Early Lancers

Heidi J Torres hjt at tenet.edu
Thu Nov 21 10:34:14 PST 1996


Greetings from Mari!

On Thu, 21 Nov 1996, damaris wrote:

> This is interesting, Mari.  What book did this come from.  Herodotus 
> refers to the Sarmatians in his history.  I believe this is where the 
> legend of Amazons came from.  There is a book, which is no longer in 
> print called The Sarmatians.  In it they give some evidence of the Huns 
> scattering them across Europe to as far as the British Isles.
>  
Funny you should ask what book my info came from.  I lent it to Gunnora a 
couple of years back and you still have it, consequently, I remember what 
it looks like (large hardback with the golden pectoral with the griffins 
& horses on the cover) but not what it's called.  It's the museum 
catalogue for the Scythian exhibit which came through back in the 70s.  
In the back it has translations of Herodotus, as well as articles on the 
Scythians and Sarmatians.  Look around for it and then you can post the 
title, etc.

Other sources: Women in Roman Britain, by Lindsay Allason-Jones and The 
World of the Celts, by Simon James.  This last book also shows a British 
saddle designed in such a way that, even without stirrups, a rider would 
have a secure enough seat to charge with a lance and withstand the force 
of hitting a target -- something that other writers and scholars have 
said would be impossible without stirrups.  This makes the possibility of 
"knights" -- armored mounted warriors capable of fighting with sword and 
lance -- occurring at a much earlier date than we usually imagine.

Mari




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