Orion Figures 035 1/72 Ancient Iberian Infantry

In the final centuries of the Iron Age in what is now Spain there were two broad groups of people. The native Iberians were by this time mostly in the south and east, while the Celt-Iberians covered much of the rest of the peninsula, and were a fusion of Iberians with Celts that had come over the Pyrenees around the 6th century BCE. Both were renowned as warriors and fought as mercenaries in many armies throughout the Mediterranean, but from the modern perspective they are best known for providing warriors for the armies of Carthage and, after the defeat of that great city, their long fight against Roman attempts to take over their native lands.

Definitions of the word Iberian tend to be a bit vague, with some writers referring to all inhabitants of the peninsula as Iberians. In truth the differences in terms of a set of figures such as this are small, so we will refer to Iberians even if we really mean all races in that region.

The majority of Iberian infantry at the time was made up of Scutarii, so named for their large oval shields. These were fairly heavy infantry, armed with throwing spears and swords, which effectively charged at an opponent and hoped to batter them into defeat. However despite their dominance in Iberian armies you will struggle to find such men in this set, because there are just three, all to be found in our second row. Looking at our photo you may wonder why we say three when only two seem to have the necessary shield, so we should point out that the last figure in this row also carries a full shield, but the quality of production is so poor that very large parts of it are missing through air trapped in the mould. However later shots of this set have been better done and do show this man's shield in full. All three heavies have been correctly attired, with a short tunic and a wide belt. One has some form of armour, possibly scale, and another has a mix of scale and mail armour, which was not common but neither was it particularly rare. The third figure wears a pectoral plate on his chest, and was probably more common, although many such men had no more than stiffened linen armour or no armour at all. All have authentic shaped helmets, though whether these were of metal, leather or some other material no-one now can decide. Where the plastic has been able to get to the mould the shields are well done and both fully-formed ones have authentic designs raised on their surface. Two have waist belts with swords of the kopis style called falcata, which again is accurate.

The remainder of the army, and by far the majority in this set, are the lighter infantry known as Caetrati, who again were so named (by the Romans) for the caetra shield they carried, which was small, round and with a pronounced boss. These skirmishers were armed with javelins as well as swords, and wore a similar costume (all Iberian infantry was considered to be quite light and nimble by their opponents). These men wear the short tunic with, in one case, armour on top. The range of helmet styles all look correct, and the men are mostly armed with spears and swords as they should be. The buckler-type shields are properly done and with appropriate raised decoration on the face. The swords are a mix of the curved falcata and the straight sword of more Celtic influence, but all are realistic. The sword scabbard is often held almost horizontally at the waist, which is fine, and several of the men also have daggers, including the characteristic almost triangular design that seems to have been a popular choice.

The final group of warriors are the two slingers in the bottom row. Slings were a popular weapon in Iberia as elsewhere, and skilled slingers were much to be feared, particularly as the Iberians made little or no use of bowmen for war. Most famous of the slingers were those from the Balearic Islands, but these two figures could be either from there or the mainland. They are lightly dressed with just the tunic and the usual wide belt, and both carry a dagger for personal protection. Slingers generally carried three slings, for short, medium and long ranges, and we are told they usually tied those not in use around the head. However neither of these figures have such a 'headband', and nor do we see the slings tucked into the belt, so unless they have them in the bag where they presumably hold their ammunition these items are missing. That’s not necessarily an error, but we would have preferred some evidence of the other slings. Beside the slingers is the officer, who wears a large cloak which seems to hide a very ornate pectoral, and he has a splendid crest on his helmet, which is perhaps influenced by Greek warriors. In short, everything on all the figures here is historically accurate as far as the available evidence can tell.

Specifications

• Contents: 48 figures
• Poses: 12 poses
• Material: Plastic (Medium Consistency)