Vegetius explains that accurate communication is essential to the tactics of the armies , which can be carried out by means of vocal signals, commands spoken by the commander; semivowels, which require prior preparation to interpret the instruments when sounding; and silent, where the banners, emblems and military insignia are found [1] . In a battle, the militia is isolated and disoriented by the dust and, added to the usual confusion of war at its best, they fail to comply with the instructions that their leaders shout from the rear. Likewise, they do not hear clearly the tones of the bugles and trumpets due, in part, to the closed helmet they wear. The solution that was found in the midst of this chaos was the banners. They were familiar and their size made it easy to locate them and the group to which each soldier belonged.
No banners have yet been physically found in pre-Roman armies. However, their ability to form large armies has been demonstrated, which entails a complex organizational apparatus. Despite this lack, we have several written testimonials about the existence and use of pre-Roman banners. Titus Livy narrates that Hannibal placed the Celtic and Iberian banners ahead of the line of light infantry and slingers at the Battle of Trebia in 218 BC. Also, Asdrúbal manages to surprise the Tartessians in a revolt of 216 BC, preventing them from grouping around his banners [2] . Later, the proconsul Cayo Cornelio Cetego captures in a confrontation with the sedetanos in 200 a.C. no less than 78 emblems. Appian and Livy also comment that different types of military units carried different insignia for heavy infantry, light infantry, or cavalry; and your number. The difference in banners between the pre-Roman peoples is made clear by Livy's account of Cato's attack on the capital of the Iacetans, in which they recognize the arms and ensigns of the auxiliary Suesetani of the Romans. Finally, the desertion of the Celtiberian mercenaries from the side of Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio before the Battle of Ilorci in 211 BC, due to a stratagem by Hasdrubal Barca. To make it official, they remove their insignia from the Roman camp, a symbol of their abandonment of combat. [3]
Despite this evidence, we don't know what the emblems might look like. Archaeologists work mainly with numismatic sources , in order to get some clear picture. They are sources that are available from the Carthaginian and Roman conquests of the Iberian Peninsula, as a result of the need to pay tribute to them. There are different types of coins with different images represented on them, which vary according to the mint or the closest city where it was minted. If we understand these images as a symbol of each city or group, they could be the ones that were reflected in the pre-Roman banners.
Despite the fruitful work of specialists on their existence, it has not been possible to interpret the possible meanings of the Iberian and Celtiberian emblems. On many occasions, as we have mentioned, it is not even clear what they reflected in them, so we need to look for similarities with other civilizations. In the first instance, we want to point out the magical character that the representation of animals in their cave paintings meant for prehistoric peoples. The objective of representing them was to enclose them in a "magical trap", which made them vulnerable to human weapons, being able to serve as food [4] . We believe that this magical concept can be extrapolated to more advanced societies, with more complex religious feelings, and that seek to extract abilities from the animals represented on the banners to introduce them into the troop, even if they originally belong to a specific aristocratic group. It is often called the apotropaic effect, a supernatural defense mechanism. in rituals, objects or formulaic phrases to ward off evil or protect oneself from it.
Before the military reform of Gaius Marius in 107 BC, the Roman legions carried 5 emblems on campaign, namely:minotaur, wolf, horse, boar and eagle. The first ones were kept in the camp, and it is believed that they would have a tribal origin. In the end, only the eagle is left [5] . In the Gallic badges you can also find a multitude of wild boars. This makes us think that pre-Roman peoples could bring animals or mythological beings on their banners, also with a tribal origin, and surely religious. To understand these symbols, it is necessary to approach pre-Roman religion, trying to find a pattern between cults and representations on banners.
Without going into the specifications of each people, it is considered a religion that tends towards conservatism, naturalistic and animistic in nature [6] . In principle they had no physical representation of their gods or spiritual forces, but instead worshiped nature. In the same way, they did not understand how it was possible to lock up the gods in a temple as the Greeks and Romans did, but they did not stay at night in the places of worship as it was their abode. Even so, religious syncretism was something natural in them, so they welcomed many external influences. One that specifically concerns us is the zoomorphic symbology and the anthropization of the gods, especially the first [7] . Apart from these influences, the fact of adapting an animal to a religious belief may be due to fear of that same animal, either because it destroyed crops or because it attacked the group. By worshiping it, the animal would be asked to be permissive and benevolent, like a god who is asked for help. It would confirm the aforementioned apotropaic effect.
There are many animals that can be identified with this effect in pre-Roman peoples. The wolf is for the Celtiberians a being thatprotects the warrior , also associated with death and the infernal or afterlife world. His relationship with masculinity and the ferocity that a carnivorous animal supposes, makes him a representative of war. Several representations can be seen in armor-discs, further expanding the defense of this armor [8] . Another outstanding animal would be the bull, considered sacred. This belief comes, according to Diodorus, from the sacredness of the cows, descendants of those that Heracles stole from Geryon. It can represent a god or be a god itself, with some effect on fertility, due to the virility it gives off. In addition, especially in the Lusitanian case, the concentration of cattle was a sign of status, typical of the warrior aristocracy, for which a religious sentiment was linked with the nobility. As an example we have the curious boars, characteristic of the Veton culture, which, like the Lusitanians, had a special appreciation for this type of cattle. [9]
But possibly the most valued quadruped was the horse . It is linked to the funerary ritual, therefore considered a psychopomp animal, which provides the heroization of the deceased. On the other hand, it indicated that the owner was rich and of high social position, since they were delicate and expensive to maintain. His noble plant added more attractiveness to him, apart from the real and psychological superiority between a horseman and a footman [10] . More deified animals would be the deer, the lion and the boar, and as a mythological animal, the centaur, of external influence. A multitude of animal figures and votive offerings can be found in pre-Roman ritual sites, as well as various zoomorphic gods.
