01-02-2010, 03:52 AM
Hello Dashydog, Robert, Matt, and crew
I've been off the thread for awhile, working on a pre-Arthurian novel. I wondered what happened to Malcor's website. She writes fantasy fiction, which might suggest how extreme some theories might get. :roll: Too bad she never looked into the succeeding centuries for Sarmatian cavalry stuff in Britain itself.
John Conyard knows his contus. The length could reach a point of diminishing returns, ie too damned long, as it wobbled up and down. Seems to me it standardized at around 12 feet. Sorry for the US dimensions, maybe what?-- a little over 4 meters. Some theories claim it originated with Alexander's forces, but a contus-type halbred was used during the Warring States Period in China at the same time. More likely that the contus came from the mid-to-far east, since that's where the Saka, Sarmats, Alans, and evidently even the Magyars came from. Whether it was used to any extent in sub-Roman Britain? You've got me. I think not. The steppe composite bow seems to have lasted longer, if we can believe the polychome drawing in the c. 600 book of Vergil's works now in the Vatican library. These Britons look a lot like Romans.
Anyway, it's good to get back in touch. For me, it was a non-eventful and safe New Year. I had a glass of Valpolicella with spagetti. :wink:
I've been off the thread for awhile, working on a pre-Arthurian novel. I wondered what happened to Malcor's website. She writes fantasy fiction, which might suggest how extreme some theories might get. :roll: Too bad she never looked into the succeeding centuries for Sarmatian cavalry stuff in Britain itself.
John Conyard knows his contus. The length could reach a point of diminishing returns, ie too damned long, as it wobbled up and down. Seems to me it standardized at around 12 feet. Sorry for the US dimensions, maybe what?-- a little over 4 meters. Some theories claim it originated with Alexander's forces, but a contus-type halbred was used during the Warring States Period in China at the same time. More likely that the contus came from the mid-to-far east, since that's where the Saka, Sarmats, Alans, and evidently even the Magyars came from. Whether it was used to any extent in sub-Roman Britain? You've got me. I think not. The steppe composite bow seems to have lasted longer, if we can believe the polychome drawing in the c. 600 book of Vergil's works now in the Vatican library. These Britons look a lot like Romans.
Anyway, it's good to get back in touch. For me, it was a non-eventful and safe New Year. I had a glass of Valpolicella with spagetti. :wink:
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
