I find their 10-15 year migration and path of destruction across much of modern-day Western Europe one of the most fascinating of the ancient world.
My question is this: How were they able to handle the logistics of keeping so many warriors (and their families) together for so long? Their path through modern-day Germany, Austria, northern and southern France, over the Pyrenees mountains into northern Spain, back into France again and then over the Alps into northern Italy just seems so far-fetched. How could there have been enough resources for between 100,000-200,000 people for the entirety of their migration?
I understand that ancient estimates of enemy numbers are often extremely exaggerated, but for the Cimbrian War, I don't see how Rome's estimates of the number of barbarians could have been that far off, considering the number of roman legions the germanic tribes slaughtered in battle between 113-101 BC. Thank you in advance for any answers.
The numbers don't seem to add up, especially in an era when only landowners were able to join the legions. And yet time after time, the Republic managed to form fresh armies in short order after crushing defeats. How was this accomplished?
