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ThoDanII t1_j7cj2uf wrote

caesars number are IMHO most likely pure propaganda fantasy.

There was no way the gauls could have supplied 250.000 men in one army neither could rome.

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MrBrutok t1_j7ewfzz wrote

There is a neat little trick to get better numbers. Romans liked to include civilians in the number of the enemy to make their victories sound greater.

In a pre-industrial nation you can expect halve the people to be children. Half again for the women, who didn't fight at the time. Take a bit of for the elderly and you land at ~50.000 fighting men. Much more reasonable.

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thereasonyousuffer OP t1_j7exdhf wrote

But is a field army representative of the whole Gaulish population?

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MrBrutok t1_j7f5tjw wrote

Pretty much. Unlike the Romans, Gauls didn't have a standing military so the same calculation applies. When you know how many men of fighting age a population has, you know how many soldiers it could field.

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ThoDanII t1_j7fuoag wrote

Not really the problem is supply and running the farms .

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Tuga_Lissabon t1_j7ff3tx wrote

Not a relief army. There will be quite some hanger's on and camp followers, of course.

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aitorbk t1_j7fc0bl wrote

It is a self promotion book.
It is the first and only book I have fully read in latin, and I highly recommend reading it.. the self promotion is hilarious, it is unintentionally funny.

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Constant_Count_9497 t1_j7cw5ge wrote

While I agree is best to be skeptical about army numbers, given what historians project as the entire population of pre Roman Gaul (being around 5 million people) those numbers are fairly reasonable

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ThoDanII t1_j7d08v5 wrote

In total maybe as one army without starving to death not really

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Constant_Count_9497 t1_j7d14u9 wrote

I think you underestimate the technology and structure of ancient cities

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ThoDanII t1_j7d1yo3 wrote

after a while Vercingetorix forced the noncombatants to leave the city because he run out of food.

AFAIK the died in the no mans land

I meant armies in the field outside of waterways logistic was limited to drawn carts or waggons, the draft animals need to eat

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stsk1290 t1_j7jyzuw wrote

There were over 500,000 soldiers at Leipzig; they also needed food and were relying on carts and wagons.

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ThoDanII t1_j7k5p26 wrote

And they did not march as one army on one road

The different armies itself had been divided into corps

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stsk1290 t1_j7kix6s wrote

Did anybody claim that the Gallic armies were marching on one road?

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ThoDanII t1_j7kwt1e wrote

IIRC nobody claimed different armies

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stsk1290 t1_j7kxwjr wrote

You should reread it then, as the relief army was composed of the armies of some 20 Gallic nations.

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ThoDanII t1_j7kye4p wrote

The point is not out how many nations they came but if they campaigned as one force

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stsk1290 t1_j7kzwkn wrote

They came from all over Gaul, met up at Alesia and fought there.

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