Trimarcisia
Trimarcisia, meaning “feat of three horsemen” in Ancient Greek, was a Celtic cavalry tactic or organization described by Pausanias during the Gauls’ invasion of Greece in the 3rd century BCE.
In this system, slaves waited behind the front lines to help as needed. If a horse or rider fell, a slave brought a fresh horse; if the rider was killed, the slave rode in his place; if both rider and horse were killed, another mounted man was ready. If a rider was wounded, one slave carried the wounded man back to camp while another took the rider’s place in the ranks. Pausanias noted that the Gauls copied the Persian Athanatoi, but the Gauls kept reinforcing their numbers during the action, unlike the Persians who replaced casualties after a battle.
The name marka was the Celtic word for a horse, related to roots for “saddle horse” in Celtic and Germanic languages, though the exact origin is uncertain.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:34 (CET).