From their Celtic neighbours, Raetian warriors adopted iron swords and bronze or iron helmets. In the grave field at Pfatten near Bolzano, Italy dated to the fourth-third century BCE, one Raetian man was buried along with his helmet, which survives to this day.189 The base of the helmet has a diameter of 22.5 centimetres (8.9 inches), with an attached short neck protector at the rear, like the Montefortino helmet. The top of this helmet ends in a knob-like ornament typical of Gallic protective headgear of the time. Attached to this knob of another surviving example of this type of helmet from Ciumesti, Romania is a bronze bird whose wings are hinged so that they flapped as the rider galloped on his horse.190 Another iron helmet design from Giubisaco, Ticino, Switzerland, resembles a bowler hat with a wide brim around the entire base.191 A raised ridge above the brim both reinforces the helmet as well as taking the shock of an initial glancing blow to the side of the head. With the large cheekplates attached, the design gave the wearer good protection from strikes to the head without sacrificing forward vision or hearing. These helmets demonstrate the superb talent and innovative craftsmanship of Iron Age metalworkers using basic tools. In fact it was superior to the technical ability of many contemporary Roman armourers who seem to have studied Celtic armour in developing and refining their own.
The most common offensive weapon was the spear or javelin, which Strabo says they called the madaris and Diodorus Siculus reports they called the lancia.192 Siculus mentions that it was a cubit and longer in length.193 The archaeological evidence confirms a wide range of different types of spears, ranging from ones with broad leaf shape 500 millimetre (19.7 inches) long blades to others with narrower and shorter 100 millimetre (3.9 inches) blades.194 A spear could be thrown over distance in a volley when joined with other combatants, as well as thrust or swung in a sweeping arc during close-quarters combat.
Those that could afford them – or won them through combat – owned a long iron sword.195 It was worn in a wooden scabbard hanging from a chain belt on the right side.196 Surviving examples attest to a very high level of craftsmanship in the forging of the iron. Early swords (450–250 BCE) were typically 0.74 metres (2.4 feet) long but narrow and suited to cutting and thrusting, while the later models (250–50 BCE) were 0.66–0.68 metres (2.17–2.23 feet) long and broader.197 Both had rounded ends. Polybius notes that the sword was better suited to cutting and not thrusting.198 By the time of the Alpine and Norican Wars the typical Celtic sword had shrunk to just 0.55–0.57 metres (1.80–1.87 feet) in length but now had a pointed end.199 The hilt was made by sliding a fashioned bulb of wood or iron over the tang to form the handguard, attaching a length of wood or bone or metal for a handgrip, and a boss or pommel at the top to lock the components in place. A ‘V’-shaped flared pommel with rounded ends was a popular design and was often decorated with molded or engraved detail often picked out in enamel.
Arrows and slings were also part of the Celtic warrior’s armoury.200 Triangular profile tanged arrow heads forged of iron have been found in France including the hill-fort of Alésia and we know from Caesar’s account that Vercingetorix placed archers among his cavalry, presumably to provide covering fire as they approached their opponents.201 Slingers hurled moulded clay shot or stones with great accuracy and over short to medium distances with lethal effect.
The Iron Age Celts had earned a formidable reputation for the quality of their horses and horsemanship. Strabo remarks that their cavalry was better than their infantry and on account of their skill they were considered the best mercenary mounted troops Roman money could hire.202 Indeed, knowing a good thing when he saw it, Hannibal employed Celto-Iberian cavalry in his own army against Rome at Cannae in 216 BCE.203 Iulius Caesar also employed Gallic cavalry throughout his campaigns in the region. There is some debate, however, based on an account by Polybius that Celtic cavalry was actually infantry that arrived on the battlefield on horseback but then dismounted and continued to fight on foot.204 Another hypthesis is that after charging the enemy line and unleashing their weapons Celtic riders sometimes dismounted to rest, but quickly remounted and rode away if they came under direct attack themselves.205 Pausanias the Greek travel writer of the second century CE describes the Galataean cavalry noting that each cavalryman was assisted by two grooms, a combat unit which he calls a trimacisia after the Celtic word marca for horse.206 The assistants stood ready behind the ranks to provide a fresh horse when their rider returned, and in the event he was wounded or slain in action one groom might take the place of the cavalryman while the other ward carried the fallen warrior back to safety.207 Of course individual warriors and tribes likely developed their own fighting styles which they adapted to circumstances or the competence of their opponents.
