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Roxolani, Cataphracts? Or imposters?
#1
Greetings all, I was wondering if anyone had information on if the Roxolani were Cataphracts, or just misrepresented on Trajans column. I have seen plenty of people saying yes, but have not found any written citations to back up my case. I am apart of a wargaming interterm set in the 4th century. My army has Roxolani allies, and I was curious as to if they wore just mail armor, or if they were cataphracts. Thank you.
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#2
Tacitus describes metal armour in his Histories Book 1.79 when giving a description of the Roxalani in 69 AD who were caught in unsuitable conditions on the lower Danube while laden with loot. In his description Tacitus harshly wrote of the Roxolani cavalry.  "No people is so cowardly when it comes to fighting on foot, but when they attack the foe on horseback, hardly any line can resist them. On this occasion, however, the day was wet and the snow melting: they could not use their pikes or the long swords which they wield with both hands, for their horses fell and they were weighted down by their coats of mail. This armour is the defence of their princes and all the nobility: it is made of scales of iron or hard hide, and though impenetrable to blows, nevertheless it makes it difficult for the wearer to get up   when overthrown by the enemy's charge; at the same time they were continually sinking deep in the soft and heavy snow. The Roman soldier with his breast-plate moved readily about, attacking the enemy with his javelin, which he threw, or with his lances; when the situation required he used his short sword and cut down the helpless Sarmatians at close quarters, for they do not use the shield for defensive purposes."

 Tacitus also mentioned Sarmatians using the familiar charge, although we don't know what tribe fighting for the Armenians against the Parthians in 35 AD in his Annals Bk 6.34-35. " In the Sarmatian ranks, however, speech was not limited to a leader: man encouraged man not to permit a battle of archers; better to anticipate matters by a charge and a hand-to‑hand struggle! The encounter, in consequence, wore a variety of aspects. For the Parthians, habituated to pursue or flee with equal art, spread out their squadrons and manoeuvred for room for their flights of missiles: the Sarmatians, ignoring their shorter-ranged bows, rushed on with pike and sword."

 Strabo in his Geography Book 7.3.17 writing about the Roxolani fighting Mithradates general Diaphantus in 2nd century BC gives a slightly different description "They use helmets and corselets made of raw ox-hides, carry wicker shields, and have for weapons spears, bow, and sword; and most of the other barbarians are armed in this way." But their armament and tactics would have changed over a 300 to 350 year period up to the time of Trajan and in that time the adoption of the two handed contus would have meant the loss of the shield. The Roxolani on the column appear to be fleeing so they probably discarded or used their contuses earlier on in the melee or battle.

 Pausanias on the other hand viewed a Sarmatian breastplate amongst votive offerings near the Athenian Acropolis in 2nd century AD. "Their breastplates they make in the following fashion. Each man keeps many mares, since the land is not divided into private allotments, nor does it bear any thing except wild trees, as the people are nomads. These mares they not only use for war, but also sacrifice them to the local gods and eat them for food. Their hoofs they collect, clean, split, and make from them as it were python scales. Whoever has never seen a python must at least have seen a pine-cone still green. He will not be mistaken if he liken the product from the hoof to the segments that are seen on the pine-cone. These pieces they bore and stitch together with the sinews of horses and oxen, and then use them as breastplates that are as handsome and strong as those of the Greeks. For they can withstand blows of missiles and those struck in close combat."

 Valerius Flaccus a 1st century poet wrote about the Sarmatians (assuming Roxolani as they were the tribe threatening the Danube in his lifetime). "'A fierce band of Sarmatians came thronging with savage yells; stiff are their lorica (body armours with supple chains; and such too the coverings of their steeds; but stretching out over the horse's head and shoulders the fir wood shaft, firmly resting on their knees, casts a long shadow upon the enemy's field, and forces its way with all the might of both warrior and steed."

 While not technically cataphracts but more likely contarius units, the Roxolani nobles and their horses would have been quite well armoured as they could afford to buy iron. Cool

I am not sure of the date of this relief and probably not a Roxolani but possibly a  Sarmatian-Bosporan rider carrying a contus from Tanais, some would say a cataphract but others would disagree..

   
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
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#3
I have no idea of what the original colours on Trajan's column would have been but I am sure the Roxolani riders would have looked pretty good before the colours faded even with that bodysuit look. The full covering of rider and horse just doesn't fit right but I am sure the artists working on the column were working off oral descriptions. It is amazing how a bit of colour can liven up the image and the column would have looked great back then. Smile

   

Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
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#4
Quick question “for their horses fell and they were weighted down by their coats of mail. This armour is the defence of their princes and all the nobility:“ How can we know that “they” refers to the horses and not the riders? I know it sounds silly, as well as picky, but when I present this information to my professor I want to be prepared for any follow up questions. I’ve presented the idea of metal plate cataphracts before to him, but he insisted that it was horse hoof armor (which you also informed me of). Thanks so much for al your help. Being a junior in college it’s hard to find people with such similar interests.
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#5
As Michael is aware, I once put together a complete set of "combination armor" plus a helmet in the style seen on Trajan's column. I was interested in Tacitus' description of the Roxolani being disabled and finding it difficult to regain their feet after being knocked onto the ice. As it turned out, the entire armor, plus my two-handed sword and helmet, weighed 70 pounds. It's not easy righting yourself, and you have to roll over onto your stomach and push yourself up with your hands. As far as I'm concerned, this outfit was the equivalent of cataphract armor. Details of various pieces of early Alan armor can be found in Simonenko's book, "Sarmatian Riders of the Pontic Steppe," available as a PDF with English explanations toward the end of the book. Here is the armor as worn:

   
   
   
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
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#6
To carry that amount of weight with an armoured rider and weapons and without being noted by any Roman historian as being larger than Roman horses, the mounts of the Roxolani would have been tough horses which would have had strength and stamina, coming from long and extensive breeding practices and as both Tacitus and Cassius Dio both pointed out, once a Sarmatian was knocked off his horse then he was as good as dead. Even Vegetius noted that steppe horses outperformed other breeds in war and did not require stabling like their Roman counterparts and could survive when left to their own devices in quite extreme conditions although I think he was referring to Hunnic horses which he much admired but he had extensive knowledge of all the horses of his day, including Sarmatian horses, their weaknesses and their strengths. No wonder all the various Sarmatian groups loved their horses.  Wink

Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
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#7
I certainly hope "Belldozer" follows through far enough to hunt down Simonenko. In his book, Simonenko presents and pictures many types of armor worn by Alans and Sarmatians of the period, 1st cent. BC to AD 1st cent., and the styles include scale, lamellar, and even chainmail. The ideas emanating from Belldozer's professor, sound slightly constipated. Also, Michael has made a good point that Roxolani horses had to have been rugged and, most likely, larger than contemporaneous Roman horses. This is what we discovered when reviewing Berel 11 horses which averaged 14.2 to 14.3 hands high, compared to Roman examples at 13.5.
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
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#8
Alanus wrote:  I was interested in Tacitus' description of the Roxolani being disabled and finding it difficult to regain their feet after being knocked onto the ice. As it turned out, the entire armor, plus my two-handed sword and helmet, weighed 70 pounds. It's not easy righting yourself, and you have to roll over onto your stomach and push yourself up with your hands.

 I remember the fallen Roxolani warrior on Trajans column seemed to be attempting just that and how one of his companions seems to be putting his hand out to help. I think steppe horses were trained to stop if a rider came off so that he could attempt to re-mount his horse. In the case of this rider on the column maybe his horse was killed. As discussed in numerous threads on this subject that we have had over the years it is very frustrating to try and pick the wheat from the chaff on Trajan's column depictions, we see a Roxolani rider using a smaller scythian bow rather than the more powerful composite bows that have been around for a while by then, in a "Parthian shot" type action and also only one of the Roxolani actually has a sword and none have bow cases. Tacitus did mention when he wrote of that engagement between the Sarmatians and Parthians in 35 AD how the Sarmatians were outranged by the Parthians with the bow so they chose to charge the Parthians who were spread out so maybe to the Roxolani princes and nobles at least, heavy armour for themselves and their horses and the contus was their preferred weapon and  the mass cavalry charge could have been their favourite mode of warfare so they could technically be classed as cataphracts and they left the archery and the use of the lasso to their lighter and less well off cavalry.

   


Radu Oltean did some interesting depictions in his book Dacia The Roman Wars  Volume 1 on how he thought the various Roxolani horsemen may have looked like.

   

Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
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#9
(12-23-2017, 08:23 PM)Alanus Wrote: I certainly hope "Belldozer" follows through far enough to hunt down Simonenko. In his book, Simonenko presents and pictures many types of armor worn by Alans and Sarmatians of the period, 1st cent. BC to AD 1st cent., and the styles include scale, lamellar, and even chainmail. The ideas emanating from Belldozer's professor, sound slightly constipated. Also, Michael has made a good point that Roxolani horses had to have been rugged and, most likely, larger than contemporaneous Roman horses. This is what we discovered when reviewing Berel 11 horses which averaged 14.2 to 14.3 hands high, compared to Roman examples at 13.5.

I’m gonna check it out soon. Did that book talk about horse armor?
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#10
Frankly, I don't recall if it did or not. Simonenko is available online as a PDF, the first 2/3 in Russian, the last third in English. Trajan's column shows the Roxolani horses armored, but it is far from accurate. The painting that Michael posted would be somewhat accurate. Do you ride?  Smile
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
Reply
#11
(12-26-2017, 01:37 AM)Alanus Wrote: Frankly, I don't recall if it did or not. Simonenko is available online as a PDF, the first 2/3 in Russian, the last third in English. Trajan's column shows the Roxolani horses armored, but it is far from accurate. The painting that Michael posted would be somewhat accurate. Do you ride?  Smile

Unfortunately no. It's too risky to gamble my scholarship, however my family does own several race horses if that counts?
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