Etruscan Axemen and Roman Leves

 

Here are some Etruscan axemen and Roman leves that I've just finished painting. We've got an Etruscan versus Camillan Roman game lined up at the club tomorrow, so the Roman leves will see action then but not the axemen. The axemen are mainly Agema Miniatures figures with a single Aventine Miniatures standard bearer, that is a Volsci figure with the boar standard. The leves are all Victrix Miniatures. 

According to Gabriele Esposito in his book Armies of Ancient Italy 753-218 BC the axemen formed part of the fourth class along with skirmishers, as there was no fifth class in Etruscan armies, according to the sources. Speaking of the axemen he says: 'the latter were a real peculiarity of the Etruscans: equipped with double-edged axes, they had a very precise tactical function on the battlefield, the breaking of the shield wall of the enemy phalanxes by using their two-handed weapons' (p.124.).