[List II/53] British celts (Cassivellaunos), Ist century BC.

 

This page is intended for the presentation of the Army of ancient Bretons of my son Antoine.
This is the coalition army gathered by Cassivellaunos to face the invasion of Julius Caesar from 55 to 54 BCE.

Composition of the Army (List II / 53, Arable, Aggression 0):

- 2 Generals in chariot Lch

- 1 Foot general e 3Wb 

- 5 Esseda (war chariots) Lch

- 6 Riders  LH

- 15 Warriors 3Wb

- 7 Slingers and Javelinmen Ps

High-king  Cassivellaunos

"He found there numerous troops of Bretons assembled on all sides; They had unanimously given the general command and conduct of the war to Cassivellaunos, whose states were separated from the maritime countries by a river called the Thames, distant from the sea about eighty thousand paces. In earlier times there had been continual wars with other tribes; But all came, in the horror of our arrival, to deliver the supreme command."
Jules César, La guerre des Gaules, Livre V, XI

King Taximagulos

"Cassivellaunos had sent messengers to the Cantium, situated, as we have said, on the shores of the sea, to the four chiefs of that country, to Cingetorix, Carvilios, Taximagulos , Segovax, ordering them to assemble all their troops, and to attack, unexpectedly, the camp which enclosed our ships. "
Jules César, La guerre des Gaules, Livre V, XXII

Essedum

"Here is their way of fighting with these wagons. At first they make them run at all points by throwing traits; And by the fear only of the horses and the noise of the wheels, they often succeed in breaking ranks. When they entered the squadrons, they jumped down from their wagons and fought on foot. Drivers gradually withdraw from the fray, and place the tanks in such a way that if the fighters are pressed by the number, they can easily fold back on them. It is thus that they unite in combat the agility of the rider to the firmness of the infantryman; And such is the effect of habit and their daily exertions, that in the most rapid inclines they know how to stop their horses at a gallop, to moderate them and to divert them at once, to run on the tiller, to stand firm on the Yoke, and hurrying into their chariots."
Jules César, La guerre des Gaules, Livre IV, XXXIII 

Essedum

Canis pugnax britanniae

Various ancient sources attest to the use of dogs of war by the ancient Britons. Grattius Foliscus (1st century BC) reports the defeat of the Roman dogs of Epirus against the dogs of Brittany of the Gauls. The ancestor of the modern Bulldog, the Canis pugnax britanniae, is quoted in the Gallic war of Julius Caesar and was brought back to Italy by procurator Pugnacium, a high Roman figure in charge of filling the arenas.

Light Javeliners. Role usually held by the youngest warriors.

Slingers. The fortified hills of Brittany have aroused many sling bullets during various archaeological excavations.

The Bretons, that is to say, the former inhabitants of Great Britain, included, at the time immediately before the Roman conquest, many peoples and tribes whose Celtic character is proved, especially in southern Italy, And at the mouth of the Thames; For all that "when and how the islands - Britain and Ireland - became Celtic is nothing less than certain" (Barry Raftery).

If continuing relations with the continent existed during the Hallstatt period (the early iron age), the archaeological production of the islands at this period remains resolutely autochthonous.

At the time of the Tene, an iron metallurgy existed in the two islands (as early as the seventh century before the Christian era in Ireland). But it was not until the 4th century before the Christian era (and the 2nd or even the 1st century in Ireland) that the archaeological material included a latent metallurgical production, which was totally lacking for La Tène ancienne. At the same time, the "Breton society" gives us many indications of a very strong hierarchy, dominated by an aristocratic class capable of importing such objects from the continent.

At the end of the third century before the Christian era, currency issues took place in the southern part of the island of Brittany, with no currency (for the pre-Roman period of the island of Brittany) Discovery in Ireland.

(Références: wikipedia)

Cassivellaunos appears in the Commentaries on the Gallic War as the leader of a coalition of the British armies opposed to Julius Caesar during the second Roman invasion. Caesar does not mention the name of his people, but states that his territory is situated on either side of the Thames, about eighty miles from the sea, which corresponds approximately to that of the Catuvellauni.

According to this source, Cassivellaunos would have been, previously, constantly at war with the other peoples and would have overthrown the king of the Trinovantes, the most powerful people of Great Britain protohistoric. The son of this king, Mandubracios, would have fled to Gaul and would have taken refuge with Caesar. The arrival of the Romans would have decided the Britons to entrust to him the supreme command of the armies.

Cassivellaunos adopts a strategy of harassment to avoid the incursions and plundering of Caesar's army in search of food, but this does not prevent Caesar from advancing towards the Thames. The only ford was defended and fortified with sharp piles, but the Romans manage to cross it. Cassivellaunos returns most of his army, retaining only 4,000 warriors (tank fighters), and opts for guerrilla tactics, relying on his knowledge of the terrain and the mobility of his tanks. On the road to the Roman army, he evacuated the peasants and the cattle towards the forest and forbade the enemy cavalry any incursion.

 

 

The submission of the Trinovantes prompted five other Britonic peoples, the Cenimagnes, the Segontians, the Ancalites, the Bibrocs, and the Casses, to go to Caesar and reveal to him the place where Cassivellaunos entrenched himself, a place which Caesar hastened to assize. Cassivellaunos managed to send a message to the four kings of Kent / Cantium (Cingetorix, Carvilios, Taximagulos and Segovax) to unite their forces and attack the Roman camp on the coast, but the Romans repulsed them, capturing a leader named Lugotorix. Learning the defeat and devastation of its territories, Cassivellaunos capitulates. The conditions are negotiated by Commios, an Atrebate a Gallic ally of Caesar. Hostages are given and a tribute is imposed. Mandubracios recovers the sovereignty of the Trinovantes and Cassivellaunos pledges not to make war to him. As a result, Caesar returned to Gaul.

The Greek author Polyen (2nd century AD) relates an anecdote in his Stratagemata, according to which Caesar defeated the defenses of Cassivellaunos by crossing a river by means of caparisoned elephants. This strange assertion probably stems from a confusion with the Roman conquest of 43 AD. J.-C. when Claude brought elephants to the island of Brittany.

Cassivellaunos is one of the legendary characters of Geoffroy de Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae (c. 1135), under the name of Cassibellan (Latinized in Cassivelaunus). He is the youngest son of King Heli and becomes King of Britain at the death of his elder brother Lud, whose sons Androgeus and Tenvantius are not yet of age to rule. In compensation, Androgeus is made duke of Kent and Trinovantum (London) and Tenvantius is made Duke of Cornwall. It was during his reign that Julius Caesar undertook the conquest of the island of Brittany.

(Références: wikipedia)

 

 

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