05-04-2014, 03:20 AM
The Tacitus/Simonenko Influence :whistle:
Tacitus mentions Roxolani having difficulty getting back on their feet, once fallen, during the AD 68 battle with Legio III Galica on the frozen Ister. Was he accurate in his description?
To find out, I had new Sarmatian armor made for me by Lycia Lamellars. It's based on the style described by Simonenko-- a combination of lamellar, scale, and chainmail. Unfortunately, all archaeological remains of it found in the North Pontic area are dis-articulated... so nobody knows what it really looked like. My armor took over two months to arrive from Poland, obviously crossing the Baltic and Atlantic in an above-deck container. It arrived rusty; and the scale portion is not attached historically correct.
Well anyway, the complete impression, head to toe, weighs 75 pounds. Today, my grandson Devyn and I marched with Legio III Cyrenaica in the May Day Parade in Kennebunk, Maine. To test Tacitus' description, I found a patch of grass and dropped supine onto my back. Holy mackerel! I couldn't get back up until I rolled to my stomach and pushed myself up, then bringing one leg to a kneeling position. Not a quick and graceful feat. Tacitus was correct. A mounted horseman wearing cataphract armor could not get back to his feet easily after falling on ice.
I became a septigenarian a few years ago; but even if I were 30 years younger, I would have difficulty. Now, I'll start trimming away some of the armor's weight. Here's a photo of me wearing "over-kill." :dizzy:
[attachment=9757]DSC_0018.JPG[/attachment]
Tacitus mentions Roxolani having difficulty getting back on their feet, once fallen, during the AD 68 battle with Legio III Galica on the frozen Ister. Was he accurate in his description?
To find out, I had new Sarmatian armor made for me by Lycia Lamellars. It's based on the style described by Simonenko-- a combination of lamellar, scale, and chainmail. Unfortunately, all archaeological remains of it found in the North Pontic area are dis-articulated... so nobody knows what it really looked like. My armor took over two months to arrive from Poland, obviously crossing the Baltic and Atlantic in an above-deck container. It arrived rusty; and the scale portion is not attached historically correct.
Well anyway, the complete impression, head to toe, weighs 75 pounds. Today, my grandson Devyn and I marched with Legio III Cyrenaica in the May Day Parade in Kennebunk, Maine. To test Tacitus' description, I found a patch of grass and dropped supine onto my back. Holy mackerel! I couldn't get back up until I rolled to my stomach and pushed myself up, then bringing one leg to a kneeling position. Not a quick and graceful feat. Tacitus was correct. A mounted horseman wearing cataphract armor could not get back to his feet easily after falling on ice.
I became a septigenarian a few years ago; but even if I were 30 years younger, I would have difficulty. Now, I'll start trimming away some of the armor's weight. Here's a photo of me wearing "over-kill." :dizzy:
[attachment=9757]DSC_0018.JPG[/attachment]
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
