Organization of the Steppe armies

[Lothia]

Ave Civitas,

I am looking for information on the military organization and tactics of the Sarmatians, the Alans, the Roxilani, the Bulgars or the Huns. In particular, on the organization of their armies down to squadron/troop level (to use modern cavalry terms).
Is there a site or a book that can enlighten me?
As always, thanks.

Tom

[Dain II.]

I could offer you some information about the organisation of the armies of the avar and the two turkic khaganates from the 6th and 7th century. Unfortunately I wasn't able to gain any concrete informations about the military organisation structure of the cultural and political groups you mentioned above.

kind regards

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Ammianus records a little about Hun tactics

[Dain II.]

But I think the Bolgars would have had the same organisation as the Avars till some of them split in the 7th century from the Khaganate and founded own kingdoms or communities. In later times it should be easier to find some informations available for the byzantine Danube-Bulgars and the khazar Wolga-Bulgars.

kind regards

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Jordanes records the Alans retreated at Chalons - I believe this indicates a feigned retreat which was a tactic they used.

[Michael Kerr]

Hi, don't know of too many publications dealing with organization & squadron/troop numbers for Sarmatians/Roxolani/Alans but when they went on organized raids with the promise of booty they could be big. Tacitus mentions 9000 Roxolani who raided Lower Moesia in 68-69AD wiping out 2 auxiliary cohorts before they themselves were defeated while returning with their booty & slaves by Legio III Gallica and the wet weather that made it slippery for the horses & men. However I have read in a number of books that one difference between Scythians & Sarmatians was that Scythians left their families behind when they went on raids whereas Sarmatian families travelled with their men in their wagons on raids & also fought so I don't know if they are included in the quoted figure but I have to assume that with the combination of treaties & alliances as well as a strong charismatic leader that large forces could be assembled but I believe the prospect of booty & plunder were always the prime motivators for these ventures not military objectives. Most of the year Sarmatians would be too busy herding, hunting, shearing, fishing, milking mares & breeding livestock as well as dealing with droughts & diseases decimating their herds so I suppose how big a unit you raised depended on the size of your encampment but overall I think the units would have been small. But raiding was a part of life for these people, the "Xmas bonus" of the steppe warrior after a hard year. It would be good to know a bit more about tactics of Sarmatians though. The predominant tactic amongst all the steppe cultures seemed to be " raid your neighbour continuously until he sees the advantages of moving on."

Regards
Michael Kerr

[Macedon]

This is an issue I am very interested in... I would love to see or be guided to primary sources that deal with this issue from the eastern perspective.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Where's Alanus when you need him.

[Michael Kerr]

Sorry in my last post I got carried away with the concept of the raid & not their tactics. Cassius Dio in book 72 of his histories mentions the Frozen Battle which I think I mentioned in another thread a while ago where a Roman force defeated the Iazyges who were returning from a raid and crossing the Ister. In his description of the battle the overconfident Iazyges attacked this forc

e "Accordingly, some of the barbarians dashed straight at them, while others rode round to attack their flanks, as their horses had been trained to run safely even over a surface of this kind. The Romans upon observing this were not alarmed, but formed in a compact body, facing all their foes at once, and most of them laid down their shields and rested one foot upon them, so that they might not slip so much; and thus they received the enemy's charge. Some seized the bridles, others the shields and spearshafts of their assailants, and drew the men toward them; and thus, becoming involved in close conflict, they knocked down both men and horses, since the barbarians by reason of their momentum could no longer keep from slipping. The Romans, to be sure, also slipped; but in case one of them fell on his back, he would drag his adversary down on top of him and then with his feet would hurl him backwards, as in a wrestling match, and so would get on top of him; and if one fell on his face, he would actually seize with his teeth his antagonist, who had fallen first. For the barbarians, being unused to a contest of this sort, and having lighter equipment, were unable to resist, so that but few escaped out of a large force." T

This description indicates to me that the Iazyges liked to ride up close to their enemy so it must have been a "bash & barge" exercise close enough for the Romans to grab horses bridle but maybe the slippery ice drew the horses nearer to the Roman lines than the riders intended. He describes them having shields & lances so they must have been shorter & lighter than the contus used by the Roxolani & Iazyges used shorter swords swords as well.
So Iazyges & Roxolani seemed to conduct winter campaigns crossing frozen Danube probably by island hopping as one of the conditions Marcus Aurelius set for peace with Iazyges is 10 mile limit from northern bank of Danube, no boats & no Iazyges occupation of islands on Danube.

