Description
Encouraged by Ptolemaic Pharaohs to settle in Egypt, Galatian mercenaries were employed in their armies and as royal guards. Celtic tribesmen, the Galatians migrated south into central Anatolia and eastern Phrygia following Brennus’ invasions of Macedon and Greece in 279BC. They had a fierce reputation and found employment as mercenaries throughout the Hellenistic world. Held in high esteem throughout the period, they fought in the Celtic style, making use of swords, javelins and oval shields. Auxiliaries in the Egyptian army were not generally armoured, but the Galatians of the royal guard wore mail shirts by the time of the last Cleopatra; she was given 300 Galatian warriors in 48BC by Julius Caesar. Galatians were a practical solution to a manpower shortage faced by the Ptolemaic dynasty; the loyalty of mercenaries could easily be purchased with Egypt’s wealth, and they were far less likely to turn on their foreign masters than the Egyptians.
