Sarmatian Cavalry

[John Conyard]

Good morning,

I've been busy!Horses, belts and a shield to finish. Today I have an old saddle with two broken horns to fix.

I suspect I am "teaching my granny to suck eggs" but......

the reconstruction of Roman bows cannot be an exact science. Little is known about the actual style of construction used for 4th century Roman recurved bows. The length of some of the bone and antler ear laths suggests the bows were not as heavily recurved as later Mongol examples, and that they were asymmetrical, with the upper limb taller than the lower. This is useful when riding. A partially surviving Parthian weapon from Baghouz has been reconstructed. Known as the Yrzi bow after the area of the cemetery where it was found, the reconstruction had a draw weight of approximately 60-70lb (Coulston 1985 240). (James (2004) 191 gives a measurement of 80lb). But the Middle-Eastern tradition of bow making would differ from that of the Huns of Central Asia, and possibly from whatever methods were used in the state fabricae. The Central Asian influence can be seen in the “Qum-Darya Bow”, found in a mass grave associated with a Chinese frontier post. Dated from the 1st century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. similar ear and grip laths spread west with Hunnic influence. They are found in western Europe on such sites as Blucina and Wien-Simmering. Such bows used up to seven ear and grip laths, compared to four on the Yrzi bow. Using ATARN you will be able to find other achaeological finds.

Modern recurve bows cannot truly mirror those of the past. In the same way modern powerful yew self-bows do not exactly correlate to archaeological finds.

http://comitatus.net/pdfs/newsletter-bhaa-issue-2.pdf contains a good article about buying recurve bows. I too use a Grozer Hunnic bow, as the best "off the shelf" answer. I fear I will not spend a fortune on a bow it will take me an instant to break when I fall off the horse. Too many Comitatus members use Skythian symetrical bows, citing the use of such a bow in two 3rd century carvings of hunting equipment from the Haute-Loire region of France, showing their use in an arcuballista or crossbow.

I buy western style wood arrows from lots of different makers, generally with just the fletchings glued on. I can then bind the fletchings, and add a suitable head, as seen on the Comitatus website.

Once again I suspect I am stating what we already know, but .......

Two types of release can be used. The eastern or Mongolian release may have been used in the east from the 3rd century, with the arrow shot to the right of the bow and the string drawn back by the thumb. The eastern thumb draw uses a thumb ring, however a western or Mediterranean two or three-fingered release seems to have been the general method used in Roman Europe. Arrows were shot to the left of the bow, with the nock of the arrow held between the index and middle finger.

Arrows were either broad heads or trilobate designs to cut as much muscle and blood vessel as possible, or narrow bodkins designed to penetrate shields and armour. Arrowheads can be socketed or tanged. A shaft with a tanged head will be susceptible to breakage in some conditions. The weight of head will effect the distance the arrow can be shot. Light 40g flight arrows can travel over 200m from my 80lb bow. Indeed Vegetius states targets should be set up at 600 Roman feet (177m)(Vegetius, Epit. II.23.) However it is probable that a selection of light, medium and heavy arrows would be carried to allow the archer to respond to a variety of threats. Heavy 70g arrows will have their greatest velocity during the first 50m of flight, and be used at relatively close ranges. Light arrows would allow a target to be peppered at 200m. The arrows from Dura and Micia in Roman Dacia were made of reed with wooden foreshafts to take the arrowhead ( Bishop and Coulston (2006) 168). But arrows from bog burials give us versions of western-style arrow construction from solid pine or ash. Shafts had parallel sides, but were tapered slightly at the fletchings widening again at the knock to prevent breakage (Jorgensen L., Storgaard B. and Andersen J.S. (2003) 269). This shape of shaft would also mean the arrows would leave the shaft cleanly. James suggested that the nature of the wooden foreshafts at Dura were not designed for holding a metal head, and the reed arrows were primarily for hunting or for target shooting ( James (2004) 196). I have experimented with reed arrows and found them too weak to be shot from high poundage bows. They do seem better suited to weaker hunting bows.

Fletchings were not “corkscrewed” about the shaft to impart a spin. Such a system would only increase drag. The natural curvature and twist of the feather will impart a spin giving increased accuracy. Surviving fletchings from Dura show that western and eastern styles were used in the east (James (2004) 197-198). In the west a recognisable cock-feather lies at ninety degrees to the knock, in the east one of the three feathers is on the axis of the knock. Western style fletchings would also stop around 25mm from the knock to allow the fingers to grip the arrow. Eastern style fletchings can be taken to the end of the knock.

In my own mind I have yet to form an opinion if the Sarmatians - early,late or in the Roman army, used reed arrows or wooden ones, or the eastern or western release. I would need to go and consider the evidence. Sorry!

In terms of saddles I appreciate there are earlier versions of steppe saddles. From felt saddle pads stuffed with hair from Skthian graves to rather clever arrangements of leather tubes with wooden spacers. I would appreciate any photos people have.

http://dariocaballeros.blogspot.com/2011...chive.html is a very evocative and useful site.


Bishop M.C. and Coulston J.C.N. (1993) Roman Military Equipment (2nd edition) (Oxford 2006).

Coulston J.C. (1985) “Roman Archery Equipment” in Bishop M.C. The Production and Distribution of Roman Military Equipment. Proceedings of the Second Roman Military Equipment Seminar, BAR International Series 275, Oxford, 220-366.

James S. (2004) Excavations at Dura-Europos 1928-1937 Final report VII The Arms and Armour and Other Military Equipment (London 2004).

Jorgensen L., Storgaard B. and Andersen J.S. (2003) eds. “The Spoils of Victory” (Copenhagen 2003)

Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science. translated Milner N.P. (Liverpool 1993).