Regards
Michael Kerr

[Lothia]

Ave Civitas,

Thank you for your prompt replies.
Dain II, I peeked in on your web site. Very good overview of the army. What I am also looking for is how their army was organized. For instance;
Did it have regiments and if it did, is there any indication if these regiments were populated by tribal brethren or were they a conglomeration of many villages, tribes, all assembled into one unit?
If they were tribal in affiliation, were the regimental commanders their civil leaders too?
If they were not, how were the regimental commanders chosen, by their martial prowess, their ability to lead, their organizational skills, their relationship to the rulers in the Ring?
I read only English, but if you have any sources that you could point me toward I would be grateful.
Again, thanks for your help.

Tom

[Dain II.]

Ok. Now I have time for an hour, so that will be an longer post. I would like to advise you the book "Die Awaren - Ein Steppenvolk in Mitteleuropa 567 - 822 n. Chr." by Walter Pohl published by C.H.BECK. It's a kind of bible for this topic. Unfortunately I am not sure if it was translated into english language. What now follows is an fractional excerpt of three chapters from it, I hope I will not make much mistakes in translation.

6. STRUCTURES AND LIFEFORM OF THE AVAR KHAGANATE

6.1.Nomads, horsewarriors, steppepeople

....Remarkable, in contrast to the incredible mobility of the nomads, are the strong, altough too complex and contradictory clanbonds and the collective affected mindset. The military organisation was buildt upon the dezimal system, what was overtaken by the "germanic Scythians" (note by me: With that terminus he reffers to those germanic gentes that overtook much behavior from the steppe people). For the spacial organisation and array of the army cosmological conceptions played a important role: the skydirections , colours and numbers was used for symbolic classification. According to their prestige and their dignity the noble warriors multiple graded; this hierarchy was represented in an difficult drinking ceremonial and in an gain of authorities and honors; the (Gök)Turks of the 6th century had, according to chinese sources, 28 classes of hereditary dignitaries.
The creation and downfall fo empires and peoples was much faster in the steppes than it was usual in sedentary societies. The "Report of the western countries", written by the chinese P'ei-chü at 605 AD states: " Since antiquity many generations are gone, there was annexion and war between countries, their rise and fall. Because of this the former names changed, and an other people, that settled down, was named with the old name."
Turkic Khagans left stilised reportes of their creation of their empires. It was no shame, to have started in small numbers. Contrariwise, they praised themselves, that they deprived a foreign rule with only a few abiders. "My father the Khagan distend with 17 men. As the message of his campaign spread, the ones that lived in the town rose up the mountains and the others that lived in the mountains came down. And as they were assembled, they were seventy in number. For the heaven gave them power, the band of my father, the Khagan, was like the wolves and the foes like sheep. To the east and to the west he undertake campaigns, gathered folk and kept them together. Now they counted 700 men. And as they have become 700, he ordered the whole people according to the law of the forefathers."
Already the first turkic Khagans had organised "empire and constitution of the turkic people" the inscription states....

.....The success of an ruler was also due to his noble ancestory, no matter if through real descent or marry-in. The "white bones", the royal clan, was throughout all borders of peoples and languages benefited over the "black bones" of ordinary descent....

...The Orchon-inscriptios tell that the first turkic Khaganat could save his power only as long as the Khagan was brave and wise, had wise advisors and the Bägs, the nobles, and the people was in harmony. But the sons of the founders of the empire haven't succeded their virtues; their conflict was used by the Chinese, the empire fell. Also the cinese sources report on the inner conflicts of their turikic neighbours, not without gratification. Many turkic warriors seemed to have favoured the service for the cinese empire, where they saw more chances. "The turkic Bägs gave up their turkic names, overtook chinese ones, followed the chinese emperor." The people lamented: "I have been a people, one with his own kingdom, where is my empire?... Where is my Khagan? Which Khagan do I serve?" The people needed an charismatic Khagan, for he is giving it identity...

..."Wild peoples, whose life is war" a contemporary calls the force, that was lead by the Avars 626 against Konstantinopel. That supports very well what the Maurikios strategikon states about the Turks: "Not burdened through manifold important matters, they are only trained to be brave against the foe."...

...The steppe empire (el (note: =peace in old turkic)) relaies on traditional laws (törü) and the legimitation of the ruler (kut-ülüg), which is based upon the charisma of the dynasty (kut) and the ruling order of heaven (ülüg). The Khagans rule over "bodun", the whole body of their tributaries, who are divided in military units (tümän = group of ten thousand, oq = group of ten (oq means arrow)) as in tribes (pulo, in chinese) and clans. The tribes (bodun) has their own chiefs, the Bägs, and often an own military contingent; existing beneath and over it there is the central administration with its dignitarians, often members of the ruling dynasty and its military cortege (buyruq). Civil units are the tent and the "el-kün", the peacetime-unit, which is called Aul too, which had an average size of 300 people and 50 tents.

Sorry I have to close now but in the night I will finish.
Kind regards

[Lothia]

Hello Dain II,

Thank you for all your work. Do you mind if I copy it for my personal use?

Tom