02-12-2014, 01:53 PM
I think Themistius, if read carefully, is clearly linking the arrival of Bacurius from Iberia with the horse archers in the previous passage. It is a propoganda exercise authorised by Valens and his consistorium and therefore, I think, is designed to flatter Bacurius and those he brought with him. Why mention the archers otherwise unless they were new or under the command of a famous person? There is no antecedent for rhetorical praise for these troops types. Their inclusion, it seems to me is because the Schola regiment has been formed from the Iberian followers that are part of Bacurius' train. He and his comtitatus are in exile and have been enrolled as a guard unit under the eye of Valens and have demonstrated mastery of mounted archery.
I find it difficult to see the rise a new type of unit being singled out otherwise.
Equites sagittarii as a general body of troops have been around for centuries (as others have pointed out). The context of the reference here and the classical framing can be read as praise and flattery. Bacurius is later explicitly linked as the commander of this unit - and two further commanders of Iberian descent can also be attested (see article referenced above).
I would be cautious of seeing in this reference the rise of the later Roman armoured archers described by Procopius but see in this, instead, a specific reference to the formation of one of the Schola guard regiments, and also an insight into Iberian fighting preferences.
Themistius is writing in Greek to a highly educated (or aspirational audience) and the Greek and Homeric references are standard tropes.
I find it difficult to see the rise a new type of unit being singled out otherwise.
Equites sagittarii as a general body of troops have been around for centuries (as others have pointed out). The context of the reference here and the classical framing can be read as praise and flattery. Bacurius is later explicitly linked as the commander of this unit - and two further commanders of Iberian descent can also be attested (see article referenced above).
I would be cautious of seeing in this reference the rise of the later Roman armoured archers described by Procopius but see in this, instead, a specific reference to the formation of one of the Schola guard regiments, and also an insight into Iberian fighting preferences.
Themistius is writing in Greek to a highly educated (or aspirational audience) and the Greek and Homeric references are standard tropes.
Francis Hagan
The Barcarii
The Barcarii
