Gabriele Esposito - Armies of the Germanic Peoples, 200 BC to AD 500: History, Organization and Equipment

Armies of the Germanic Peoples, 200 BC to AD 500

History, Organization and Equipment

Gabriele Esposito

First published in Great Britain in 2021

by Pen & Sword Military

An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Limited

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Gabriele Esposito 2021

ISBN 978 1 52677 270 1

eISBN 9 781 526 772 718

The right of Gabriele Esposito to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Gabriele Esposito is a military historian who works as a freelance author and researcher for some of the most important publishing houses in the military history sector. In particular, he is an expert specializing in uniformology: his interests and expertise range from the ancient civilizations to modern post-colonial conflicts. During recent years, he has conducted and published several researches on the military history of the Latin American countries, with special attention on the War of the Triple Alliance and the War of the Pacific. He is among the leading experts on the military history of the Italian Wars of Unification and the Spanish Carlist Wars. His books and essays are published on a regular basis by Osprey Publishing, Winged Hussar Publishing and Libreria Editrice Goriziana; he is also the author of numerous military history articles appearing in specialized magazines like Ancient Warfare Magazine, Medieval Warfare Magazine, The Armourer, History of War, Guerres et Histoire, Focus Storia and Focus Storia Wars .

T his book is dedicated to my fantastic parents, Maria Rosaria and Benedetto, for the great love and precious support that they continue to give me every day. It is thanks to their observations over many years that the present work has been much improved. A very special thanks goes to Philip Sidnell, the commissioning editor of my books for Pen & Sword: his love for history and his passion for publishing are truly fundamental for the success of our publications. Many thanks also to the production manager of this title, Matt Jones, for his great competence and enthusiasm. A special acknowledgement goes to Tony Walton, for the editing of this book with his usual passion and competence, as well as for honouring me with his sincere friendship. A very special mention goes to the brilliant re-enactment group that collaborated with its photos to the creation of this book: without the incredible work of research of its members, the final result of this publication would have not been the same. As a result, I want to express my deep gratitude to the Bulgarian living history association Ancient Thrace and to its charismatic leader, Petar Chapkanov.

T he main aim of this book is to present an overview of the military history of the Germanic peoples and to describe the weapons and tactics employed by them on the battlefields of Antiquity. Our analysis will start from the very origins of the Germanic communities, and will show the importance that the Celtic civilization had for their development. We will describe the first major encounter between the Germanic tribes and the Romans, by reconstructing the bloody events that saw the Cimbri and Teutones invading the lands of the Roman Republic. Much space will be devoted to the campaigns fought by Julius Caesar on the Rhine frontier against the Germanic communities who tried to settle in Gaul, as well as to a key event in the history of the early Roman Empire: the Battle of Teutoburg.