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Battle Of Bibracte
The Battle of Bibracte was fought between the Helvetii and six Roman legions, under the command of Gaius Julius Caesar. It was the second major battle of the Gallic Wars. Prelude The Helvetii, a confederation of Gallic tribes, had begun a total migration of its peoples in March of 58 BC. This alarmed the Romans and began the Gallic Wars. Julius Caesar was the governor of Transalpine Gaul, and by the time of battle had between 24,000 and 30,000 legionary troops, and some quantity of auxiliaries, many of whom were themselves Gauls. He marched north to the river Saône, where he caught the Helvetii in the middle of crossing. Some three-quarters had crossed, but he slaughtered those who had not. Caesar then crossed the river in one day using a pontoon bridge. Next, he followed the Helvetii, but refused to engage in combat, waiting for ideal conditions. Negotiations were attempted, but Caesar's terms were draconian (likely on purpose, as Caesar may have used it as a delaying tactic). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homelands against an aggressive Roman campaign. The Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole of Gaul. Though the Gallic military was as strong as the Romans, the Gallic tribes' internal divisions eased victory for Caesar. Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix's attempt to unite the Gauls under a single banner came too late. Caesar portrayed the invasion as being a preemptive and defensive action, but historians agree that he fought the Wars primarily to boost his political career and to pay off his debts. Still, Gaul was of significant military importance to the Romans. Native tribes in the region, both Gallic and Germanic, had attac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legio VII Claudia
Legio VII Claudia (Claudius' Seventh Legion) was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. History According to H.M.D. Parker, the first legion Julius Caesar raised for his campaigns in Cisalpine Gaul was the Seventh; the numbers 1-4 were omitted by custom because the first four legions were under the direct command of the consuls. The Roman commander mentions the Seventh in his account of the battle against the Nervians, and it seems that it was employed during the expedition through western Gaul led by Caesar's deputy Crassus. In 56 BC, the Seventh was present during the Venetic campaign. During the crisis caused by Vercingetorix, it fought in the neighborhood of Lutetia; it must have been active at Alesia and it was certainly involved in the mopping-up operations among the Bellovaci. Legio VII was one of the two legions used in Caesar's invasions of Britain, and played a crucial role in the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. At one point Caesar's Legio VII was disbanded, and it ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Delbrück
Hans Gottlieb Leopold Delbrück (; 11 November 1848 – 14 July 1929) was a German historian. Delbrück was one of the first modern military historians, basing his method of research on the critical examination of ancient sources, using auxiliary disciplines, like demography and economics, to complete the analysis and the comparison between epochs, to trace the evolution of military institutions. Delbrück's writings are chiefly concerned with the history of the art of war, his most ambitious work being ''Geschichte der Kriegskunst im Rahmen der politischen Geschichte'' ("History of Warfare in the Framework of Political History" in four volumes, third edition published in 1920). Other works are ''Die Perserkriege und die Burgunderkriege'' (The Persian and Burgundian Wars, 1887), ''Die Strategie des Perikles erläutert durch die Strategie Friedrichs des Grossen'' (The Strategy of Pericles Described Through the Strategy of Frederick the Great, 1890) and ''Das Leben des Feldmarschall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see things at great distance as if they were nearby was also called "Strabo". (; el, Στράβων ''Strábōn''; 64 or 63 BC 24 AD) was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Life Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus (in present-day Turkey) in around 64BC. His family had been involved in politics since at least the reign of Mithridates V. Strabo was related to Dorylaeus on his mother's side. Several other family members, including his paternal grandfather had served Mithridates VI during the Mithridatic Wars. As the war drew to a close, Strabo's grandfather had turned several Pontic fortress ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Asinius Pollio (consul 40 BC)
Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 BC – AD 4) was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic, and historian, whose lost contemporary history provided much of the material used by the historians Appian and Plutarch. Pollio was most famously a patron of Virgil and a friend of Horace and had poems dedicated to him by both men. Early life Asinius Pollio was born in ''Teate Marrucinorum'', the modern current Chieti in Abruzzi, central Italy. According to an inscription his father was called Gnaeus Asinius Pollio. He had a brother called Asinius Marrucinus, whom Catullus calls out for his tasteless practical joke, whose name suggests a family origin among the Marrucini. He may therefore have been the grandson of Herius Asinius, a plebeian and a general of the Marrucini who fought on the Italian side in the Social War. Pollio moved in the literary circle of Catullus, and entered public life in 56 BC by supporting Lentulus Spinther. In 54 he unsuccessfull ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orosius
Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), then capital of the Roman province of Gallaecia, which would have been the capital of the Kingdom of the Suebi by his death. Although there are some questions regarding his biography, such as his exact date of birth, it is known that he was a person of some prestige from a cultural point of view, as he had contact with the greatest figures of his time such as Augustine of Hippo and Jerome of Stridon. In order to meet with them Orosius travelled to cities on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, such as Hippo Regius, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. These journeys defined his life and intellectual output. Orosius did not just discuss theological matters with Augustine; he also collaborated with him on the book '' City of God''. In addition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lingones
