09-27-2009, 04:35 AM
to Everyone,
Getting back to the prime subject. We really don't have any historical tracts that can be helpful on sub-Roman British cavalry, except the Notitia Dignitatum. Gildas is no help, other than mentioning that Malgocunus was the "dragon of the island.' Nennius (or Mark) is too late. By 825, too much legend had supplanted reality.
Anything we can write or say is speculation, but perhaps we should look at the Notitia as a genuine, unexpurgated, document. I consider it invaluable. From it, we get info that some Roman cavalry units were indeed sent into Britain, most likely the Equites Taifali Seniores (the bears) and the Eqites Taifali Iuniores (the dragon and pearl). Even perhaps the Equites Catafractarii, as stationed in the north.
Another thought: Britain never left the Roman commonwealth, still part of the Western Empire until 476 when it fell to the Heruli. In other words, Britain was like the Gothic Kingdom of Toulouse and the Frankish Kingdom, another kingdom within the Empire's structure. The Gothic cavalry was remarkably similar to the Roman one. The junior commands had the same names, but a legate was called a thiudfadus. Likewise, the British cavalry appears to be close to the Roman model for good reason-- a Britonized extention of it, except the legate became a gwledig. The size of the three alae shrank slightly to 300 men. The Welsh poetry, while not entirely factual, states "nine hundred would listen to him."
And I take "him" as meaning the Dux Bellorum, an extention of the last Count of Britain, who may have been the historical Thiudebalth. That last statement might be speculative. But what was a Goth doing in Britain in the last decade of the 4th century? :roll: And even more bizarre: How did he become a king of the Britons?
hock: Whatever his original command might have been, Thiudebalth was a BIG CHEESE. So, I can only ask, "Was he the ufar pandracon?" (aka "chief of the dragon men" in Gothic, or "Uther Pendragon" in Welsh) This unofficial title would correspond exactly with the Count of Britain. 
Getting back to the prime subject. We really don't have any historical tracts that can be helpful on sub-Roman British cavalry, except the Notitia Dignitatum. Gildas is no help, other than mentioning that Malgocunus was the "dragon of the island.' Nennius (or Mark) is too late. By 825, too much legend had supplanted reality.
Anything we can write or say is speculation, but perhaps we should look at the Notitia as a genuine, unexpurgated, document. I consider it invaluable. From it, we get info that some Roman cavalry units were indeed sent into Britain, most likely the Equites Taifali Seniores (the bears) and the Eqites Taifali Iuniores (the dragon and pearl). Even perhaps the Equites Catafractarii, as stationed in the north.
Another thought: Britain never left the Roman commonwealth, still part of the Western Empire until 476 when it fell to the Heruli. In other words, Britain was like the Gothic Kingdom of Toulouse and the Frankish Kingdom, another kingdom within the Empire's structure. The Gothic cavalry was remarkably similar to the Roman one. The junior commands had the same names, but a legate was called a thiudfadus. Likewise, the British cavalry appears to be close to the Roman model for good reason-- a Britonized extention of it, except the legate became a gwledig. The size of the three alae shrank slightly to 300 men. The Welsh poetry, while not entirely factual, states "nine hundred would listen to him."
And I take "him" as meaning the Dux Bellorum, an extention of the last Count of Britain, who may have been the historical Thiudebalth. That last statement might be speculative. But what was a Goth doing in Britain in the last decade of the 4th century? :roll: And even more bizarre: How did he become a king of the Britons?
hock: Whatever his original command might have been, Thiudebalth was a BIG CHEESE. So, I can only ask, "Was he the ufar pandracon?" (aka "chief of the dragon men" in Gothic, or "Uther Pendragon" in Welsh) This unofficial title would correspond exactly with the Count of Britain.
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