Celtic and Roman riders shared a key technology in common and that was the same basic design of saddle. It comprised of a sturdy curved wooden frame over which stout leather panels were stitched together and large pommels in each of the four corners were attached.208 Stirrups were not part of the equipment. Instead by pressing his thighs against the front pommels, the rider was able to sit securely and lean forward or backwards as needed to carry out any required manoeuvre.
Celtic riders took great pride both in their own appearance and that of their animals. Horse harnesses were often decorated with embossed silver discs, or the horse-bits were picked out with rich enamel detail in the fluid artistic style beloved of their culture. For protection, a cavalryman wore a helmet and mail shirt and carried a flat oval or hexagonal shield. His panoply of offensive weapons was the same as the infantryman’s – a spear or lance and a long slashing sword. While cavalry could be deployed in an opening attack, it proved its value when running down footsoldiers fleeing from the battlefield, such as when Celtic mercenaries chased down a force of Arcadians fleeing from the Spartans in the 360s BCE.209 By the time Drusus engaged the Raeti, the use of the two-wheeled chariot on the battlefields of Central Europe, for which the Celts had once been famous, was long a thing of the past.210
Flag standards, which hung like Roman vexilla – from a cross bar on a spear – as well as animal standards, embroidered with emblems such as a boar, were used to lead bands of warriors into battle.211 To relay signals and to rouse men’s spirits, musicians used an instrument called a carnyx, which was a long trumpet with a bell in the form of an animal’s head.212 The trumpet was held upright so it towered above the instrumentalist and was played both individually and in bands but was noted for its harsh sound.213
Celtic battle tactics of the Alpine tribes were dictated by the landscape as much as by technical skill and involved ambushes and massed cavalry and infantry charges. In the ensuing melée men proved their valour and skill in hand-to-hand combat and in this close-up and personal struggle the battle was lost or won. What they lacked in strategy and technology compared to the Roman invaders, they made up for in other ways. Velleius Paterculus, himself a soldier who served with Tiberius, stated that the tough Alpine peoples had much working in their favour, namely the nature of the country, difficulty of access, strength in numbers and the ferocity of their savagery.214
Military Operations
Drusus was heading north with his army towards the Alps. Visible and audible for miles, the Raeti had already detected his approach and rallied their forces. A detachment of Raeti warriors was dispatched and engaged him “near the Tridentine mountains” writes Dio.215 These mountains were named after the nearby city of Tridentum (Trento).216 It was some 230 kilometres (142.9 miles) northwest of Aquileia, and located on the River Adige (Athesis).217 The city lay in a wide glacial valley just south of the Dolomites, where the Fersina and Avisio rivers join the Adige. Ridges of mountains majestically surround the valley, three of them each over 2,000 metres (6,561.7 feet) high.218 From their steep slopes and the cover of trees and bushes the Raetian warriors launched their attacks using height and cover to their advantage to throw spears or roll rocks down upon the invader (plate 16). To frighten their enemy and make their numbers seem larger and more
threatening and embolden the spirits of the defenders, Celtic fighters exploited the terror induced by noise. They shouted war cries and sang songs with unsettling melodies and rhythms or songs of victory (ululates).219 As they chanted, the warriors beat their weapons against their shields and their trumpeters and horn players sounded harsh, discordant blasts on their carnyxes. The cacophony echoed menacingly across the valley floor. Some men leapt and waved their spears as they shouted in their excitement or agitation. The standard bearers lifted up their emblems high in the air so that their comrades could see them. When the signal was given, the warriors charged down the hillside hoping to overwhelm their opponent using speed and momentum to their fullest advantage.
