"Out soon: "Weapons, Warriors and Battles of Ancient Iberia"" Topic

Spotted this on Pen & Sword Books:

By Fernando Quesada Sanz out 30 Sept.

The author is an archaeologist and active on the Roman Army Talk forums. I've read his paper on Montefortino helmets in Iberia. Quite informative.

Good timing given the recent Iberian plastic kits now available.

Their blurb:

"In ancient times, the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) was home to warriors of great renown. Spanish and Celtiberian warriors, both infantry and cavalry, provided the backbone of the Carthaginian armies that terrorized Italy under Hannibal and proved even more ferocious in defence of their homeland against later Roman occupation. The Lusitanian resistance under Viriathus was among the toughest the Romans encountered anywhere.

"Professor Quesada Sanz details the arms, armour and equipment of the various warriors of the region in fantastic detail, drawing on his intimate knowledge of the latest archaeological and historical research. His clear and informative text is supported throughout by a wealth of photographs, diagrams and exquisite colour artwork by Carlos Fernandez del Castillo. This beautiful book is a rare combination of detailed, comprehensive information and sumptuous visual appeal that will be cherished by anyone with an interest in the warriors and weapons of the ancient world. The Spanish edition won the Hislibris Award for the 'Best Historical Book' for 2010 and is here faithfully translated into English."

I would recommend this book highly: I have the Spanish edition and it's really good, the best account of early Iberian warriors and weapons that I've seen.

Uau

Sounds very interesting indeed.

Where can you get this book please?????????? Mike Adams

link

Who's read that book about the pike phalanx?

@GurKhan am I right in interpreting the cover that there's evidence to support the use of the long spear by scutarii? Those spears look rather Greek with a sarouter.

@Mike – Pen & Sword has it on pre-order: link

As long as the author doesn't have a romantic biast toward Hannibal, Scipio or Variatus, I'll be keen on this book. -Mike

Nothing worse than reading romantic historical embellishment… SMH…

I found an answer to my question about the spears on the book cover.

Extract from a review of the Spanish-language original of Quesada-Sanz's book:

"[T]he round shield was the main defensive weapon of the Iberians from the end of the sixth century B.C. Indeed, the scutum-type oval shield appears only late, at the end of the third century B.C., under the influence of the Carthaginians and the Romans, and becomes common only during the second century B.C.

"In the same way, the author's typology, which is the first of its kind, demonstrates that the spear, not the javelin or the sword, was the main offensive weapon in the Iberian area from the sixth and fifth centuries to the end of the third century B.C. Otherwise, according to anotherof the author's studies (Arma y símbolo: La falcata ibérica [Alicante 1992]), he qualifies the supremacy of the falcata in Iberian weaponry: the massive diffusion of this weapon, which first appears in the fifth century, is in fact limited to the southeastern part of the peninsula (Bastet-ania and Contestania)."

More tantalising tidbits here: link

Please take a look at my post here:

TMP link

for many papers by profesor Quesada.

Bad news, the publication date of the book has been pushed back to June next year.

link

IIRC, there has been a history of publishing delays with the English translation. Not sure what's up.

A pitty, I am really looking forward to this one. let's hope it indeed is released in 2017.