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Short description

Auxiliaries from Gallia, armed with spears and javelins and carrying large oval shields.

Description

The Emperor Augustus' reforms of the Roman army resulted in the creation of the Auxilia cohorts that were recruited from the free non-citizens (or "peregrini") of the Empire. These were needed to add extra manpower to the Imperial army but at a far lower cost than a legion of citizen-legionaries. The auxilia were recruited from every corner of the empire, and their unit names usually reflect the tribe or area from which they came. The auxiliary cohorts were either "quingenaria" ("five-hundred-strong") or "milliaria" ("one-thousand-strong"), which were 480 men, and 800 men strong respectively. Though some units were recruited especially as light troops, skirmishers, or archers, most units of auxilia were heavy infantry that fought in much the same way as their legionary counterparts.

The Romans' first foray into Gaul occurred in 121 BC, when Rome entered into negotiations with the Greek colony Massalia (modern Marseilles) concerning the construction of a road through Massalian territory from Italy to their now significant holdings in the Iberian Peninsula, to facilitate trade and troop transport. To this end, they negotiated the purchase of a small strip of land along the southern Gallic coast, and in return they would protect Massalian territory from Gallic raids. Rome had been trading with the wealthy city for quite some time, and the Massalians were encouraged by the prospect of Roman and Italian merchants visiting their city as they travelled between Hispania and Italia. The Massalians therefore agreed to the bargain. Thus was the Roman province of Gallia Transalpina ("Gaul beyond the Alps") born. Within this small strip of land, however, not only did the Romans build the road that they required, but they also founded the city of Narbo Martius (modern Narbonne, from which, the name of this part of Gaul, "Gallia Narbonensis" would be derived), in 118 BC. This city became a trading competitor with Massalia, but Massalia was still a wealthy city until it sided with Pompey and the Senate during the Civil war and was taken by Caesar.

This new province outside of the protection of the Alps was referred to by the Romans as "Provincia Nostra" ("Our Province") or simply "Provincia" ("The Province") as it was Rome's first foray into Gaul beyond the Alps, and involved the foundation of a city rather than the annexation or conquest of a pre-existing settlement. For protection, the Romans relied not only on legionaries but troops from local allied tribes to protect their province - the Aedui were amongst Rome's most loyal allies in this regard, as well as some troops from Massalia as well.

By the time Julius Caesar was granted governorship of Gallia Transalpina in 58 BC, when the previous governor, Metellus Celer, unexpectedly died, he was well placed to repay the huge debts that he had accumulated during his rise through the ranks of the Senate. As a member of the First Triumvirate, along with Gnaeus Pompey Magnus, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, he had already secured an unprecedented five years of governorship in Gallia Cisalpania and Illyricum, and with them, four veteran Spanish legions - Legiones VII, VIII, IX, and X. Caesar had already commanded these troops with distinction during his governorship of Lusitania in 61 BC, and knew that he could rely on them. He also had the authority to raise legions and levy auxiliaries as he saw fit to defend his provinces. He used troops from tribal allies as well as the traditional auxiliary troops that accompanied the legions, such as Cretan archers and Balearic slingers, and he also recruited Germanic troops from across the Rhine to provide him with a loyal bodyguard of shock cavalry and some light infantry as well. However, he was not averse to recruiting Gauls into his legions. In one instance, Caesar created Legio V from Gallic volunteers in Gallia Transalpania. This legion was nicknamed "Alaudae" or "The Larks" because of the distinctive crests on the soldiers' helmets. What made this legion remarkable is the fact that none of its members were Roman citizens. Though the Gallic troops were given citizenship upon enlistment, it was a controversial move, and several more conservative Senators strongly objected to it. This would, however, not be the last time that Gauls were brought into the Roman army.

Over the next seven years, Caesar and his troops succeeded in conquering all of Gaul, in a war that he proclaimed merely to be pre-emptive defence of the Republic. Most historians agree, however, that he was simply looking for money and glory, things that his Gallic campaigns brought in truly staggering amounts. Caesar was also the first Roman to bridge the river Rhine - long seen as the dividing line between the Celts of Gaul and the Germanic tribes east of the river. Back in Rome, this feat of engineering was praised as much as the fact that Roman troops had actually invaded Germania. Caesar was also the first Roman to land in Britain - he invaded twice, in 55 and 54 BC. Despite Vercingetorix's heroic rebellion in 52 BC, within a year, Roman authority in Gaul was absolute. The revolt was crushed at the Siege of Alesia in the same year, and though there were sporadic rebellions until mid-1st century AD (including during the Batavian Revolt of 69-70AD, where several Gallic and Belgic units and the tribes from which they came defected to join Julius Civilis and his Germanic troops), most of Gaul began to undergo Romanisation. It is also worth noting that the Gallic auxiliaries accompanying Varus' ill-fated expedition into the Teutoburg Forest defected to fight alongside the Germanic tribesmen under Arminius when they realised that the Roman army was in a hopeless position. However, with these two exceptions, the Gallic auxiliaries proved very loyal and capable troops.

