Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Agraes]

I recall Benjamin mentioning that the given name "Alan" also meant "deer" (roebuck?). Just as well, the name shows up in the fourth generation of the Salomon gens. David Nash Ford has described Salomon as "very obscure;" odd that we know nothing about the father of the famed Aldrien of Arthurian tradition, who also appears as the father of John Budic, aka Emyr Llydaw and John Rieth, the principal contender for "Riothamus" (at least Geoffrey Ashe thought so).

Yes, Léon Fleuriot linked the popular breton name Alan with fox, deer or other animals with red fur. Not with the Alans at all.
Breton genealogies were mostly made up for political reasons, and lot of them are post-12th century.
Salomon for exemple, is the name of a famous IXth century breton king. Names like Riwallon or Hoel belongs to various noble breton houses of the IXth to XIIth centuries. It's easy to see someone picking up those names and making up a Salomon I and II to have a good king list. It's even more true for some of those list that dates back only to the XVth century... Even if they look archaic, they were made up or recompiled in a period when Breton dukes were competiting with french kings. Sort of "my lineage is older than yours" stuff...
So those genealogies are really not reliable at all for studying early Brittany.


Bretons in the IXth century used hit-and-run tactics. That's not the heavy cavalry of lancers used by the Sarmatians or Alans. It is more common with the tactics of the Maures, also famous for their cavalry in late roman times. Magnus Maximus rallied a unit of such cavalry, and Mauri limitanei garrisonned western Armorica in the 4th century.
Even this is not obvious link for me.

Hit-and-run tactics were used by both celtic, germanic and roman cavalry for hundred of years before the stirrup came west. A 2nd (?) century roman account from Vindolanda complains about those brittunculi, fighting on horseback with javelins and never getting caught...

The Britons are unprotected by armour. There are very many cavalry. The cavalry do not use swords, nor do the wretched Britons [Brittunculi] mount in order to throw javelins.