Roxolani and Iaziges

[Robert Vermaat]

In regards to their status in the Roman army I have four questions:
1. Would they have been able to have their own leaders?
2. How long would they have had to serve in the Roman army?
3. Besides Ribchester where did they serve in Britain? I heard Wales (Cambria). Alistair Moffatt in his book Arthur And the Lost Kingdoms alluded to the fact that they may have served at Newstead as he gave quite a bit of coverage about the 5500 Iazyges sent to Britain.
4. I always wondered with the Roxolani and Iazyges did they carry their Kontus' with them all the time or only when they charged at an enemy. If they had to soften up an enemy with arrows first what did they do with the kontus. Maybe stored them in one of their wagons until they were engaged in a battle. Maybe like mounted infantry in Sinai campaign in WW1 where every 5th trooper looked after horses while others dismounted to fire at enemy.
I know this is off topic so I apologize in advance but I don't know if this subject has been covered by a previous thread.

1. Not at that time, no. There would be Romans in command.
2. Death or a new treaty.
3. We only know of Ribchester, the rest is pure conjecture. Moffat can't 'cover' the iazyges in Britain because we have no information about what happened to them. Malcor (& Littleton) also tried that, claiming even that the records about the Sarmatians were kept from the 'army records' LOL. It's possible they all stayed in Britain, it's possible they went to the continent within a few years. We don't know.
4. Your guess is as good as mine. I think they kept it with them - what use would it be to soften up an enemy and then spend some time going 'back to get your lance'? The moment of vulnerability could well be lost, or worse: the enemy could see what you planned. I think the light cavalry (horse arches) did the softening up, making room for the 'heavies' when the time was there. We see this with later Byzantine cavalry, the 'lighties' do the attacking and then retreat behind the 'heavies when threathened. The 'heavies' then charge.