If Celts Or Germanic Tribes Use Of Cavalry

[Germanicus]

If the Celtic or Germanic tribes were to create calvary, I doubt they would use them at the necessary times, in the necessary places. But if they would have gotten calvary the Roman Legions would have slaughtered them.

 

There should be no "if" in this sentence, they had plenty of Cavalry - read the Gallic Wars among other sources.

[caldrail]

Plenty? Now thats interesting and not what I expected. I shall definitely dig into this subject further.

[Pantagathus]

There should be no "if" in this sentence, they had plenty of Cavalry - read the Gallic Wars among other sources.

 

In fact, the evidence shows that the Celts learned much during the 1st Millennium through knowledge transmission from the Steppe folks (Scythians & the like). It appears because of this, when the Celts switched over to calvary from chariots they quickly became more adpt at calvary tactics (& bridal tech?) than the Romans.

 

So, by the time Gaul was absorbed, the primary source of Roman Calvary units seem to have been recruited from there. In other words, it was Celtic calvary fighting the Germanics for Rome...

 

For references check Barry Cunliffe or Stuart Pigott.

[Germanicus]

Lets not forget Caesars use of Germanic cavalry against the Gauls either.

[caldrail]

Well I've skimmed through Caesars campaign against Gaul, and it does turn up some interesting points.

 

The gauls, by and large, were very fond of horses and paid large sums to obtain them. Their cavalry was variable in quality. Taking Caesars allies, the Aeduii, as the reference point we see them set to flight by a formation of gaul horsemen an eighth of their number, and these men used stones as well as javelins. They were bold certainly, but I wonder how things would have turned out if the Aeduii had bothered to put a better fight. I think Caesars allies weren't too keen to leave an easy life extracting tolls from travellers.

 

The germans also had cavalry. They bred their own horses, smaller, uglier, but hardy and obedient. They also developed a curious tactical trick by having a cavalryman/infantryman team work together, sometimes leaving the horses to fight, sometimes allowing the infantry to hitch a ride. This cavalry could operate in conditions the gauls wouldn't, and I wonder how effective this was against Rome.