Caetrati

Being agile by nature, and wearing almost no armour at all, these warriors were extremely mobile and would use hit-and-run tactics to harass the enemy and break their formations.

The majority of these soldiers wore simple tunics and lacked real armour because they relied on greater mobility.

The cardiophylax was a very common piece of protection in ancient Iberia, most likely circular and with decorations and reliefs depicting animals and patterns.

The most common headwear seems to have been a simple helmet of bronze or leather, occasionally extended at the back to form a neckguard and with cheek guards added at the sides.

Montefortino helmets were believed to have originated in the Celtic occupied lands of northern Italy and soon became very common throughout the entire western Mediterranean.

It was tied to the warrior's body with ropes or leather strips that passed over the shoulder and that gave great mobility to fight both on foot and on horseback.

In combat, the shield was not only effective at blocking, but also an extremely proficient secondary weapon: Iberian troops used the boss to punch opponents.

These compact bucklers could be hung on a belt or across the back by a strap, so as not to be burdensome to the soldier on the march or foraging for food, but still handy for when the enemy was close.

The falarica was a javelin with a long iron pointed rod of about 90 cm (35 inches) in length with a short wooden handle.

Several vase paintings show the use of javelin thongs, wound round the shaft to impart a stabilizing spin and additional thrust when it was thrown.

As well as being a throwing spear, it was also used as a ranged incendiary device: bundles of grass or packs filled with a combustible substance were bound to it and ignited.

Sometimes there were mouldings of about 10 cm wide in the middle of the weapon to further improve grip and to prevent it from slipping because of sweaty hands.

The weight and the density of its iron shaft, its small diameter and its narrow tip made the soliferrum an excellent armour-piercing weapon when it was thrown at close range, enabling it to further penetrate heavy shields and armour.

Some minted Roman-Iberian coins bore on their reverse sides a military motif of a rider armed with a tragula.