02-01-2011, 01:46 PM
Peter Connolly was not by any means the first to suggest this derivation.
‘Clibanarii’, sometimes rendered incorrectly as ‘Klibanophoroi’ , due to a mistake in referring to ‘Kataphractoi’ by Alphonse Dain in “Les Strategistes Byzantines” long ago, and like many errors and ‘myths’ has been perpetuated ever since. The idea stems from the Greek word: κλίβανος meaning "camp oven" or “bread baking oven" see e.g. Septuagint; Leviticus 11:35.
There are several theories to the origins of this name for the heavily armoured cavalry, one being that the men were literally nicknamed “camp oven bearers” (due to the amount of armour they worn that would heat up very quickly in the heat of battle) or alternately that the name is derived from the Persian word "griwbanwar" (Gk transliteration: griva-pana-bara) meaning "neck-guard wearer" or possibly "life preserver". Ammianus says the word originates from a Persian word. A further variation on this is that the late Byzantine manual ( 10 C AD) of Nikopheros Phokas calls an eastern type lamellar cuirass worn by ‘Kataphractoi’ a ‘klibanion’, and the thick worked bull-hide trapper of the horse ‘klibania’ - perhaps this is where Valentinian Victrix understandably got the idea that the word might derive from a piece of horse armour.
However, at this late date, the equipment could be named for the earlier fully-armoured cavalry, as easily as being the original source of the name.
( digression: The bulk of the horsemen in the manual are described as ‘Kabalarioi’ from which derives our word cavalry).
Personally, I suspect the word originally WAS a Persian one, but that it’s similarity to the Greek word for “oven” made the double meaning particularly apt, and so the name stuck.
Peter Connolly was simply repeating these long debated origins in 1981. Those who ‘grew up’ on Connolly or whose interest in ancient history was sparked by him might care to know that much of what they now debate was also debated pre-Connolly, to whom of course a great debt in popularising ‘ancient warfare’ is owed. Both these theories, along with whether there are any differences between ‘Clibanarii’ and ‘Kataphraktoi’ were debated for decades, and ultimately go back to J.W. Eadie’s 1967 “Roman Mailed Cavalry” and “Breviarium of Festus” and onward.( The debate is a long one, as Duncan mentioned in an earlier post).
The term ‘Clibanarii’ does not seem to be used for fully armoured Roman cavalry prior to the 4 C AD ( not 3 C AD, contra Duncan) when Lactantius (318 AD) and Nazarius (321 AD) are the first to use the term to describe Roman cavalry. Ammianus (XVI.10.8 ) discusses it and he specifically tell us the terms 'Clibanarii' and 'Kataphracktoi' are synonymous. Eutropius and Rufus Festus, in their respective ‘ Breviariums’, late 4 C AD, use the word ‘Clibanarii’ to describe troops indistinguishable from ‘Kataphraktoi’.
In the "Historia Augustae", a certain "Aelius Lampridius'"wrote 'Alexandri Severi Vita'(56.6) supposedly writing c 300 AD, and referring to Persians so named, whose captured armour c 233 AD is supposedly the first use of such by Romans according to the author. In fact this is an ancient forgery and the author was writing around 395 AD, as first proposed by Dessau, and now validated by computer analysis.
Incidently, while Duncan is correct that the term 'kataphraktoi' can be employed with respect to things other than soldiers, such as ships, the term did not originally mean "heavily armoured" at all, but rather "covered in"( e.g. a 'kataphract' Trireme was not 'armoured', but simply decked over ), and 'covered in' can describe a fully armoured man.This usage eventually led late writers such as Vegetius to use the term as a generic one for 'armoured'.
Largely due to their expense and difficult training there were never very many of these units - A summary of the Notitia Dignitatum for the two types of unit (Units numbered 3-500 troopers or so.) is :
'Catafractarii': 8 units in the East, 2 in the West, (both stationed in Britannia, but possibly one and the same unit).
Units with geographic names suggesting where raised: Equites catafractarii Albigenses, Equites catafractarii Ambianenses, Equites catafractarii Biturigenses.)
'Clibanarii': 6 units in the East. 2 Units exist in the West, both stationed in Africa; one of which is an archer Clibanarii unit.
Units with geographic names: Primi clibanarii Parthi, Secundi clibanarii Parthi, Quarti clibanarii Parthi, Persae clibanarii, Cuneus equitum secundorum clibanariorum Palmirenorum
- all implying that the name 'Clibanarii' has a 'Persian' connection.