Gaul was particularly suited to Romanisation due to the fact that the Gallic tribes often had large, well developed towns called "oppida" (singular "oppidum") by the Romans - these provided the Romans with the foundations for their program of urbanisation. These oppida were often simply rebuilt in the roman style with buildings in stone, with all the amenities of any other Roman provincial town - baths, theatres, and, as the centrepiece of every town, a Forum. Despite the Romanisation of the oppida via grants of citizenship and building projects, and the settling of legionary veterans in colonies across the provinces of Gallia Narbonensis, Gallia Aquitania, Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica, there remained large numbers of non-citizen in Gaul, who were recruited into the auxilia. Gaul had a long-standing cavalry tradition, and this was reflected in the fact that two fifths of the Empire's cavalry auxilia were recruited from Gaul, with Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Aquitania providing a third of the Empire's total cavalry strength. However, Gaul's large population meant that there were plenty of non-citizens to serve as auxiliary infantry, and so dozens of auxiliary regiments were raised there. There were many cohorts with the generic title "Cohors Gallorum", many of which have secondary titles, such as Cohors III Gallorum Felix ("The Third Cohort of Lucky Gauls"), or those whose secondary titles indicate where they fought, such as II Gallorum Dacica, Cohors II Gallorum Macedonica Equitata, and Cohors II Gallorum Pannonica. Some, like Cohors IV Gallorum, were awarded Roman citizenship for their valorous deeds in battle. Owing to the Gauls' excellent cavalry tradition, several of the Cohortes Gallorum were designated "Cohors Equitata", such as Cohortes IV, V and VII Gallorum Equitata and Cohors II Veterana Equitata. Cohortes Equitatae were "part mounted" - in other words, these infantry units had cavalrymen permanently attached to them. Being Cohortes Equitatae Quingenariae ("Five hundred-strong part-mounted cohorts"), these cohorts had 480 infantrymen in six centuries of eighty men, like a normal infantry cohort, and 120 cavalrymen, organised into four "turmae" (squadrons) of thirty, each led by a Decurion.

There were, of course, other cohorts named after the tribes from which they came, such as Cohors I Biturigum, Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum Sagittariorum Milliaria ("The First Aelian Cohort of Gaesati Archers, One Thousand-Strong" - the "Aelia" showing that the Cohort was founded by the Emperor Hadrian), the five Cohortes Lingonum (of which, I-IV were Cohortes Equitatae), Cohors I Helvetiorum, Cohors I Menapiorum, and Cohors I Morinorum. There were also the Cohortes Aquitanorum, who, as members of the Aquitani tribe, did not speak Celtic, but a non-Indo-European language that is now extinct, but was similar to Old Basque. There were at least five cohorts of Aquitani by the reign of Hadrian - Cohors I Aquitanorum, Cohors I Aquitanorum Veterana, and Cohortes II, III and IV Aquitanorum Equitata.

The cohorts from Gaul served in Britannia, Germania Superior, the Alpine provinces of Raetia and Noricum, Pannonia, Moesia Superior, Dacia, Syria and Africa, with the largest concentrations in Britannia and Dacia.

These Gallic troops are tough fighters - they are, after all, descended from the men that sacked Rome in 390 BC, and fought Julius Caesar for control of Gaul for so long (and even defeated him at Gergovia in 52 BC). As such, they are excellent melee fighters, but their ferocity in battle is tempered with Roman discipline. The Gauls were masters of metalworking, and so the auxiliaries from Gaul are well equipped - they wear a good, solid helmet (the design of which was inspired by the Gaul's own helmets), and chainmail (originally adopted from the Gauls by the Romans). As weapons, they carry a spear, as many of their forefathers did for centuries, and a cluster of javelins, with which they may bombard the enemy before closing to fight hand-to-hand. They also carry the large oval "clipeus" shield, which is standard issue for most auxiliary infantry. They fight in a manner very similar to their legionary - hurling their javelins at the enemy before closing and then letting their spears and swords do the work, using their shields as weapons almost as much as their spears. They are particularly useful against enemy cavalry, as their spears and shields make them a nightmare for cavalry to deal with, as no horse will want to charge at a line of disciplined infantry with spearpoints raised. Like most Roman foot soldiers, they are also very capable of cutting through enemy infantry, and as such, are an excellent addition to a Roman commander's force.