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Short description

Excellent medium spearmen from the Bellovaci tribe.

Description

The Bellovaci are among the greatest warriors of the Belgae confederation. Due to the remote nature of their homelands, armour is not very common, so these warriors have learned to do without it. By remaining unarmoured like many Belgae, they have honed their abilities of speed, ambush, and stealth to do great deeds in war and in the face of combat. Despite this, they have finely crafted Gallic helmets and shields to bring to battle. They rely upon the javelin to do its deadly work as it flies into the ranks of enemy warriors. After these are used, they will close for hand-to-hand combat most eagerly! These are excellent medium infantry to have present on the battlefield.

As Caesar marched north into Gaul, he first came upon the Remi tribes, surprising them into submission before they could effectively join the other Belgae in fighting against the Roman invasion. Rome was slowly gaining domination of the rest of Gaul and the Belgae viewed this with dread and an underlying feeling that they would be next, like their brothers in other parts of Gaul, to lose their freedom to Roman domination and greed. The Remi informed Caesar of the situation that he would face by marching into the Belgic homelands. They informed him that the Bellovaci were the most numerous of the Belgae and the most influential. According to the Remi, they could send into battle 100,000 warriors and promised that 60,000 would be picked men. The Remi stated it was the Bellovaci that maintained the leadership of this particular rebellion. However, this one particular time, the Bellovaci submitted to the Romans without a fight, and gave up 600 hostages to Rome. However, it was not over for the tribe.

The Bellovaci had the reputation of being the finest soldiers in Gaul, and among the Belgae, the most warlike, while their brothers in the Nervii were considered the most fierce and the best fighters, according to Caesar. The name Bellovaci means, "war slayers," a very terrifying name. During Vercingetorix and his campaign against Rome, it was intended that all of the Gauls should send their full contingents of soldiers to the cause. However, the leaders of the many tribes feared that with so many warriors present that maintaining control over their own tribal contingents would be too difficult, not to mention securing enough grain, corn, and provisions for so many men. This being taken into consideration, each tribe was to send a reduced amount of men. The Bellovaci were ordered to send 10,000, but refused. They were planning on fighting the Romans on their own terms instead. Despite this, the Bellovaci decided to send 2,000 in a gesture of friendship. After Alesia had fallen and Vercingetorix defeated, it could be said that Gaul was all but conquered. But after these events, more revolts would spring up in the wake of that one. The Carnutes soon revolted along with the Bituriges and the Bellovaci. In this particular instance, a leader named Correus led the Bellovaci against Caesar. In their camp, and with the Romans approaching, the Bellovaci created huge fires to screen their retreat, lest they become trapped like Vercingetorix had been earlier. The Roman foraging parties up until this time had been under constant attack by Belgic warriors on foot as well as cavalry. From a prisoner Caesar learned of an ambush in place not far from the Bellovaci position where large stocks of provisions had been kept. This was sure to attract the Roman foraging parties.