Update on 1st Century Sarmatian Weapons

[Alanus]

What are your sources about Sarmatian warfare? I know mainly russian books.

Arrian wrote a treatise on Alanic warfare, but it no longer exists. Bits and pieces are in Tacitus. A few passages are found in Ammianus Marcelinus. Do not consider tactics described for the Iazyges; they were Sauromatae, not Alans. (The Alans came from the Saka/Massagetae with northern Sargat and southern Yue-Chi influences only. They were roughly a 70% Europoid and 30% Asiatic admixture. They did not practice slavery, they may have been matrilineal and patriarchic, an odd combination. The Alanic tribes also included the Wusun, Kangju, Aorsi, Alanorsi, Sirakes, Roxolani, and Taifali.) We can use snippets from Herodotous, the sections on the Massagetae, and a paragraph from Julius Frontinus, but there is no detail. Basically, we can use the their weapons (two handed slashing swords, the long contus), their armor, and their well-bred horses, as theoretical guides by recreating their tactics. They were fond of the Parthian shot and fake retreat. They loved to create the effect they were disorganized barbarians when, in fact, they were a highly effective military society. My main interests are the 1st couple of Centuries on either side of the Common Era, then going back to the Bronze Age. I would rather not use the term "Sarmatian," too all-inclusive.