Gaesatae Question

[blitzkrieg80]

this is not appropriate conversation... is it all your will to have this thread locked and/or worse consequences? please try to behave like adults.

I don't agree at all with the personal attacks being made, Frostwulf has an excellent point- these things are very interpretative, thus why evidence is useful...

OT- Cmacq, you shouldn't be talking shit- for the record, you totally misinterpreted that essay you referenced concerning How (non)Indo-European is the Germanic Lexicon? by Salmons(?)... if you really think that the evidence used proves a non-IE element, it makes me wonder... the writer himself pretty much states the evidence available proves the opposite.

what i don't agree with is that Germanic or Celtic kings sacrificed themselves on the frontline on every battle possible and thus never won a single battle because the general died far too early: 'leading first' is in relation to more cowardly nobility/commanders who hide behind the ranks. this by no means implies they are the front line... ancient peoples have a common sense concerning probability and sharp objects flying at them, esp. when no armor invented to date can protect a person from a random shot into the eye 100% esp. if one wants to have vision... even mechanical tanks have openings to see... it is possible that a war-leader might be at the front during a charge late in the battle, but never at the beginning when they knew to expect shots fired. svínfylking and ord formation elaborated on by non-Roman literary sources (since not being a coward is seen as frontline to 'civilized') concerning Germanic warriors and their wedges imply that the king is behind 'able warriors', beside 'loyal bodyguards' and generally flanked by supporting troops. If the youth stood behind, it would be much easier to run away (fight or flight is a well known animal behavior- it would be unnatural NOT to experience it- and unnatural not to recognize that one has to worry about it, EVEN in heroic culture... bards' very existence is to reinforce the behavior of the warrior! OT- exactly why modern nations promote cowardice!)... thus, primarily worthless people stood in front if not at the baggage train (Germanic bowmen), the young and generally less useful would fight with make-do weapons (Greek levy skirmisher anyone?) at the frontline as human-'shields' or 'targets' and benefit as receivers of experience which earns them a place among the 'Proven' where they prob won't be killed in later life. The youth can be given advice by older veterans behind them in this way, besides motivating them to do well before their eyes. it may seem too similar to Roman velite / hastati / principes / triarii but its a cross-cultural common sense that older and experienced troops are nice to keep around rather than cowardly youth.

visual aid:


btw, how would Ariovistus row across the Rhine (nonetheless survive) from the frontline of battle when he lost against Caesar?