March 07 Essay Entry

[Primus Pilus]

Entry by Julius Ratus

Mercenary_Cavalry_in_the_Caesarian_Pompeian_Civil_War.doc

Ratus___MercenaryCavalry.pdf

[M. Porcius Cato]

If I understand the thesis correctly, participants in the civil wars with Caesar relied on mercenary cavalry at considerable risk to their own side. But didn't Labienus employ an all-mercenary groups of Numdians to almost annihilate Caesar's troops at Ruspina? Had he not removed himself to make way for Scipio (according to Appian's account), the war very likely would have ended in Caesar's defeat right then.

[Julius Ratus]

The mercenary cavalry used in the civil wars were a rather hit and miss proposition. Labienus' Numidians were a very potent force. I wrote:

 

Appian says that Caesar

[M. Porcius Cato]

At Pharsalus, Labienus used cavalry from all over the Eastern Mediterranean, and not to very good effect. Pompey put too much faith in his cavalry wing and it cost him dearly. They were defeated by Caesar's legionaries, using their Pila as spears, not their proper use at all.

 

I always thought that the pila-strategy sounded fishy, particularly the notion that Caesar told his troops to stab at the faces of the young cavalry-men, who--being young and valuing their looks--were particularly vulnerable to the tactic. To me, that sounds utterly ridiculous.

[Julius Ratus]

At Pharsalus, Labienus used cavalry from all over the Eastern Mediterranean, and not to very good effect. Pompey put too much faith in his cavalry wing and it cost him dearly. They were defeated by Caesar's legionaries, using their Pila as spears, not their proper use at all.

 

I always thought that the pila-strategy sounded fishy, particularly the notion that Caesar told his troops to stab at the faces of the young cavalry-men, who--being young and valuing their looks--were particularly vulnerable to the tactic. To me, that sounds utterly ridiculous.

 

I agree, the part about them attacking the faces to damage their looks sounds rather bizarre, but the tactic itself is plausible. While I find the thought of the Legionaries making a phalanx with pila to be fanciful at best, the pilum gave far better reach than the gladius would have, allowing the foot soldiers to stab up at the cavalrymen.

 

One important point to consider when looking at this tactic is, the cavalry formations were not a dense as they would be with knights or Napoleonic cavalryment. The lack of stirrups would have made it difficult to use cavalry as shock troops, rather they were for harrying. Cavalry were generally supposed to chase off other cavalry and then attack the flanks or rear of the enemy formation, disrupting it. Labienus' cavalry did chase off Caesar's cavalry at Pharsalus, but Caesar was expecting this. When the Pompeian horse broke through the Julian cavalry, they ran into the front end of a formation of foot troops who were waiting for them.

[Gaius Octavius]

Cavalry were also used to 'follow up' after an infantry victory.

 

If the pila were used to get at the faces of the enemy, then, perhaps, it was to teach a lesson to future enemies.