On the march the Roman army moved in columns (acies), with legions marching in parallel or a single long line, depending on the perceived threat level.220 Between 35 and 11 kilometres (27.7 and 6.8 miles) or up to 3 hour’s ride ahead of the main body, exploratores carried out reconnaissance duties (exploratio).221 They would normally be the first to detect hostile activity and report back to the commander with their field intelligence. Drusus could then quickly analyse the situation, consider his options and issue the orders to respond and line up ready for battle. The relatively wide valley floor below suited the Roman mode of fighting and it allowed the commander to deploy his legionary cohortes and mounted alae as well as auxiliary cohorts in any of several well-rehearsed battle formations. The Romans had perfected a tactical doctrine developed over years of combat with a host of different enemies that combined the weight of massed formations with the balletic precision of individual war fighters (bellatores). Flawless execution was achieved through a rigidly enforced cult of discipline (disciplina) and unquestioning obedience (obsequium) to commands.222 On the battlefield, a legion typically deployed its cohorts in two rows of five (duplex acies).223 The first cohort took up its positon in the far right front row, with cohorts two to five in sequence to its left, while cohort six stood ready behind it, with cohorts seven through ten standing to its left. If space was confined, such as in a narrow pass, a legion could deploy in three rows (triplex acies).224 The legionary cavalry would normally occupy the left and right wings. If used, auxiliary units might be deployed in front of the legion as at Mons Graupius in 84 CE where they won the battle even before the regular legionaries – whose cohorts were arranged in a single row (acies simplex) standing in reserve – could get a taste of blood.225
If the Romans’ front line had failed to deflect the Raeti, the attack would next be borne by the main body. Time allowing, Drusus would have spoken to his troops by riding past their ordered lines and addressing the different units in turn. Speaking to the men before battle was normal practice for a commander to exhort the men and instil confidence as Caesar did at Thapsus in 46 BCE.226 Typically commanders addressed their troops as ‘comrades’ (commilitiones) but Suetonius records that Augustus felt the term “to convey the idea of a degree of condescension inconsistent with military discipline, the maintenance of order and his own majesty, and that of his house” preferring to call them instead ‘soldiers’ (milites) and he insisted that his stepsons who held military commands follow suit.227 Then the order for battle was given by the calls of the officers with a shrill flourish of the bronze instruments of the cornicenes and precise and practiced motioning of the glittering standards of the signiferi.
It was the moment Roman soldiers trained for. A legionary carried both a light and heavy pilum. In open order, he was trained to throw these in volleys as the enemy approached. Throwing the pila en masse increased the probability of kill over an uncoordinated ‘firing at will’. Once unleashed, a legionary closed ranks and lined up with his commilitiones in a wedge formation (cuneus). Each was responsible for the safety of his frater beside him. The legionaries would unsheath their gladii, raise their curved shields up to eye-level to protect their upper bodies, and charge. The momentum of the massed formation of wood and iron and the speed of the charge would smash through a disorganised enemy line. In the ensuing hand to hand combat the legionary used the domed shield boss to punch his opponent and the gladius as a bayonet to thrust forward and up, aiming for the chest or armpit, belly or groin. The mêlée was noisy as men shouted and trumpets sounded; claustrophobic as the men behind pushed forward the men in front; and terrifying as sharpened steel sliced and thrust at every turn. Discipline was the Romans’ password to victory. The Raetian warriors fought with fire in their hearts and courage in their spirits, thrusting their spears and slashing with their long swords. Men on both sides suffered horrible wounds. Unless pulled free and attended to, those not killed outright would be left to writhe in agonizing pain or to be trampled beneath the feet of men and hooves of horses and to bleed to death. The foul stench of blood and gore as men opened their bowels in shock and desperation quickly filled the air. A Roman soldier who fell might be quickly decapitated and his bloodied head carried away by his Celtic slayer for bragging rights.228 Severed heads were literally worth their weight in gold.229 Yet, despite their advantages of terrain, greater numbers and steely courage, the relatively lightly armed fighters of Raetia were finally no match for the soldiers of Rome and their confident attack quickly turned into a rout.230 Casualties are not disclosed in the extant sources.
