Tony makes his point, and Dan is spot-on. Tacitus describes the Roxolani totally out of their element, the Romans had the advantage of lightness and took the day. No getting around it, combo lamellar and scale armor offers the best protection against advances by opposing cataphracts but this was not the case on that winter day.
The heaviness of lamellar-scale combo is impressive. I weigh a mere 155 pounds when standing naked on a bathroom scale. Putting on my full armor, helmet, Type 1 sword, leg braces, and akinakes, I weigh 225 pounds. If, as Dan points out, my armor was soaking wet or covered with ice? That's anyone's guess, but I would probably weigh at least 235 to 240.
I might add this. When he describes leather and horse-hoof armor, Tacitus is referencing something written earlier and probably about the 4th century BC Scythians. The Roxolani, as the Aorsi/Alan elite spearhead, were quite sophisticated with expert metalsmiths. This culture had mastered micro-soldering, they had folded steel blades (even gold-inlaid), and their armor sheets were made to an even thickness. Leather may have been worn by bowmen, but not the "Shining Alans," the actual Indo-Iranian meaning of "Rhox-Alani."
Evan makes a point of a lack of complete armor in most early Sarmatian/Alan burials. Some jade scabbard slides found in the North Pontic have single chilongs, indicating Zhou or Qin manufacture, yet "reused" by subsequent generations. We also find arrowheads but not bows (which would still remain in the form of bone and horn bow-parts). The reason we find few pieces of lamellar, scale, and no bows... and quite often no swords... is explained by Simonenko, "It was preferable to leave the armor to protect the alives rather than furnish the deads." (A. Simonenko, p300) Also, we find more weapons in women's graves in the early period, less in the Mid Sarmatian Period, and hardly any in Late Sarmatian inhumations.
The heaviness of lamellar-scale combo is impressive. I weigh a mere 155 pounds when standing naked on a bathroom scale. Putting on my full armor, helmet, Type 1 sword, leg braces, and akinakes, I weigh 225 pounds. If, as Dan points out, my armor was soaking wet or covered with ice? That's anyone's guess, but I would probably weigh at least 235 to 240.
I might add this. When he describes leather and horse-hoof armor, Tacitus is referencing something written earlier and probably about the 4th century BC Scythians. The Roxolani, as the Aorsi/Alan elite spearhead, were quite sophisticated with expert metalsmiths. This culture had mastered micro-soldering, they had folded steel blades (even gold-inlaid), and their armor sheets were made to an even thickness. Leather may have been worn by bowmen, but not the "Shining Alans," the actual Indo-Iranian meaning of "Rhox-Alani."
(01-31-2017, 01:03 AM)Flavivs Aetivs Wrote: I should note that most lamellar finds are ritually deposited fragments, many in female graves, rather than complete sets associated with warrior burials.
Evan makes a point of a lack of complete armor in most early Sarmatian/Alan burials. Some jade scabbard slides found in the North Pontic have single chilongs, indicating Zhou or Qin manufacture, yet "reused" by subsequent generations. We also find arrowheads but not bows (which would still remain in the form of bone and horn bow-parts). The reason we find few pieces of lamellar, scale, and no bows... and quite often no swords... is explained by Simonenko, "It was preferable to leave the armor to protect the alives rather than furnish the deads." (A. Simonenko, p300) Also, we find more weapons in women's graves in the early period, less in the Mid Sarmatian Period, and hardly any in Late Sarmatian inhumations.
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
