03-21-2013, 10:27 PM
Hi, haven't seen a Sarmatian thread for a few days.
Although I love the military side of Sarmatian history there just aren't enough written sources (except Russian) so I turn to books about the history of the Steppes or Central Asia to get a handle on nomadic and semi nomadic life. Some of the books I have are
The Empire Of The Steppes by Rene Grousset
Warriors Of The Steppe by Erik Hildinger
The Heritage Of Central Asia by Richard N. Frye
A new book I received which doesn't cover military but really gets into how busy nomadic life was is Nomads Of South Siberia by Sevyan Vainshtein. I am surprised that the Roxolani had any time to fight the Romans as mares had to be milked up to seven times a day between June and September, how they might have 2 or 3 winter grazing grounds etc and sheep had to be sheared and pits dug and covered with branches in winter to protect their young stock. Which brings me to my next question.
Did the Sarmatians make their own swords and or did they trade for them. I just assume the local smith would be busy repairing cooking equipment, wheels for wagons and various horse equipment. This lifestyle was tough and created tough soldiers. Another interesting fact from this book about an unwritten law of the steppes passed on from ancient times was that "To steal a tethered horse was an automatic death sentence."
Although I love the military side of Sarmatian history there just aren't enough written sources (except Russian) so I turn to books about the history of the Steppes or Central Asia to get a handle on nomadic and semi nomadic life. Some of the books I have are
The Empire Of The Steppes by Rene Grousset
Warriors Of The Steppe by Erik Hildinger
The Heritage Of Central Asia by Richard N. Frye
A new book I received which doesn't cover military but really gets into how busy nomadic life was is Nomads Of South Siberia by Sevyan Vainshtein. I am surprised that the Roxolani had any time to fight the Romans as mares had to be milked up to seven times a day between June and September, how they might have 2 or 3 winter grazing grounds etc and sheep had to be sheared and pits dug and covered with branches in winter to protect their young stock. Which brings me to my next question.
Did the Sarmatians make their own swords and or did they trade for them. I just assume the local smith would be busy repairing cooking equipment, wheels for wagons and various horse equipment. This lifestyle was tough and created tough soldiers. Another interesting fact from this book about an unwritten law of the steppes passed on from ancient times was that "To steal a tethered horse was an automatic death sentence."
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
