Kanzen]

10 minutes ago, Yekaterina said:

@Lion.Kanzen Would you like me to do something about this?

Do you want me to make an Iberian Sword cav unit and a chariot for them?

If Yekaterina, according to what I read, these people had better cavalry than the Romans.

 

And more varied, they had cavalry of sword and very light spear cavalry.

[soloooy0]

2 hours ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

@ soloooy0

Necesito ayuda con la caballería Ibera.

 

lo busco este fin de semana, que he tenido una subida de trabajo importante

[Yekaterina]

24 minutes ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

If Yekaterina, according to what I read, these people had better cavalry than the Romans.

 

And more varied, they had cavalry of sword and very light spear cavalry.

Let the Iberian sword cav have attack values between a standard Athenian sword cav and a Roman Consular bodyguard then?

Let their spear cavalry have insane speed and very little armour? 

[Lion.Kanzen]

2 hours ago, soloooy0 said:

lo busco este fin de semana, que he tenido una subida de trabajo importante

Ayúdame a leer el PDF de Genava.

 

Yo voy estar fuera de la ciudad.

[Lion.Kanzen]

2 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

Let the Iberian sword cav have attack values between a standard Athenian sword cav and a Roman Consular bodyguard then?

Let their spear cavalry have insane speed and very little armour? 

Read the first post, mixing horse breeds sounds very interesting.

They probably have a lot of HP and strength.

 

[Lion.Kanzen]

2 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

Let the Iberian sword cav have attack values between a standard Athenian sword cav and a Roman Consular bodyguard then?

Let their spear cavalry have insane speed and very little armour? 

I wish there could be 2 ginets at the same time as it says below.

They carried 2 horsemen at a time to transport troops.

[soloooy0]

On 5/6/2021 at 4:46, Lion.Kanzen said:

Ayúdame a leer el PDF de Genava.

 

Yo voy estar fuera de la ciudad.

lo mas importante esta subrayado, las lanzas mas ligeras pero afiladas y el uso de 2 soldados a caballo y como mantenían el caballo atado al suelo, asi como el uso de estribos y puñales dentro de los escudos 

227-Texto del artículo-233-1-10-20110202 (1).pdf