Elite Masculinity and Warfare in Cisalpine Gaul, c. 400-50 BCE

What it Means to be a Man

Alastair R. Lumsden

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040369159
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Index: Social Sciences

This volume explores the relationship between how elite masculinity was expressed and warfare in Cisalpine Gaul between c. 400 and 50 BC.

The first half of the book demonstrates that material changes in funerary assemblages reflected broader socio-political and military developments. The second half of this study presents the first in-depth analysis of the organisational and tactical capabilities of infantry and cavalry forces in Cisalpine Gaul. Ultimately, this book demonstrates that the Cisalpine Gallic tribes experienced significant socio-political developments during the third century, which significantly increased the sophistication of their warcraft and military forces.

Owing to its broad scope and interdisciplinary approach, this book will appeal to professional scholars, university students, and history enthusiasts alike who are interested in archaeology, expressions of elite identity, military studies, and the socio-political development of the lesser-known cultural groups of pre-Roman Italy, the western Mediterranean, and the wider Celtic world in the last four centuries BCE.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Framing Cisalpine Gaul
• 3 Elite masculinities and archaeology
• 4 Methodology
• 5 The material evidence
• 6 Elite warrior masculinity and warfare in Cispadane Gaul c. 400–250
• 7 Elite masculine identity and hierarchy in Cispadane Gaul c. 400–250
• 8 Transpadane Gaul c. 200–50
• 9 Elite warrior masculinity in Transpadane Gaul c. 200–50
• 10 Varying notions of elite warrior masculinity in Cisalpine Gaul c. 400–50
• 11 Absent forms of military equipment
• 12 Warfare in the western Mediterranean
• 13 Cisalpine Gallic forces
• 14 Cisalpine Gallic cavalry
• 15 Cisalpine Gauls in battle
• 16 The evolution of Cisalpine Gallic warfare
• 17 Elite masculinity in Cisalpine Gaul warfare and socio-political developments
• Bibliography
• Appendix 1 The Boii
• Appendix 2 The Senones
• Appendix 3 The Cenomani
• Appendix 4 The Insubres
• Appendix 5 Regional totals
• Appendix 6 Chi-square results (military equipment)
• Appendix 7 Chi-square results (non-military goods)
• Index