He praised them to Strabo. In his texts, the classic historian born in the first century admitted that the ferocity of the Iberian warriors He shake the Roman legions. Although he also left black on white that the big mistake of those tribes was divided into a thousand factions: “If they had managed to gather their weapons, they would not have come to dominate most of their lands or the Carthaginians, nor before the inhabitants of shooting, neither the Celts nor the Romans.” He was right, because Hispania, as he said, was divided into “four or five” zones, each dominated by different villages.
It is surprising that these soldiers became a true nightmare for the Roman legions, but it was. After the first fighting against the armies of the Republic, they won the reputation of fearsome combatants. They narrate the classic sources that the Iberians, as well as the rest of the tribes based in the region, stood out for being “anarchic, lovers of freedom and weapons, active and beautiful.” Authors such as Apiano (born between the 1st and 2nd centuries) defined as fighters that depose the weapons were worse than death and that, when the time came, when they were besieged by Romans and Punics, they preferred to commit suicide to let themselves be captured.
Terrifying
Knowing where reality begins and the exaggeration of the classic authors ends by reviewing the fear they imposed on the battlefield is a challenge. However, what cannot be denied is that the Iberians did not leave their enemies indifferent. This is confirmed by the historian of the 1st century Livio by reviewing that his war screams made his heart shrug both the legionaries who faced them, as well as the rest of the allied peoples of Rome. Many, by the way, also from the same peninsula. “The says are barely resisted their war cry, how much less their attack,” wrote the classical author.
His stamp, heartbreaking and fierce in the words of Apiano, further favored that image of barbarians willing to leave his life in combat: “They attacked in the midst of a great screaming and clamor to the barbaric way, and with long hair that stirred in the fighting before the enemies.” Something normal, according to Strabons, for a town that he called fierce: «The villagers of the villages are wild, and they are also most of the Iberians; The cities themselves cannot exert their civilizing influence when most of the population inhabits forests and threatens the tranquility of their neighbors ». The legionaries, it seems, were not accustomed to that picture.
One of the scholars who has fallen fully on this subject has been the historian Benjamín Collado HinarejosAuthor of essays such as ‘Los Iberos and his world’ (Akal). And subscribe the image that our Italian neighbors had of the inhabitants of the Peninsula. «In the Roman sources there is a lot of respect for all the Hispanic warriors, not only of the Iberians, and their value and resistance are praised in them. They highlighted the fact that the appreciation was such that they had their weapons that they thought life without them was not such, and that they preferred war on rest, ”he explains to ABC.
Hinarejos, a virtuoso of the Iberians and his way of making war, affirms that, still today, there is a long list of doubts around this town. Although, he is convinced, we can have some clear things. The first is that they gave great importance to the cavalry in battle. The second, that his LID ability was recognized in the ancient world, because they acted as mercenaries for Carthaginians or for the same Republic. «They were not only respected by their powerful enemies when they had them in front. When they were framed within their armies, they frequently placed them in the key places of their ranks for the trust they had in them. This was done by both the Carthaginians and the Romans, ”he says.
Equipment and strategy
The biggest enigma is how they did war. The first thing that should be noted of this set of peoples that inhabited the east of the Peninsula is that they had no permanent armies. The backbone of their forces were men who, “in their day to day were simple farmers, livestock or artisans,” but to which the local nobles called rows when the situation required it. Those local elites were the ones that were actually dedicated to the lid.
By having non -permanent armies, Hinarejos argues that it is impossible to describe the typical equipment of a Iberian warrior. Each soldier, he says, would be assembled and go to war according to their economic possibilities. And, according to Strabo, more lightly. This was specified by referring to the defenders of Celtibera Numancia: «They have fought in their wars as slightly armed warriors, because fighting in the mode of the bandits, they were armed lightly and carried alone, as we have said of the lusitans, javelin, deep and sword. The infantry also had mixed cavalry forces ».
The list of weapons that were used at the time on the peninsula is very long. The most common was the lance. It is not surprising, since it was simple and cheap to manufacture and it was not necessary to have experience in combat to handle it. To this we should add a shield (round or oval) as a protection element. «From there, and according to the economic position of each one, other weapons of Asta could be added, such as the javelinthe Falárica (very similar to the Roman Pilum) and the Soliferreum (a javelin manufactured completely of iron) and the swords, ”adds the expert. The latter was not as usual as we believe due to its high cost.
The most mitified Iberian weapon is La Falcata, a sword that is characterized by its curved edge. The myth has transmitted us that they were widespread throughout the Peninsula. Reality, however, is harder. «It must be noted that the falcatas, despite being an icon of the Iberian culture, were not used throughout the territory or all the warriors could afford them; For example, in the peninsular northeast they preferred the straight swords of the Têne type, ”explains the author to this newspaper.
With the protections, the same happened: money marked which one was used. “In addition to the simplest shields, we would find hearts and leather helmets or hardened and pectoral tissue and metal helmets, the latter only within reach of a few privileged,” he says. Something similar, recalls the author, happened with the mounts: “For a good part of the Iberian period only the aristocrats could afford a horse, although from the third century AC its use would be extended.”
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