IN THIS ISSUE: The ‘new man’ who saved Rome: at war

ANCIENT WARFARE VOL V, ISSUE 1

The ‘new man’ who saved Rome: Gaius Marius at war

With: • The battle of Vercellae • Creating mobile infantry Also: • Professionalism in Alexander’s army • Debate: the chariot in battle

€ 7,10 £ 5,99 US/CN$9.99 And much more!

www.ancient-warfare.com Karwansaray Publishers

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4 NEWS and letters 34 THE WEAPON Publisher: Rolof van Hövell tot Westerflier The peg that would break Editorial staff: Jasper Oorthuys (editor), Eugene Harding (copy), Dirk van Gorp Website design: Christianne C. Beall THEME The ‘new man’ who saved Rome 37 A SUCCESSION Contributors: Guy Bowers, Duncan B. Campbell, OF SIEGES Murray Dahm, Jean-Luc Féraud, Séan Hussmann, Marius and the war with Jugurtha Jona Lendering, Christopher Matthew, 6 INTRODUCTION Paul McDonnell-Staff, Alberto Pérez, P.Lindsay Powell, Michael Schmitz, Michael J. Taylor, Mike Thomas. Illustrations: Igor Dzis, Angel García Pinto, 10 THE SOURCE Brendan Keeley, Carlos de la Rocha, Johnny Shumate. Memoirs, monuments and biography

Design & layout: © MeSa Design.www.mesadesign.nl e-mail: [email protected] 42 SKILL AT ARMS Print: PublisherPartners. www.publisherpartners.com Professionalism in the army of

Editorial office Alexander the Great Box 4082, 7200 BB Zutphen, The Netherlands. Phone: +44-20-88168281 (Europe) +1-740-994-0091 (US). E-mail: [email protected] Skype: ancient_warfare Website: www.ancient-warfare.com 13 MARIUS’ MULES Rome’s new mobile infantry Contributions in the form of articles, letters and que- ries from readers are welcomed. Please send to the above address or use the contact form on our website.

Subscription THE DEBATE Subscription price is 33.50 euros plus postage 47 surcharge where applicable. Tank, terror weapon or battle taxi? Subscriptions: www.ancient-warfare.com or Ancient Warfare PO Box 4082, 7200 BB Zutphen, The Netherlands. 20 THE SOLDIER Distribution Reenacting Marius’ milites Ancient Warfare is sold through selected retailers, museums, the internet and by subscription. If you wish to become a sales outlet, please contact the editorial office or e-mail us: 53 REVIEWS [email protected] Books, games and models

Copyright Karwansaray BV, all rights reserved. Nothing in this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent of the publishers. Any individual providing material for publication must ensure they have obtained the correct permissions before submission to us. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders, 22 THE RISE OF A but in a few cases this proves impossible. The editor ‘NEW MAN’ and publishers apologize for any unwitting cases of copyright transgression and would like to hear from Noble rivalry and the career of Gaius Marius any copyright holders not acknowledged. ON THE COVER Articles and the opinions expressed herein do not 58 necessarily represent the views of the editor and or publishers. Advertising in Ancient Warfare does not necessarily imply endorsement.

Ancient Warfare is published every two months by Karwansaray BV, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. PO Box 1110, 3000 BC Rotterdam, The Netherlands. ISSN: 1874-7019 27 THE LAST CLASH OF Printed in the European Union THE AND ROMANS The battle of Vercellae, 101 BC

