Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Alanus]

Note: Arthwys ap Mar's great-grandfather was the last Dux Britannium who commanded not only the Equites Cataphractarii inuores the Equites Talifalia but Linda Melcor's famous Sarmatians as well hock: (For extensive reasearch on Arthwys read The Mammoth book of King Arthur by Mike Ashley) Also Arthwys was born AD465 and died in AD520, the exact dates for the historic King Arthur hock:

Hello ArthuroftheBritons,

Your ideas sound logical, possibly. But who was Arthwys ap Mar's grandfather whom you consider as the great-grandfather of "Arthur?" :?

Who were Linda Malcor's "famous Sarmations" in the fifth century? And who was the commander of these (mostly unproven) three cavalry units? I would believe both Taifali alas were there. That might account for the "bear" (Arthur) and the subsequent popularity of a dragon that ended up on the Welsh national flag.

A quick read of Wolfram, might be in order. More likely, the Taifali were actually Sarmatians,; they lived in wagons not houses. They appear to be attached to the Tyrfingi by the early 200s, and they remained under the Tyrfingi until 376 when they were refused entry into Thrace. I think I mentioned Tealby in these threads over a year ago.

Mike Ashley wrote an interesting book, but everything in it is speculation. When someone says that a man was born in "AD485," they have no way of proving it. Also, whomever was the original "Arthur" was not "Arthwys." Arthwys was a name; it had to arrive after the "th" arrived in Old Welsh (post 600), and was not present in the Brythonic language. This indicates that "Arthur"-- a signum or nickname-- came from a different language and culture.

I would speculate that foreign culture arrived in Britain through the Roman military, particularly an officer. At that time, most Roman officers were Alemanni, Franks, Alans, and particularly Goths. See the well-founded complaints of Synesius toward Theodosius for stacking the army with Gothic officers, and the laments of Ammianus on the same subject.

Also, before we condemn Gildas for giving us the only feeble "record" from this era, it might well be prudent to wonder if he may have also penned a history that became subsquently lost. :roll: