I thought it was really interesting the way Caesar describes the Gauls while we were reading Caesar's Gallic Wars. He had a lot of respect for them when he wrote about them, but when he spoke to his troops he found ways to tear them down. This led me to want to research what the Celtic warriors were really like. A lot of the information I found was actually based of Julius Caesar's writing, but there are also a lot of ancient Celtic resources that have been preserved.
Warriors
The Gauls were known to be barbaric warriors. They were fiercely aggressive and were able to conquer land very quickly with intimidation. In early battles the men would fight naked in order to put fear into their enemy. To show that they were confident enough in their abilities to be so vulnerable must have been very intimidating. In the time of the Gallic Wars, the Celtic warriors were very different. They are describes as wearing shiny gold-like armor with leather shields and bronze covered iron swords. These men would lime their hair in order to make it stiff and they would push it back to the nape of their neck making it appear like a helmet or an animal's head. This made them appear larger and more frightening. The Gauls were also the first to invent chain mail which gave them an advantage.
Battle Tactics
Even though the Gauls were good warriors, their tactics still revolved around intimidation so that they could instill fear in their enemy and lower the enemy's confidence before going into war with them. The Gauls would bang their iron swords against their leather shields which made a thunderous sound. They had brightly colored and meticulously detailed chariots to show how skilled they were in every facet. The Gauls also had horses which against the Romans wasn't impressive, but against smaller tribes was.
Product
For my product I wanted to compare the way that the Celts use intimidation versus other cultures, and come up with new ways to create fear in their enemies.
http://prezi.com/ukjyn_loj5k7/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Works Cited:
BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2015.
"Celtic Warriors." Celtic Warriors. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2015.
"Interesting Facts about the Ancient Celts." Eupedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2014.
Heckart, Kelley. "The Ancient Celts." The Ancient Celts. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2014
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ReplyDeleteI really like your comparison between the Celts and he Gauls and how they used different methods of intimidation. What exactly did the formations of the Celts and Gauls look like in battle? I am very interested to know.
ReplyDeleteI like your inclusion of the picture to show how manly and strong the Celts were. I think it's interesting to compare to Riva and Jen's project of the Roman battle tactics because they are so different. I also like how you connected your topic to Caesar's De Bello Gallico. However, where is your product?
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. It is cool for me to read about this because for my project I did the tactics of Caesar. After reading this I see that the Celts were a lot less organized than Caesar. While Caesar had many strategies and formations the Celts looked towards the use of imitation. After seeing this, I can see why Caesar was often successful. He had plans and was organized while others were not.
ReplyDeleteI like how we get a full understanding of the Gauls as an overall warrior tribe, we have been studying them and their encounters with the Romans for a while and and this helps explains their differences and backgrounds. The context here fits into what we read really well and gives a better understanding of our book.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting to see that even though the Gauls were the first to invent chain mail and had detailed chariots, they still lost against the Romans. It shows just how much more effective Caesar's tactics were when compared to the Gauls, as he was able to defeat them even though he was technologically disadvantaged.
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