Sobre algunos textos clásicos referentes a la caballería de los celtíberos y al simbolismo de sus armas

Abstract

Many classical texts (Str. 3.3.6 y 4.15; Pol. Fr, 95 y Diod. 3.3.5) show the existence of two kinds of fighters in the celtiberic armies: the few armed with complete weapons, fighting on horseback, and the majority lightly equipped. These differences of the weapons reveal the social difference between the aristocracy and the remains of the population. The comparison with other equestrian aristocracies, mainly the Greek and the Roman aristocracy, shows that the celtiberic aristocracy was mainly a mounted infantry whose weapons were a symbol of her social status. Particularly, we can detect a symbolism associated to the sword.