‘Clibanarii’, sometimes rendered incorrectly as ‘Klibanophoroi’ , due to a mistake in referring to ‘Kataphractoi’ by Alphonse Dain in “Les Strategistes Byzantines” long ago, and like many errors and ‘myths’ has been perpetuated ever since. The idea stems from the Greek word: κλίβανος meaning "camp oven" or “bread baking oven" see e.g. Septuagint; Leviticus 11:35.
There are several theories to the origins of this name for the heavily armoured cavalry, one being that the men were literally nicknamed “camp oven bearers” (due to the amount of armour they worn that would heat up very quickly in the heat of battle) or alternately that the name is derived from the Persian word "griwbanwar" (Gk transliteration: griva-pana-bara) meaning "neck-guard wearer" or possibly "life preserver". Ammianus says the word originates from a Persian word. A further variation on this is that the late Byzantine manual ( 10 C AD) of Nikopheros Phokas calls an eastern type lamellar cuirass worn by ‘Kataphractoi’ a ‘klibanion’, and the thick worked bull-hide trapper of the horse ‘klibania’ - perhaps this is where Valentinian Victrix understandably got the idea that the word might derive from a piece of horse armour.
However, at this late date, the equipment could be named for the earlier fully-armoured cavalry, as easily as being the original source of the name.
( digression: The bulk of the horsemen in the manual are described as ‘Kabalarioi’ from which derives our word cavalry).
Personally, I suspect the word originally WAS a Persian one, but that it’s similarity to the Greek word for “oven” made the double meaning particularly apt, and so the name stuck.
Peter Connolly was simply repeating these long debated origins in 1981. Those who ‘grew up’ on Connolly or whose interest in ancient history was sparked by him might care to know that much of what they now debate was also debated pre-Connolly, to whom of course a great debt in popularising ‘ancient warfare’ is owed. Both these theories, along with whether there are any differences between ‘Clibanarii’ and ‘Kataphraktoi’ were debated for decades, and ultimately go back to J.W. Eadie’s 1967 “Roman Mailed Cavalry” and “Breviarium of Festus” and onward.( The debate is a long one, as Duncan mentioned in an earlier post).
The term ‘Clibanarii’ does not seem to be used for fully armoured Roman cavalry prior to the 4 C AD ( not 3 C AD, contra Duncan) when Lactantius (318 AD) and Nazarius (321 AD) are the first to use the term to describe Roman cavalry. Ammianus (XVI.10.8 ) discusses it and he specifically tell us the terms 'Clibanarii' and 'Kataphracktoi' are synonymous. Eutropius and Rufus Festus, in their respective ‘ Breviariums’, late 4 C AD, use the word ‘Clibanarii’ to describe troops indistinguishable from ‘Kataphraktoi’.
In the "Historia Augustae", a certain "Aelius Lampridius'"wrote 'Alexandri Severi Vita'(56.6) supposedly writing c 300 AD, and referring to Persians so named, whose captured armour c 233 AD is supposedly the first use of such by Romans according to the author. In fact this is an ancient forgery and the author was writing around 395 AD, as first proposed by Dessau, and now validated by computer analysis.
Incidently, while Duncan is correct that the term 'kataphraktoi' can be employed with respect to things other than soldiers, such as ships, the term did not originally mean "heavily armoured" at all, but rather "covered in"( e.g. a 'kataphract' Trireme was not 'armoured', but simply decked over ), and 'covered in' can describe a fully armoured man.This usage eventually led late writers such as Vegetius to use the term as a generic one for 'armoured'.
Largely due to their expense and difficult training there were never very many of these units - A summary of the Notitia Dignitatum for the two types of unit (Units numbered 3-500 troopers or so.) is :
'Catafractarii': 8 units in the East, 2 in the West, (both stationed in Britannia, but possibly one and the same unit).
Units with geographic names suggesting where raised: Equites catafractarii Albigenses, Equites catafractarii Ambianenses, Equites catafractarii Biturigenses.)
'Clibanarii': 6 units in the East. 2 Units exist in the West, both stationed in Africa; one of which is an archer Clibanarii unit.
Units with geographic names: Primi clibanarii Parthi, Secundi clibanarii Parthi, Quarti clibanarii Parthi, Persae clibanarii, Cuneus equitum secundorum clibanariorum Palmirenorum
- all implying that the name 'Clibanarii' has a 'Persian' connection.
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
