archery in britain during roman occupation

[ratty]

wink:

im looking for information on roman archery in britain and the bows used.

were the first composit bow archers in britain the scythians and did they arrive with clavdivs?

ive heard of bows being found up on hadrians wall. but are they dont seem to be the bows id excpect a scythian archer to use so i take it more archers were drafted from somewhere else in the empire. does anyone know who they were? :?

and last of all which may be the hardest to answer,is there any evidence that composit bows were made in britain at this time? :?

oh and did britains ever join the roman army as archers,if they did, did they use longbows or composit? :?


thanks for the help all :wink:

[ratty]

oh ps.

i shoot a scythian bow made by grozer and ive ordered a 100lb hungarian which hopefully will arrive soon ive ordered this bow to test armour piercing,a small project of my own

[Martin Moser]

Hi,

I think it would be best for you to do a search on RAT for bow, arrow, composite, scythian etc. and see how much that helps and then see what's left unanswered :-) )

(and one of the moderators will also eventually want you to add a signature with your real name ... ;-) ) )

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi ratty/mario.

Welcome to the forum.

However:

Please enter your real name into your signature. That is a forum rule.

Also:

Please use full sentences, not staccato sentences where you leave out most of the words. Many members are not native English speakers and may have difficulty understanding your questions.

Finally:

One question at the time, please.

[Virilis]

Hi Ratty!

The evidence I know for the composite bows in Britain is based mainly on bone reinforces ("siyahs") found for example from the Antonine fort at Bar Hill. They are dated to mid 2nd century, though...

i shoot a scythian bow made by grozer and ive ordered a 100lb hungarian which hopefully will arrive soon ive ordered this bow to test armour piercing,a small project of my own

Good to hear! I myself am shooting now with my 70 pound Grozer assyrian bow (not very roman, I`m afraid...) and it is surprisingly easy/accurate to shoot with! I also have Grozers 50 pound basic hungarian model too. If you want advice about shooting with heavier bows this is a good place: englishwarbow.com. It is concentrates on longbows but it has very useful information anyway!

[Peroni]

The earliest documentary evidence found of Cohors I Hamiorum Sagittaria (not sagittariorum) in Britain, is from the late first quarter of the second century AD. These were men from the Orontes valley in Syria. The evidence is in the form of a military diploma, dated July 17th 122AD. (CIL XVI 00069) Another, slightly later, is dated to November 16th 124AD found at Stannington in Yorkshire. (CIL XVI 00070 – RIB 2401.6)

An altar dedicated to the Syrian Goddesses by a newly arrived Syrian was found at Catterick in Yorkshire, and possibly predates the diplomas, but there is no mention of the cohort on the stone.

(RIB 726)
“DEAE SVRIAE ARA GN…O…â€

[Salvianus]

and last of all which may be the hardest to answer,is there any evidence that composit bows were made in britain at this time? :?

oh and did britains ever join the roman army as archers,if they did, did they use longbows or composit? :?

To recycle my post to an earlier thread, Bishop & Coulston (2006) cite composite bow laths from Waddon Hill & Vindolanda from the Augustan to Flavian period; Bar Hill in the Antonine chapter; London from the Dominate.

According to Stephenson (2006, 2003), Vegetius specified that archery training would take place with self bows, while the evidence for use in the field is for composite. (Stephenson, I.P. 2006 Romano-Byzantine Infantry Equipment, Stroud: Tempus and Stephenson, I.P. and Dixon, K.R. 2003 Roman Cavalry Equipment, Stroud: Tempus)

I'm unsure of the translation, as I read "exercised at the post with bows and arrows made for that purpose only" but it makes sense to start with a selfbow as a relatively cheap / available training weapon before investing in an expensive / slow to build composite (IIRC Bishop & Coulston suggest the best were made over the course of seasons & modern experience suggests best results when made for an individual, but that may be at odds with the semi-industrial scale of production that I imagine in the fabricae).

We know that several fabricae specialised in producing archery equipment in the West according to the Notitia Dignitatum (early C5th).

cheers

[ratty]

thankyou all very much for your input. im very greatfull

[Robert Vermaat]

Bone tips from eastern reflex bows from Caerleon, 5th c.
http://www.fectio.org.uk/articles/hwb/fig42.htm

[ratty]

Bone tips from eastern reflex bows from Caerleon, 5th c.
http://www.fectio.org.uk/articles/hwb/fig42.htm

excellent thankyou