10-11-2013, 10:30 AM
Regarding Arrian's text :
"The doratophoroi (spear-bearers) are those who approach the ranks of the enemy and fight them with dorata (spears) or kontoi, pushing against them (not necessarily physically pushing, the term simply denotes forcing the enemy back) like the Alans and the Sarmatians. Acrobolistae (missile users, we use the term "skirmishers" mainly to denote men in disperse formation which is not implied in Greek by "acrobolistae", they may as well be missile using cavalry in dense formations) are those who use missiles from afar, just like the Armenians and the Parthians, those who are not kontophoroi (kontoi-bearers)." 4.3
The full stop in the scanned text after the word καθάπερ is a mistake.
"Of the Roman horsemen, others bear kontoi spears and attack in the manner of the Alans and the Sarmatians, while the rest have logchae (javelins)." 4.7
The logchae here are definitely javelins, as clearly described in 4.9
"They bear logchae on both sides and hurl them from afar, whenever they have to"
"The doratophoroi (spear-bearers) are those who approach the ranks of the enemy and fight them with dorata (spears) or kontoi, pushing against them (not necessarily physically pushing, the term simply denotes forcing the enemy back) like the Alans and the Sarmatians. Acrobolistae (missile users, we use the term "skirmishers" mainly to denote men in disperse formation which is not implied in Greek by "acrobolistae", they may as well be missile using cavalry in dense formations) are those who use missiles from afar, just like the Armenians and the Parthians, those who are not kontophoroi (kontoi-bearers)." 4.3
The full stop in the scanned text after the word καθάπερ is a mistake.
"Of the Roman horsemen, others bear kontoi spears and attack in the manner of the Alans and the Sarmatians, while the rest have logchae (javelins)." 4.7
The logchae here are definitely javelins, as clearly described in 4.9
"They bear logchae on both sides and hurl them from afar, whenever they have to"
