Defeated Romans in other armies?

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Ok, then how did they fight? Equipped and in the style of hoplites or some other style? Or were any roman techniques, equipment still used? If we don't know for sure, what are good guesses (speculation, I know, but it's a very good argument for recruitment in Italy being somewhat special for other factions besides Romans). Fun discussion here what.

[abou]

They would probably fight with whatever equipment they had when they deserted. If that is not the case, I think it is possible that their services would be valued enough to have access to good equipment. Maybe mercenary Princepes?

[oudysseos]

I don't have a source in front of me, but was it not a Roman soldier who killed Pompey as he landed in Egypt? I don't think that that was an example of desertion, but rather of a neglected local garrison, cut off from central control during the civil war, and coming under the sway of local potentates. Roman soldiers and magistrates could certainly be bribed for specific purposes if not induced to desert wholesale.

Another example is Quintus Sertorius in Spain. This is an example of a proto-civil war, really, except that Sertorius' power base in Spain were tribes like the Lusitanians who had had enough of being fleeced by Rome. To the 'Real Romans' he was nothing more than a deserter and rebel, and he was joined by other deserters and rebels in his fight against Sulla and Pompey.

But if you're looking for examples of Roman mercenary cohorts fighting for, say, Pontus, then I am not aware of any.

[paullus]

A better way to figure this out would be for someone to look closely at the Mithridatic wars and see if any of the Roman/Latin settlers were recruited into the Pontic armies.

Romans fought as mercenaries in many armies all over the world, but rarely--if ever, perhaps--as units of Romans (probably within units of heavy infantry, as Sarcasm suggested). A deserter Roman unit you could get after a certain percentage of major battles would be cool. It'd probably have to be limited to certain factions. Also, are we sure the deserters are Romans, and not allies?

[Taliferno]

Didnt Jugurtha, the King of Numidia, bribe loads of Roman forces to fight for him? I think they were mostly Roman allies/auxilarys though, and not proper Romans.

[-Praetor-]

In the Punic Wars (and before that, in the Sicilian Wars with Siracuse), the carthagineans hired campanian mercenaries. Although they are not specifically "romans", they are pretty close, and are almost identical in every way to the romans...

Even in the 2nd punic war, they fought as cavalry, comprising whole squadrons of them...

But they may be considered as roman`s "allies", and not roman`s "citizens", so the question remains, at least from my part.

Bye.