Germanic wedge formations
Keilerkopf or
Keil (wild boar´s head, wedge, Latin:
cuneus, meaning throng
[2]) is a German phrase to describe the attack formation ("Tactical body") of the prehistoric infantry of the
Celts and
Germanic tribes. It is generally believed that the Germanic tribes were more successful with this tactic than the Celts. It was used to force the Roman forces to split and was later applied specifically to the weakest units.
Due to the high difficulty of this formation and the relatively high probability to fail it is assumed that the front lines were filled with the best warriors of the Germanic
sibbs who had to break the Roman front line.
Here the individual warrior tried to gain
fame and glory in the battle. The most distinguished princes and their acolytes stood at the head of the
Keil. However, this was also the greatest mortal threat. But an army leader who survived a lost battle had forfeited his life (usually suicide). Warriors who had fled were hanged or slain.
According to the Roman historian
Tacitus, the
Keil was a tightly packed crowd, strong on all sides, not only in front and back, but also on the flanks.
[3] The formation was not like a wedge but more like a
rectangle with forty warriors in the first line and 1,600 men strong. In this formation, the wingmen are at most risk. It was therefore well possible that the wing marched with some caution and held back a bit, so that the center stormed further and looked like a wedge. The outer ranks of the rear on the other hand swelled slightly. The goal was to hit hard at the same time and to drive a 40 yard wide hole into the enemy line, according to the German historian
Hans Delbrück.
[2]
When the Germanic
Keil was advancing against the enemy, they sang the
baritus or
barditus, the battle song (
battle cry); it begins with a muffled grumbling and swells with the heat of the battle up to the roar of the waves beating against the rocks. According to Germanic legend and Tacitus,
Hercules once visited German soil and they sang of him first of all heroes.
[4]