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Sarmatian (or Scythian) soldiers in the 1st century AD
#61
Brennivs,

Thanks for the tips on the other end. I think I've found a supplier who has cabrochons up to 38mm. Have no idea of the thickness. My blade is just under 1.75" inches wide, about 29" long: the tang is excessively long and I will cut it back and thread it for a cap over the stone. There is a similar fancy metal cap shown in Ospray's "Sarmatians" book.

You are correct that the Sarmatians were more than one tribe. But so were the Alans. They were a huge federation under a cultic core that believed in "Alanus," the progenitor. Ammianus Marcellinus, who fought against them and knew their culture, noted that they were many tribes, but since they all lived and fought in the same manner, they were "all known as the Alani." I have no idea how many Alanic tribes there were, but the Aorsi were a large contingent, and of course the Roxolani were the first to hit Europe.

I am an admirer of Ammianus. He was "real," a former Roman officer under the Apostate, fighting both in Pannonia and the East; and he refers to rivers "rushing hard by" and "gaining booty"-- not your fluffy historian who sat around eating grapes (aka Strabo). Ammianus made the distinction between "Sarmatian" tribes upon the Hungarian steppe, and the "Alani" who lived upon the Black Sea littoral and also far into Asia. ("both parts of the world.") To him, there was a distinction between the Sarmatians and the Alani. I figured out from Herwig Wolfram, that the Taifali were Alans attached to the Gothic Tyrfingi. And the Tyrfingi were literally "people of the sword." The sword was "Tyrfing," also mentioned in the northern legend the Hervar Saga. And I believe that Tyrfing was brought to Britain by the Equites Taifali, or to their probable leader Theudebald "diademned prince the legate." I believe the sword could have been Excalibur, "from the Kalybes."

This first Alanic sword is but a practice, something I can use as a reenactor in Legio III's Pannonian cohort. Eventually, I would like to design a reproduction of Tyrfing/Excalibur, which according to the Dream of Rowenbury had mirrored dragons probably holding the "pearl," the ball of fire also found on the Equites Taifali Iuniore's target shields. I believe the sword was an "antique," exactly as mentioned by Herodotus when he discusses the Scythian sword ceremony. The mirrored dragons motif on the hilt must have been similar to the akinakes found at Filippovka, and another at the Issyk kurgan. Both are dated to about 300 BC, the height of Alanic culture, but the style could have been made until the first century BC, especially in the design of a fancy ritual sword that would never have been used in battle.

Another style of Alanic sword, other than the ringed pommel, seems to be almost heart-shaped at the pommel, the entire sword constructed from a single billet of iron/steel. It was found at a kurgan in the Krasnor region at the Zubov farm, somewhere around the first century. Most of these fancy models appear to be votives, or even more likely, "borrowed" items for the deceased, generally found in the entryway, not in the inner chamber. The entry also had votive stags, the "borrowed mounts." The legend goes that the warrior would ride back to "Dreamland" (the Indo-European homeland?) and bring back "good things." This is the premise of transmigration, of returning, as we see in the comparable legend of Arthur, the once and future king.

A great book, cheap for its quality, is "The Golden Deer," containing many color plates of Sarmatian/Scythian artifacts including gold embellished ritual swords and Grail cups with the Bear on them. The book shows horse gear, belt plates, and a lot of goodies that can help reenactors visualize the seeds of an Alano-Gothic culture that eventually redefined the Roman cavalry and gave us the enduring Arthurian legend.

Will keep you posted on my sword progress, difficult but hopefully rewarding. Kudos on your swords, but the scabbards are even better than most. They are right on the money, with the blunt chapet of Chinese origin (even back in the Han period), just like the ones on the Orlot belt plaque. Exellent!

Alanus
A.J. Campbell
Cohors Pannonarium, Legio III Cyrenaica
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
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#62
A Postscript for Hugh Fuller and those interested,

Earlier on, Robert corrected Hugh but did not elaborate on the bogus Arthurian connection between Marcus Aurelius' "Sarmatians" and supposed Arthurian reality. We must remember that these horsesoldiers were not yet "Sarmatians" as recorded by historians. They were noted as "Iazyges," a tribe of Sauromatae decended from the northwestern Iranian Scythians. They had no heavy horse, although they may have used lances, and their primary weapons were steppe bows (probably with true syahs) and SHORT swords, not the long Alanic sword.

Janos Harmatta, one of our best Sarmatian-Alanic researchers, has noticed that during the last quarter of the 2nd century, the Iazyge graves upon the Hungarian Plain change from flat short-sword burials to an increasing number of tumulus burials with longer (Alanic) swords. These later near-AD 200 graves are those of the Roxolani, a northeastern Iranian tribe of the Alans. What we find is a cultural intrusion that eventually melded the original Iazyge population with the Roxolani. In the next centuries, the names of these two tribes are replaced by Roman historians by the designation "Sarmatian."

But this time period began at least three or more decades after Marcus Aurelius posted the Iazyges at Hadrian's Wall under the command of Lucius Artorius Castus ("the morally pure). The wild conjecturing that these Sauromatae were actually Sarmatians, that they wore heavy armor, that they looked like Tristan the Good Ethnic Hun, was championed by Littleton & Malcor and then by John Matthews. Even David Day got in the act, claiming that Arthur wore Sarmatian armor while leading the Votadini, who had "intermarried" with these so-called Sarmatians. Day even pictured a "cataphract in scale armor at Hadrian's Wall" when the graffitio was actually lamellar armor scratched at Duro Europa... a long way from the Wall.