Therefore, pre-Roman peoples probably used animals on their banners, stemming from their religious beliefs. In the same way that the Gauls, Romans and Persians did it, they could do it in the Iberian Peninsula. We believe that the first divine symbols of the group associated with animals would be usurped by the elite who would take them as their own, since they would be in charge of defending the group. That would impregnate with prestige , even more so, those emblems, linked to a famous and valued warrior, as was the custom to elect military leaders. Alföldi also understood that the insignia would keep some kind of divine power as in Greece, although the latter did not have banners. They would even be the center of military oaths, so the terms of fides and devotion they would relate to religion, the elites and their patronage systems [11] . The oppidum or some city could have their own banners, bringing Iberian and Celtiberian warriors closer to the concept of citizen militia.
Bibliography:
- BLÁZQUEZ MARTÍNEZ, J. M. The religion of the peoples of pre-Roman Hispania . Zephyrus, 1990, 43, 223-233.
- GRACIA ALONSO, F, Rome, Carthage, Iberians and Celtiberians:The great wars in the Iberian Peninsula. Barcelona:Ed. Ariel, 2003.
- HAUSER, A. Social history of Literature and Art. Volume I. LABOR/Omega Point. 1957
- PASTOR EIXARCH, J.M, War banners of the pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula. in A.M. Guillermos Redondo Veintemillas (coord.), Alberto Montaner Frutos (coord.), María Cruz García López (coord.), Proceedings of the I International Congress of General Emblematics, Vol. III, Institución Fernando el Católico, 2004, pgs. 1435-1487.
- QUESADA SANZ, F. Aristocrats on horseback and the existence of true chivalry in Iberian culture:two different conceptual fields . Proceedings of the International Congress ‘The Iberians, princes of the West '. 1998, 169-183.
- QUESADA SANZ, F. Regarding the origin of military standards in ancient times . Marq, archeology and museums. 2007, 2, 83-98.
- SÁNCHEZ-MORENO, E. Protohistory and Antiquity of the Iberian Peninsula. Pre-Roman Iberia and Romanity . Vol. II, Madrid:Flint. 2008.
- TZU, S. The Art of War . (M. V. Alonso, Trad.) 23 ed., Madrid, EDAF., 2001.
[1] TZU, S. The Art of War . (M. V. Alonso, Trad.) 23 ed., Madrid, EDAF., 2001, pages. 55-56.
[1] PASTOR EIXARCH, J.M, War banners of the pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula . in A.M. Guillermos Redondo Veintemillas (coord.), Alberto Montaner Frutos (coord.), María Cruz García López (coord.), Proceedings of the I International Congress of General Emblematics, Vol. III, Fernando el Católico Institution, 2004, pages. 1440-1441.
[2] Idem, p. 1436.
[3]GRACIA ALONSO, F, Rome, Carthage, Iberians and Celtiberians:The Great Wars in the Iberian Peninsula . Barcelona:Ed. Ariel, 2003, p. 225.
[4] HAUSER, A. Social history of Literature and Art . Volume I, LABOR/Omega Point. 1957, pp. 15-21.
[5] PASTOR EIXARCH, J.M, War banners of the pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula . in A.M. Guillermo Redondo Veintemillas (coord.), Alberto Montaner Frutos (coord.), María Cruz García López (coord.), Proceedings of the I International Congress of General Emblematics, Vol. III, Institución Fernando el Católico, 2004, pgs. 1439-1440.
[6] BLÁZQUEZ MARTÍNEZ, J. M. The religion of the peoples of pre-Roman Hispania . Zephyrus, 1990, 43, p. 226.
[7] SÁNCHEZ-MORENO, E. Protohistory and Antiquity of the Iberian Peninsula. Pre-Roman Iberia and Romanity . Vol II. Madrid:Flint. 2008, p. 101.
[8] GRACIA ALONSO, F, Rome, Carthage, Iberians and Celtiberians:The great wars in the Iberian Peninsula . Barcelona:Ed. Ariel, 2003, p. 54-55.
[9] BLÁZQUEZ MARTÍNEZ, J. M. The religion of the peoples of pre-Roman Hispania . Zephyrus, 1990, 43, pgs. 228-231.
[10] QUESADA SANZ, F. Aristocrats on horseback and the existence of true chivalry in Iberian culture:two different conceptual fields. Proceedings of the International Congress ‘The Iberians, Princes of the West’ . 1998.pp. 171-172.
[11] GRACIA ALONSO, F. Rome, Carthage, Iberians and Celtiberians:The Great Wars in the Iberian Peninsula . Barcelona:Ed. Ariel, 2003, p. 225.