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The linothorax Debate II Adiutrix’ base in Nijmegen found In 19 BC, the Romans founded a legionary base on the Dear Editor, Hunerberg, east of Batavodorum (modern Nijmegen, Netherlands), the capital of the Batavians. Even when the I read with interest Paul Bardunias’ article on the ‘linothorax’, legions were transferred and the soldiers’ expenditure or tube-and-yoke corslet. Of particular interest I found Paul’s disappeared as a source of income, this civil settlement comments on how some materials, such as certain types of continued to flourish. hide, should probably be discounted from the list of possibili- As is well known, the Batavians revolted during the ties for what the armour was made from as it is not white (as Year of the Four Emperors. Tacitus writes that when the per many of the vase illustrations that are the basis for our Roman general Cerialis arrived to restore order in 70, understanding for this piece of equipment) or how other the rebels set fire to Batavodurum (Histories 5.19). The materials, such as glued linen, seem unlikely as they are prone Roman historian also says that the site was occupied by to absorb moisture. the Second Legion Adiutrix (5.20). One important piece of evidence for the construction of Recently, archaeologist Harry van Enckevort has iden- this armour that the author seems to have missed appears tified the remains of a praetorium and a ditch of a in chapter 2 of Aelian’s Strategikon. In this chapter, Aelian hitherto unknown fortress. The absence of objects from outlines the different types of armour worn by the various the Flavian period suggests that it was built immedi- contingents of infantry found within a Hellenistic army. Aelian ately after the revolt had been suppressed, which can clearly describes how the light infantry and skirmishers wore only mean that its inhabitants were soldiers of Legio II no armour at all and how men armed as classical hoplites Adiutrix. Built on the ash layer of Batavodurum, the for- were still wearing the bronze plate armour of the earlier tress controlled a new civil settlement, more to the west, classical period. Importantly, Aelian describes the Hellenistic called Noviomagus. pikeman as wearing a lighter type of armour, most likely the The stone foundations of the praetorium prove that tube-and-yoke corslet, called an Argilos style of armour. II Adiutrix was supposed to stay in Nijmegen. Eventually, The term Argilos means ‘white clay’. As such, it appears however, it followed Cerialis to Britain and was replaced that the tube-and-yoke corslet was covered with a finishing by X Gemina, which settled on the Hunerberg again. layer of clay based ‘whitewash’ over which various designs were painted. This thin layer of clay would make any material (hide, glued linen, or stitched linen) quite stiff and moisture Paul Bardunias responds proof if applied to both the inside and outside of the armour. A covering of whitewash may also explain why there are so few Dear Editor, depictions of stitching in representations of the corslet in vase What Dr. Matthew describes is akin to what is called ‘pipe- illustrations. Unfortunately, this passage of Aelian’s does not claying’, after the white clay used to make pipes and also address the question of what the armour was actually made applied in a thin layer to items of kit to whiten them. While of and it now leaves the debate over its composition wide open this could whiten a shell of leather or textile, pipeclaying with any material still being a possibility. However, it does was used to touch up base materials that were already of answer the question of the armour’s colour, and correlates a desired color. Related products were used into the last with the depic- century and colored to match uniform shades such as khaki. tion of the cors- The clay itself is hydrophilic and would absorb water and let in vase illus- spall off, so traditional pipeclaying recipes call of the use of trations and various gums and glues as sealants. It may have been easier tomb paintings. to bleach the textile or leather base than apply a temporary I look forward clay coating, and the benefit of a layer of clay thick enough to to following the be protective would have to balanced against simply adding future of the another layer of bleached base material. debate over the The section of Aelian that Dr. Matthew cites has vexed understanding scholars. Some have seen in the word argilos a bright white of this impor- tunic, others took the word to imply ‘flashy’, but I agree that tant piece of the word should be understood to literally mean white clay. ancient mili- A type of fine white clay, known to us as kaolin, was widely tary equipment used by the ancient Greeks. It was a white pottery glaze, and with a great a slip of kaolin formed the drawing surface on white-ground deal of interest. lekythoi, which became popular in early the 5th century. Theophrastus of Eresos, on Lesbos, in his late 4th century treatise On Stones, described possible kaolins as Melian and Samian earths. They were commonly used in fulling and Dr. Christopher bleaching textiles. Matthew We are benefited in our study of ancient armor that

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