Galatian Chariots
Heavy Cavalry(0.6.7)Side / Back
Short description
Fast moving, harassing missile troops mounted on chariots that will impede and exhaust an enemy.
Description
The Trocmi were a Gallic people in northeast Galatia, one of the three old communities in that region, the Tectosages, the Tolistobogi and themselves, who were at one stage in a treaty with Rome against Pontus. Their capital was at Tavium, but after Manlius' subjugation in 189 B.C their lands were finally given to Deiotarus around 45 B.C, who eventually ruled an area from Galatia to Armenia Minor.
In his account of the triumph of Gnaeus Manlius Vulso over the Gauls of Galatia, Livy mentions 'carpenta' - two wheeled battle chariots which were full of weapons and many different kinds of 'spolia'. Similar chariots were used by the Boii and Insubres; indeed, the use of chariots in warfare is something that the Gauls migrating to Asia Minor retained when they established Galatia in 270 B.C.
The fighters in the light chariots would no doubt have been rich enough to afford the chariot itself, but also the best equipment and weapons, which were eventually on display at Vulso's triumph. The light two wheeled chariots would have been used mostly to harass the enemy from a distance with thrown spears, rarely in melee combat, though no doubt they could pack a substantial punch, being especially effective against loosely formed troops.