The Lingones (Gaulish: 'the jumpers') were a Gallic tribe of the Iron Age and Roman periods. They dwelled in the region surrounding the present-day city of Langres, between the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica. Name Attestations They are mentioned as ''Língōnes'' (Λίγγωνες) by Polybius (2nd c. BC), ''Lingones'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), Pliny (1st c. AD) and Tacitus (early 2nd c. AD), ''Díngones'' (Δίγγονες) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), and as ''Lóngōnes'' (Λόγγωνες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD). Etymology The Gaulish ethnonym ''Lingones'' literally means 'the jumpers'. It derives from the stem ''ling-'' ('to jump'), itself from the Proto-Celtic verbal base ''*leng-'' ('to jump'; cf. Old Irish ''lingid'' 'he jumps'), extended by the suffix -''on-es''. The name could be interpreted as 'good at jumping (on horseback)', or else as 'the dancers'. The city of Langres, attested ca. 400 AD as ''civitas Lingonum'', is named after the Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orgetorix
Orgetorix was a wealthy aristocrat among the Helvetii, a Celtic-speaking people residing in what is now Switzerland during the consulship of Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic. Planned migration In 61 BC, he convinced the Helvetians to attempt to migrate from Helvetian territory to southwestern Gaul (modern-day France). He was also party to a clandestine arrangement with Dumnorix of the Aedui and Casticus of the Sequani to seize control of their respective tribes by arms and between them rule most of Gaul. The conspiracy was denounced, Orgetorix was called to a hearing in chains before the government of the Helvetii. He arrived with a small army and was released but died mysteriously in a rumoured suicide. The Helvetians went on with their plans for migration but were defeated in 58 BC and returned by Julius Caesar. The incident was the beginning of the Gallic War in which Caesar subjugated Gaul. Etymology Julius Pokorny segments the name '' rgeto-rix'' in which the first element ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilum
The ''pilum'' (; plural ''pila'') was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about long overall, consisting of an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by either a socket or a flat tang. Design A ''pilum'' had a total weight of between , with the versions produced during the earlier Republic being slightly heavier than those produced in the later Empire. The weapon had a hard pyramidal tip, but the shank was sometimes made of softer iron. The softness could cause the shank to bend after impact and so render the weapon useless to the enemy. Some believe that the ''pilum'' was not meant to bend after impact but that bending came from improper handling/removal of the weapon when it became stuck in an object. If a ''pilum'' struck a shield it might embed itself, the bending of the shank would force the enemy to discard his shield as unusable without removing the ''pilum'', which would be t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legio XII Fulminata
Legio XII Fulminata ("Thunderbolt Twelfth Legion"), also known as ''Paterna'', ''Victrix'', ''Antiqua'', ''Certa Constans'', and ''Galliena'', was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was originally levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, and the legion accompanied him during the Gallic Wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the beginning of the 5th century. The legion's emblem was a thunderbolt (on a shield '' fulmen''). In later centuries it came to be called commonly, but incorrectly, the ''Legio Fulminatrix'', the Thundering Legion. History Under the Republic The Twelfth legion, as it is perhaps better known, fought in the Battle against the Nervians, and probably also in the Siege of Alesia. The Twelfth fought at the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC), when Caesar defeated Pompey. After Caesar won the civil war, the legion was named ''Victrix'', and enlisted in 43 BC by Lepidus and Mark Anthony. Mark Anthony led the Twelfth, ren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legio XI Claudia
Legio XI Claudia ("Claudius' Eleventh Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The legion was levied by Julius Caesar for his campaign against the Nervii. XI ''Claudia'' dates back to the two legions (the other was the XIIth) recruited by Julius Caesar to invade Gallia in 58 BC, and it existed at least until the early 5th century, guarding lower Danube in Durostorum (modern Silistra, Bulgaria). History Founding and Service in the Late Republic Legio XI Claudia, along with Legio XII Fulminata, was a Roman Legion levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC in Cisalpine Gaul, for his war against the Nervii. They likely were present at the Siege of Alesia. After his campaigns in Gaul, civil war broke out between Julius Caesar and Pompey, both of whom were triumvirs, and in January, 49 BC, Caesar invaded Italy with Legio XI serving in his army. They fought in 48 BC at Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus, but were disbanded in 45 BC and settled in Central Italy around the area of Bovianum Undec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Infantry Tactics
Roman infantry tactics refers to the theoretical and historical deployment, formation, and manoeuvres of the Roman infantry from the start of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The focus below is primarily on Roman tactics: the "how" of their approach to battle, and how it stacked up against a variety of opponents over time. It does not attempt detailed coverage of things like army structure or equipment. Various battles are summarized to illustrate Roman methods with links to detailed articles on individual encounters. The original Roman army was made up of ''hoplite''s, whose main strategy was forming into a ''phalanx''. By the early third century BCE, the Roman army would switch to the maniple system, which would divide the Roman army into three units, ''hastati'', ''principes'', and ''triarii''. Later, in 107BCE, Marius would institute the Marian reforms, creating the Roman legions. This system would evolve into the Late Roman Army, which utilized th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
