Quote Originally Posted by Ludens View Post
That does sound logical, but the Celtic warriors serving Rome did so either as allied forces (i.e. raised and equipped in their traditional manner) or, lateron, as part of the Roman army (as Auxilla or legionaries). The Romans never imposed a "professional" standard on their Celtic allies.
Perhaps I should just quote the unit descrition to give an better impression what I mean:

Gallic auxilia and allies, of both Rome and Carthage, were actually employed in this manner before such soldiers were used widely by the Gauls themselves. The Romans did this to ensure their Gallic allies and auxilia had an edge over the Gallic warriors they engaged, and Carthaginians re-outfitted their Boii allies after Cannae in this manner. The Romans did this to ensure their Gallic allies and auxilia had an edge over the Gallic warriors they engaged, and Carthaginians re-outfitted their Boii allies after Cannae in this manner.
Quote Originally Posted by Ludens
Secondly, aren't Brihentin made up of nobility rather than paid soldiers?
I was mostly speaking about Neitos, Brihentin could be seen as representing allied nobel forces (though I'm not really sure If they were all nobles). My point for Brihentin was that the gauls have them in big numbers from the start: as bodyguards.

PS: I'm sorry for some missing leters, my keyboard seems to have some problems.