The "Sarmatian" armor now in the Museusms of Scotland is probably from the Equites Catafractari who, according to Skene, were stationed at Morbium near the River Don. There is a stele of a Iazyge draconarius in maybe Chester (I'm an old fart and occassionally misplace locations), and this individual wears what appears to be an ankinakes strapped to his right leg-- his "quick-draw" dagger. But to equate Arthur with this early tribe and Artorius would prove stilting. If you search for Arthur, look three centuries later at the Equites Taifali, again not Sarmatians but Alans, the real thing in the right place. The Taifali introduced the dragon to Britain, previously unrecorded in art or historical documentation, and the bear (eothar, aka "arthur") as a protector figure as borrowed from the Uralic Finns above the Alanic steppe at the mid point of that river. This is the real Arthurian connection, not the Iazyges. And it's a direct link to the late Roman cavalry as a major player in the legend or the real thing, depending upon what you want to believe.

Tasty Prima Vera,

Alanus
A.J. Campbell
First Cohors Pannonarium
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
Reply
#63
Arr the heart shaped Pommel;
[Image: P7220440.jpg]
I would be very interested in any sword information you have for these types, ect of sword. The capped stone Pommel is also what I am after to do this but finding it in Jade is a problem, which is what the disc and hand gaurd stones are posted above Big Grin ?: If you want to talk ect on Ring Pommels I have a thread on them which might be a better place.
HERE
Keep it coming great stuff Big Grin
Regards Brennivs Big Grin
Woe Ye The Vanquished
                     Brennvs 390 BC
When you have all this why do you envy our mud huts
                     Caratacvs
Centvrio Princeps Brennivs COH I Dacorivm (Roma Antiqvia)
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#64
Salve, Brennius

Excellent heart pommel. All you need is fifty euro's worth of Indic ruby beads hanging from it with a circular string! I'll move over to the Sword Pommel thread.

Before I leave, I recall someone asked about "Sarmatian" clothing: What did they wear?-- especially early on. From Saka/Alanic graves, and those described as Massagetae, it seems their trousers were tighter-fitting than those worn by the northwestern Scythians. Good trousers, perhaps worn for "best," had fancy outer seams running leg-length, patterned with decorative embroidery, "horny" animals and cresents, etc. The boots were tighter fitting than the Huns or present day Kyrgaz, almost up to the knee, as seen on the Golden Man of Issyk Kul. I don't know when the boot heel appeared, but it did at some point after AD 0. These are shown on Sogdian pottery and wall frescoes; and I would think these boots were somewhat similar to the tight-fitting Hussar boots now made for reenactment, perhaps the heel-less variety. Kaftans had embroidery upon the lower sleeves and thigh drop, probably wolf or sheep fur as well, depending on tribal position. The shamens wore deerskin slip-overs, nice internet photos available from Issyk; and these "dresses" look exactly like the shamen costume worn by Native Americans and the present day Monguls.

As far as I can tell, this Alanic/Saka culture wore fairly impressive clothing, perhaps one set of "work" clothes, and one set of "dress." I don't know if the men wore the tall peaked hat, but they probably did. There is hardly any difference between the "tall hat Saka" and the present-day peaked hats worn by Kyrgaz and Kazakh women. Strangely enough, the hat-style also shows up on ancient Greek pottery in depicting the Cimmerians, perhaps indicating that when the Scythians broke up the Cimmerian federation some of them went far to the east, perhaps to the Altai.

Another seemingly Sarmatian/Alanic design would be woolen weaves remarkably close (if not identical) to Celtic tartans. Today, the Kyrgaz, Kazakhs, and even the Chinese, are still using these tartans. Finally then, I would say that the Sarmatian dressed better than an average Roman or Greek if we think in modern terms. Emperor Gratian, the good bow-twanging choir-boy, was a great fan of Alanic clothing... until he was dispatched for his "barbarian" penchant.

Alanus
A.J. Campbell
Legio III Cyrenaica
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
Reply
#65
In an early picture posted by Treveri Gaul the supposed 1 c. AD horseman seemed to have stirrups. I thought they came later. Please clarify.
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil

Ron Andrea
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#66
Quote:In an early picture posted by Treveri Gaul the supposed 1 c. AD horseman seemed to have stirrups. I thought they came later. Please clarify.

If you're referring to szarmata.jpg, it doesn't show stirrups. The artist has just been a bit careless with depicting the horseman's feet.
Ruben

He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
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#67
I think this is korrekt information:

"According to single assumptions beside Black Sea living a tribe from Sarmata, his invented the saddle in B.C. 365, the metal together with a stirrup and a spur. (CBC, Copyright © 1997)"
Vallus István Big Grin <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="Big Grin" title="Very Happy" />Big Grin

A sagittis Hungarorum, libera nos Domine
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#68
Yes, but it's commonly assumed that the stirrup did not appear in western Europe (brought part way perhaps by the Sarmatians or Alans themsleves) before the seven or eight century.
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil

Ron Andrea
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#69
Quote:Yes, but it's commonly assumed that the stirrup did not appear in western Europe (brought part way perhaps by the Sarmatians or Alans themsleves) before the seven or eight century.

Yes, and this is correct.
Ruben

He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Reply


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