Scythian horse archers

[TFLAVIUSAMBIORIX]

what would the gear be for a horse archer of the late 1st-2nd century? might they have worn a cavalry sports mask?<br>
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TITUS<br>
COH I NERV LEG XXIV <p></p><i></i>

[Paullus]

Weren't the Scythians absorbed into the Sarmatians by that time? 1st-2nd century AD I'm assuming you mean. <p></p><i></i>

[Carlton Bach]

well, Roman and Greek poets readily refered to the noamid peoples of southern Russia as 'Scythians' for a long time after the people we know by that name disappear off the archeological radar. Fopr all we know, at the time the people living there would have been the Sarmatians (if that is what they called themselves - these things get trickier the closer you look).<br>
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Sarmatian horse archers would be very unlikely to wear 'cavalry sports' armour except as battlefield loot. Some of their stuff (horse harness and the occasional belt stud) looks fairly Roman in isolation, but on the whole their appearance is more 'Iranian' - more armour for those who could afford it, scale or mail horse armour, helmets constructed out of several pieces, long swords and bowcase-quiver-combos. Of course, most Sarmatians prpobably never owned armour or even swords. From grave finds it looks like they usually wore trousers and long-sleeved jackets that closed in front.<br>
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If you mean what would a horser archer in Roman service look like, I'm guessing mostly like Roman troops in the area he serves in. I haven't looked into this in detail, but I recall an archer gravestone from the Rhineland that shows no difference other than that the soldier uses a bow rather than a spear. Does anyone know of 'lead fossils' that identify horse archer units, other than archery gear? <p></p><i></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

There are a few horse archers in the imagebase:<br>
- Maris<br>
- Flavius Proclus<br>
- Acrabanis <p>Greets<br>
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Jasper</p><i></i>