Replica of a roman warbow?

[daryush]

The squared off siyah-tip on the Avar bow is very Gokturk / Avar. But this is a tiny detail and you can easily sand it to a rounded (more Hunnic) shape. Other than that, I don't see anything wrong with the general geometry.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I would agree with Daryush, but I'm not an expert...also to correct myself, I have the Hungarian Bow not the Hun bow. But still a nice bow.

[daryush]

For what it's worth, I've got the Grozer Nomad G5 Old Hungarian. I already had a heavy one before starting re-enacting, so just bought a light one so I could carry both in an unstrung bow-case. I plan on sanding down the siyah tips eventually (which are unmistakeably Hungarian on the G5, identified by their length after the string nock, although it's unlikely many historians and spectators will notice / realise this unless its pointed out).

[damianlz]

I am somewhat happy this subject came up as I have had a good opportuinty to join in with some aquaintances in orderning from this site "http://www.traditionalbowshop.com", if I could ask your opinions as I understand it the Romans used either the Scythian and later the Hunnic style bows, but did we know the rough date periods for them? i prefer the Hun bow which may influence my period gear to later Roman, whereas I was focusing on Republican at the moment which I assume would be relegated to Scythian style bows only?

Did we also know what the quivers looked like? Unfortunantly I have no resource material at the moment in regards to the Roman archers, Id really love to know your opinions or if there was a rough guide on impressions and archer gear.

Regards
Damian

[pavka]

Yes, info on quivers will be very welcome...

I am getting rather handy with leather (will post photos of my loculus soon, it's almost finished), so I'd like to make a quiver next. But as authentic as possible...

I listened to a lecture by Bede Dwyer at the Marathon 2011 event near Sydney. One of the things he said was that Ancient archers had separate pockets in the quiver for different types of arrows (which was even regulated by law in some cases - e.g., a city guard was not allowed to have more than six "special" arrows, whatever they were). However, his lecture was on Persian archers, so what the Roman quivers were - I don't know :-(

[damianlz]

Damn id like to know more before I buy. Pavel whatever I get you are more than welcome to have some shots at the March event

[pavka]

I ordered a Grozer Nomad (Hungarian). Now, next step is to join a local archery club and go there to get acquainted with the whole idea of shooting a bow, at their shooting range (where, presumably, I'll not be able to hit any innocent bystanders).

At the March event, I'd also like to try my sling. We'll need to set up a shooting range there too :-)

[pavka]

My Nomad arrived yesterday. Need info about how to make a quiver / bow case.
Would a gorytos be appropriate for a (I century BC) Roman?

[richard robinson]

A Goryotus sounded wrong at the first instant but when you consider bow shape then of course it sounds correct- doesn't it??
At our Ancient Assembly V, I plan to set up a cowskull and an old helmet for slinging targets. Good luck with that
regards
Richard

[daryush]

My Nomad arrived yesterday. Need info about how to make a quiver / bow case.
Would a gorytos be appropriate for a (I century BC) Roman?

Sorry to be a bit of a downer, but I'm not altogether sure that the Hungarian / Hunnish type bows would be suitable that early at all. I think the earliest you could get away with it would be perhaps 2nd Century AD, portraying a soldier very, very close to the Parthian (or possibly the Sarmatian) border.

You should avoid gorytoi of any type with Hungarian / Hunnish bows. The best option would be to have a tube quiver attached to your belt. If you are riding, attach the quiver to the back / right hand side of your saddle; a stiff fabric or thin leather tube for the unstrung bow would be good, and you would place it just behind the quiver. I think this setup is too unweildy for foot soldiers though, and you might just carry the bow strung, slung over your forearm or shoulder.

[Marcus Aemilius Longinus]

My Nomad arrived yesterday. Need info about how to make a quiver / bow case.
Would a gorytos be appropriate for a (I century BC) Roman?

Sorry to be a bit of a downer, but I'm not altogether sure that the Hungarian / Hunnish type bows would be suitable that early at all. I think the earliest you could get away with it would be perhaps 2nd Century AD, portraying a soldier very, very close to the Parthian (or possibly the Sarmatian) border.
.

.
Just curious.but what kind of bow would you suggest for a late 1st century or early 2nd century auxiliary archer in a regular cohort on hadrians wall? I'm asking as I'm thinking of putting together such an impression.

[daryush]

My Nomad arrived yesterday. Need info about how to make a quiver / bow case.
Would a gorytos be appropriate for a (I century BC) Roman?

Sorry to be a bit of a downer, but I'm not altogether sure that the Hungarian / Hunnish type bows would be suitable that early at all. I think the earliest you could get away with it would be perhaps 2nd Century AD, portraying a soldier very, very close to the Parthian (or possibly the Sarmatian) border.
.

.
Just curious.but what kind of bow would you suggest for a late 1st century or early 2nd century auxiliary archer in a regular cohort on hadrians wall? I'm asking as I'm thinking of putting together such an impression.

This is a little outside my comfort zone so others may have to correct me.

You could certainly use a simple wood self bow. Cross-section - I'd have imagined a D-shape would be best. Probably shorter than a medieval longbow as well.

I'm unsure whether a horsebow would be appropriate for a foot archer, especially somewhere so far-flung from the Asian borders as Hadrian's Wall.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I am pretty sure the composite bow types were in use well before the second century AD.
As we seem to lack any specific finds that I know of, any easter type bow would be suitable.
Creten and Rhodian archers were well thought of, as well as Syrian....

[daryush]

I am pretty sure the composite bow types were in use well before the second century AD.
As we seem to lack any specific finds that I know of, any easter type bow would be suitable.
Creten and Rhodian archers were well thought of, as well as Syrian....

Oh, nobody's disputing that. But I am not sure a foot archer, stationned on Hadrian's wall, would have access to a composite bow. Certainly the performance of the bow in those conditions (wet, cold) wouldn't really justify using one over a wooden bow.

In Pavel Kalinikov's case, I'd say that the Hun/Hungarian type bows don't appear commonly until perhaps the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Centuries AD. Soldiers hired from across the Iranian and Sarmatian borders would probably carry them much earlier though. A Scythian bow would probably be just fine for a 1st Century BC Roman. The only Scythian bows I can recommend are the Grozer biocomposite and composite, and the ones by Lukas Novotny.

I'm unsure whether a Scythian bow would be suitable for a foot archer on Hadrian's wall but I don't think so.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Well, the stele of the Hamian archer seems to show a composite bow, of sorts.
The Hungarian I use is made using fish bladder glue, which you would imagine
has some form of weather permeability. I imagine they were probably better quality than we give them credit for.
While it is not likely to have been the bow used, since it is of authentic construction,
I find it is better suited to purpose than one utilizing modern synthetic materials.
Gozers Roman bow was admittedly not based on any historical context.