Typical German soldiers, and soldiers of many different nationalities on Rome's northwestern frontier, had far less advanced tactics, training and equipment. However, their lack of equipment and training was balanced out by their martial culture, fighting experience and large size. In this time period, due to diet and genes the average German soldier was far larger than his Roman counterpart. The Germanic tribes did not employ professional armies, instead gathering all the men of a given tribe when necessary. This allowed them to equal or even exceed the Romans in numbers. The Germans had mostly infantry but did have better cavalry than the Romans and German cavalry frequently served as auxiliaries in Roman armies. They did not have advanced siege techniques.