The most distinguished princes and their acolytes stood at the head of the Keil. Here the individual warrior tried to gain fame and glory in the battle. It was used to force the Roman forces to split and was later applied specifically to the weakest units.ĭue to the high discipline this formation required and the relatively high probability of failure, it is assumed that the front lines were filled with the best and most heavily armoured warriors of the Germanic sibbs who had to break the Roman front line. It is generally believed that the Germanic tribes were more successful with this tactic than the Celts. ![]() ![]() Keilerkopf or Keil (wild boar's head, wedge, Latin: cuneus, meaning throng ) is a German phrase to describe the attack formation ("Tactical body") of the prehistoric infantry of the Celts and Germanic tribes. It was also used to great effect by the Roman legions, with the wedge proving effective in campaigns in Britain, such as during Boudicca's Revolt, where a greatly outnumbered Roman army used it to defeat the Iceni. Īs an infantry formation it is attested by Frontinus to have been used by the Romans in Pydna against the Macedonian line of Perseus. It was easier to turn than a square formation because everyone followed the leader at the apex, "like a flight of cranes". The advantage of the wedge was that it offered a narrow point for piercing enemy formations and concentrated the leaders at the front. ![]() Philip II of Macedon adopted it from them as the main formation of his Companion cavalry and Alexander the Great faced Persian cavalry arrayed thus, as Arrian attests. According to Arrian and Asclepiodotus, the wedge was first used by the Scythians, and then the Thracians. The men deployed in a triangular or trapezoid formation with the tip leading the way. The wedge (έμβολον, embolon in Greek cuneus in Latin, colloquially also caput porcinum, " boar's head"), was used by both infantry and cavalry.
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