still looking forward to the day that someone makes a head to toe scale armour as per the Column, :-)
regards
Richard
There's more than a distinct possibility that the sculptor was taking ephedera and the head-to-toe scale armor was a figment of his imagination. Or as some believe, "saurou" meant "lizard;" so the possibility exists (rather far-fetched) that these guys were half-lizard half-human. That would account for the scales everywhere. :whistle:
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
Hi, the artist on Trajan's Column seems to have gone to a lot of trouble with the eye guards on the horses' chamfrons (although some look damaged). But except for the bows I don't see any detail of weapons on the Roxolani horsemen except the one on the bottom right who seems to be leaning down to aid a fallen comrade. I shall post full pic rather than enlarged one.
[attachment=6705]fulltrajancolumn.jpg[/attachment]
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
still looking forward to the day that someone makes a head to toe scale armour as per the Column
In D.M.V. Gorelik's Oruzhie drevnego vostoka (Weapons of the Ancient Orient, Moscow 1993, unfortunately this gem can only sometimes be found and only for a very stiff price), one of the Scythian armours consists of an overall of scales, covering rump, arms (!) and legs. So such an overall is not as fancy as one might think. And the influence of this type of armour might well have survived into the principate era and longer, since the scale hauberk shown on the well-known 4th century soldier relief in the Museo Chiaramonti has scale sleeves too.
Hi, although there doesn't seem to be any preserved armour examples of Sarmatian armour I found this image of a Silla horseman from Korea (I don't know much about these horsemen or when this suit was made but during "Tang dynasty" but without the stirrups and helmet and neck guard and no Sarmatian armaments probably similar to what the artist on Trajan's column was trying to depict in regards to head to body armour.
[attachment=6791]Sillahorseman.jpg[/attachment]
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
This Tang Dynasty era Korean horseman is certainly well armored, just like a Massagtae cataphract! :woot:
Change the helmet, remove the collar (which we see on the Orlat plaque), and we are close to the Roxolani riders on Trajan's column; and the horse armor also reminds me of Duro Europa.
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
Hi Alanus, you are probably the person who might know the answer to a question I have about horse archers. I know nothing about archery so pardon my ignorance.
When a Scythian/Sarmatian/Hun horse archer used his bow I have read that they might grab a clutch of arrows rather than one arrow at a time. How many arrows could an experienced horse archer clutch while still firing arrows?
Also how many arrows did the horse archer carry with him?
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
Firstly, the image of the armour shows lamellar, whereas to the best of my knowledge scale was much more prevalent among the Western Steppes.
Secondly, Kassai is just a showman. The methods he uses have no historical basis whatsoever, and if used, would likely have been more dangerous for the warrior and his horse than the enemy. All those pointy sharp tips near your thigh or your horse's neck? No thanks.
When arrows were held against the bow, they were typically held point up to reduce the risk. Arrows could also be held in the draw hand when using a thumb release.
I'm putting together an archer's impression of the 1st-2nd century AD and am having a bit of a hard time finding information about auxiliary archers. I don't have a horse, so I'm looking to be a foot archer (though I don't see a problem with pretending I have a horse- we don't usually have large animals at the re-enactments here in Southern California anyway).
I am gravitating towards the Sarmatian or Eastern look. So far I have a double recurve bow and scale armor, of which is tailored as I had to make it woman sized. Even though I am a woman, I do portray a man. I also got new ankle boots that look less legionary-esque. I have a quiver and arrows arriving this week and am making new, longer broccae and a new green tunic, again to look less like a legionary.
What sort of blade weapons did archers use? Shields? I've heard they used parmas. How did they wear their quivers and bow cases when not on horseback?
If anyone has any reading suggestions in English, I would appreciate the help.
When a Scythian/Sarmatian/Hun horse archer used his bow I have read that they might grab a clutch of arrows rather than one arrow at a time. How many arrows could an experienced horse archer clutch while still firing arrows?
Also how many arrows did the horse archer carry with him?
Michael, there was some difference between the operation of the Scythian, "Cupid type" composite reflex bow from the republican period and the "Straight-Eared type" composite reflex bow in use in the principate to early Byzantine periods of the Roman Empire. While the Scythians and early Parthians seem to clench arrows only in their left hand, against the bow, the later archers could clench a bundle of four arrows in the fingers of the right hand not occupied with drawing the bow.
I do not know why they changed from left to right, it might be the change ocurred with the introduction of the thumb ring. However, the ancient Assyrian chariot archers using the angular bow also clenched spare arrows in their right hand, so this need not neccessarily be true. Anyway, the date of the introduction of the thumb ring is still very obscure and controversial. A thumb ring was found in Dura Europos, but it looks suspiciously like a Muslim period thumb ring, so it might have been an artifact that had tumbled into an older layer. So the straight-eared composite reflex bow seems to have initially been used without a thumb ring.
According to later, Mamluk period Arabic archery manuals, these arrows were discharged with incredible speed, up to two arrows a second. Yes, that seemed an exageration to me too, but I saw a kid from Norway or Sweden on youtube who could even hit a target while doing this (admittedly not on horseback). The Persians called the shooting of five arrows in quick succession the panjikan (panj is five in Persian).
I stil do not know how many arrows were stored in the Scythian gorytus, but the later quivers stored between 20 to 40 arrows (usualy 30).
Lisa, try the thread Roman Archery-Help Needed. It has all the information cuurently available, though it might be difficult or expensive to obtain the BAR book.
