I am very interested in Punic Sardinia, and have done quite a deal of reading about the Nuraghic society there.

I have long believed that Sardinia (and Corsica) need their own unique troops. I have recently returned from a vacation in Sardinia, and while there bought a pair of terrific new books, these being;

* Maurizio Corona, La rivolta di Ampsicora. Cronaca della prima grande insurrezione sarda 215 a. C., Akademia, Cagliari
* Angela Demontis, Il Popolo di Bronzo. Abiti, armi e attrezzature dei bronzetti Sardi in 100 shede illustrate, Condaghes, 2005.

The book by Maurizio Corona includes some great colour plates reconstructing the Punic, Sardo-Punic and Nuraghic soldiery that fought Rome during the revolt of Ampsicora in 215BC. Of particular interest is the depiction of the Punizised Sard and a pair of 'Goatskins', as Livy so quaintly called the unconquered Nuragic tribesmen of the mountainous north-eastern and eastern half of the island.

The book by Angela Demontis offers modern reconstructions (both military and civil) of the Nuragic peoples of Sardinia, based on the archeological evidence that can be found in the stone statues and bronze votive statuettes.

I can happily send you scans of this artwork if you have an appropriate e-mail address that can receive large files (.tif).

The Corsican-Sardinian provinces should have, in my view, a handful of unique troops types;

1. the Punicised Sardi spearman (generally recruited from the towns and estates of the Sardo-Punic landowners of the lowlands, that is, the south-west of Sardinia); these troops would be cheap militia types, spearmen;
2. the 'Goatskin' swordsman; the Nuragic peoples used long slashing swords, and simple armour, including horned-round helmets, and pectoral plates;
3. the 'Goatskin' javlineer & archer levy; the Nuragic peoples were accomplished guerilla fighters, and their most common troops were these light missile troops and skirmishers, including archers;
4. the Nuragic/Torrean elite warriors; the Nuragic and Torrean tribes had a warrior elite, well attested to in the art of the period; the elite were more heavily armoured, with metal-and leather corselets, helms with larger, more elaborate cattle horns, and they fought with small shields and 1 meter-long swords; these 'storm troops' would have comprised the tribal military elite; they should be expensive to reflect their rarity.

There are no cavalry troop types found in these islands.

The Nuragic 'Goatskin' warriors would generally have been drawn from the Iliensi, Galillensi and Corsi tribes. These tribes were both anti-Carthaginian and anti-Roman. From around 500BC (when Punic conquest strips the Nuragic tribes of their most fertile lands) Nuragic culture enters its final phase, the so-called "survival phase", which only ended after a long resistence to Rome.

In a similar manner, the native tribes of Corsica resisted Rome, to the point that Rome devastated the island and enslaved the native peoples in great numbers.

H.