This was Drusus’ first victory. He must have thrilled at the thought of it and relived it many times in those first weeks of campaigning. But there was little time to celebrate. Drusus may have won a battle, but there was a war to win. Drusus then gave the order to march north following the direction of the valley. Some 60 kilometres (37.3 miles) north of Tridentum the valley divides into two passes known today as the Brenner and Reschen Passes. Drusus may have split his forces here.231 The course of the future via Claudia Augusta (fig 1), however, suggests Drusus chose the Reschen Pass (Passo di Resia or Reschen-Scheideck), which was formed by the waters of the Adidge (Etsch) River.232 The alternative route via the Brenner Pass is comparatively the less steep at 1,370 metres (4,494.8 feet) above sea level at its highest and the easiest of the few accessible Alpine passes, but it is narrower for much of its length.233
The Reschen Pass rises over the Main chain of the Alps connecting the Inn River valley in the northwest with the Tyrolean Vinschgau Valley – in Italian called Val Venosta after the local tribe of Venostes – in the southwest.234 Conveniently for Drusus an ancient path or trackway followed the route along the course of the Adige River trodden by generations of travellers for part of the journey (map 2). Drusus was the first Roman to establish a permanent crossing over the Adige at the place which henceforth became known as Pons Drusi – ‘Drusus’ Bridge’ – nowadays called Bolzano.235 From this point to the foothills of the Schwäbisch-Bayerisches Alpenvorland, the Reschen Pass forms a navigable, meandering corridor of approximately 160 Roman miles along which it was possible to move men and matèriel.236 At Merano the pass swings southwest but the elevation suddenly rises from approximately 350 metres (1,148.3 feet) to 750 metres (2,460.6 feet) at Silandro (Schlanders). The pass then swings north but begins to narrow as it rises to the highest point at Reschen, 1,504 metres (4,934.4 feet) above sea level. While the Pass on the southern side was wide and smooth for most of its length – ideal for marching legionaries and their pack animals – the northern side had a narrow and steep bottleneck, nowadays called the Finstermünzpaß (1,188 metres, 3,897.6 feet elevation), which would dramatically slow down their advance. However, having reached the highest point, Drusus’ advance would be expedited by the 64 kilometre (39.8 miles) downward descent towards Imst. At that point, the route then veers steeply up again towards Fernpass, rising 400 metres (1,312.3 feet) to its peak at 1,212 metres (3,976.4 feet) in just 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) distance. Indeed, Polybius characterised all the passes traversing the Alps as “excessively precipitous”.237 Here Drusus may have divided his forces into two with one following the course of the Inn River (Aenus) and the other tracking the Lech (Licates, Licus).
Roman troops faced the ascent up the vall
eys and crossing their streams without the benefit of military roads and bridges. Hobnailed boots often slipped on the rocky ground and grass when wet; and laden down with 30 kilogrammes (66.1 pounds) or more of arms, armour and heavy equipment on their shoulders and backs, the steep slopes would have been exhausting work for the Roman infantry. It would have been particularly challenging for the carts (vehicula), which hauled the supplies essential to provisioning the army.238 An army on campaign could only carry enough food for about 15 days and it was expected to forage from the local surroundings to supplement and replenish supplies.239 To haul provisions, heavy equipment and the artillery the Roman army relied on vehicles with iron-rimmed wheels. They used the two-wheeled wagon pulled by oxen (plaustrum), the two-wheeled cart pulled by mules, and the four-wheeled wagon drawn by mules (carrus).240 Mules were also used to carry contubernium tents.241 While all animals could feed off the land to some extend, quantities of fodder nevertheless had to be carried. One estimate is that an ala with 560 horses each required between 560 (1,234.7 pounds) and 1,680 kilogrammes (3,703.8 pounds) of barley, and 5,600 kilogrammes (12,345.9 pounds) of hay each year.242 Carrying this volume by wagon or pack animal was impractical, so wherever possible river transportation was used to ship provisions and matèriel. A four-wheeled wagon could carry between 430 kilogrammes (948.0 pounds) and 650 kilogrammes (1,433.0 pounds) of product compared to 35 metric tonnes in a small flat-bottomed barge measuring 20–34 metres (65.6–111.5 feet) long and 3–4.5 metres (9.8–14.8 feet) wide.243 The ability to use river craft on the Adige for at least part of the journey may have swayed Drusus’ decision to take the Reschen rather than the Brenner Pass.244
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