The Tactics of Riothamus

[Agraes]

Yes, HB is not always reliable. Fleuriot thought this irish version to be one of the oldest, tracing it back not to the IXth but (at least in part) to the VIIth century, I guess from Rhun map Urien.

Argument for the Riothamus name was people in Gaul heard more often his title than his real name, and so remembered only his title.


For the tactis, I guess I can help on that. Persistance of Roman military traditions in late Vth and early VIth century Britons, especially the Letavians, are the precise thema of my re-enactment group, Letavia. How much roman tactics and drill they preserved exactly is to be questionned, but at least in western Brittany there are several clues about such an heritage beeing preserved - of course probably among some more "celtic" way of fighting.

Here an article I made about the martial specificities of the Britons in the late roman era and high middle ages, if you read a bit of french or are armed with patience and a good translator :wink:
http://magister.olympe-network.com/foru ... 576312c393

There is this famous quote from Procopius, speaking about soldiers keeping every aspect of roman traditions in the middle of the VIth century in Gaul, in the service of the Francs and Armoricans, and foes of the Wisigoths. Fleuriot thought they were Britons, I think it includes them and likely some other sub-roman troups.
The Letavi are also known as part of the coalition who fought against Attila under Aetius at Campus Mauriacus in 451.
"Franci, Sarmatae, Armoritiani, Litiani, Burgundiones, Saxones, Riparioli, Ibriones" is from Jordanes Getica. The word Litiani have been explained as a corruption of Laeti, but for Fleuriot it was a corruption of Letavi, the v beeing often corrupted into a n in that period manuscripts; and the word beeing replaced by Brittones in one of the older manuscripts from Paulus Diacrus which includes a similar list.

I already mentionned a pagus Legionensis that became Léon in Brittany (where I live), and in Trégor 4 coins respectively two from Zenon and two from Julius Nepos were found, two of those in a small fortress with ditches, alongwith a coin from Valentinian.