The Sarmatians

Scythian dominance of the Pontic steppe to the north of the Black Sea was not to last forever. By the beginning of the second half of the 5th century âñ they began to be pressed by the warlike Sarmatian tribes a related Iranian-speaking nomad people from the eastern Caspian-Aral steppes.

Aunique feature of the Sarmatians, even to a greater extent than with the Scythians, was the practice of using women war­riors in their armies, known to Herodotus as the “Amazons” a name probably derived from the “Am-Azi,” a Sarmatian tribe. Herodotus describes the Amazon women warriors at some length, most of it probably from legend and hearsay but never­theless based on reality. The origin of the female tribe is un­known, but the Amazons seem to have been hostile to men and the traditional gender-based division of labor. After being de­feated by the Greeks in the battle at the river Thermodon (north of the CaucasusMountains?) the women warriors escaped cap­tivity and united with the Scythian herders, somewhere in Ukraine on the Pontic steppe. No doubt impressed by the womens martial qualities the Scythian warriors “desire(d) to get children by the Amazons” but were presented with condi­tions:

We and the women of your (Scythian) nation could never live to­gether; our ways are too much at variance.

Greekwritings have been confirmed by archaeological ex­cavations where Sarmatian female burial mounds are found to contain arrowheads, swords, daggers, and spearheads. Skeletons of 13-14 -year-old girls buried with weapons also show bowed legs indicating horsemanship at an early age. An Etrusco- Campanian bronze bowl from Italy used for mixing wine and water and dating to about 480 âñ has four miniature statues of mounted female Sarmatian/Scythian archers.⁹¹ Another depic­tion is a Greek sarcophagus from Thessaloniki which shows Greek foot soldiers fighting mounted female warriors, perhaps the battle ofThermodon.⁹²

A unique Sarmatian practice was the deformation of boys’ skulls, perhaps practiced amongst families of chieftains for easy recognition. Theypossessed marks or emblems known as “tarn- gas” used from the beginning of the 1st century ad as horse brands or ownership of weapons, or perhaps indicating mem­bership of a military unit.⁹³ The tamgas were probably at the origin ofheraldic insignias in western Europe derived from Sar­matian settlements in Britain and particularly in France in the Loire Valley. Sarmatian warriors had a highly developed sense of personal honor and practiced a code of chivalry towards re­spected opponents and women, the term derived from the French “chevalerie,” or cavalry. The men were polygamous and entertained romantic love which was a part of the tradition of chivalry.

Sarmatians also left a mark in Britain. They often served as mercenary cavalry troops and in ad 175 we know that the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius hired 5,500 members of the Iazyges tribe, who were sent to northern Britain to maintain Roman rule of the conquered Gauls. Having served their term, some Sarmatian cavalrymen settled on the Ribble River in Lan­cashire where we find a grave Stella in Chester depicting a Sar­matian warrior. Their first Roman commander was Lucius Ar- torius Castrus, whose name was adopted by subsequent Sarmatian leaders in Ribchester, according to legend King Arthur and his court at Camelot.⁹⁴

The Sarmatians had an ancient belief that only death in battle was honorable and old men were held in scorn and at his request a father would be killed by his son in a ritual execution. Once Christianity took hold the older men began to enter monasteries. While still in their prime, Sarmatian warriors adopted an original form of decorative art such as bracelets and other jewelry studded with precious or semi-precious stones, in western Europe referred to as Celtic jewelry. Their long double-edged swords in particular were set with large red garnets and gold in the pommel and elsewhere. The style later spread to the Germanic tribes particularly the Merovingian Franks.

The Sarmatian nation consisted of several tribal unions; the Aorsi, Am-Azi, Alani, Iazyges, Saii, and Rox-Alani. Moving west from the Volga and Don rivers they defeated the Scythians on the Black Sea steppes and according to Roman sources they turned the greater part of the Countryinto a desert. Most of the Scythians were incorporated into the Sarmatian host, and the rest retreated to the Crimean Peninsula and west to the Danube River lowlands, such as the Basileans or Royal Scythians who were the tribe of the king. By the 2nd century ad, however, Sar­matian power stretched from the Ural River in southern Russia to Ukraine and the Hungarian plain, and even more so than the Scythians their strength lay in the heavy cavalry equipped with broadswords and long lances wielded by heavily armored riders.

The Sarmatians used a particularly effective style of cavalry warfare, similar to that of the Scythians. An account of the “Scythian” method of fighting was left by an eyewitness, the Eastern Roman Emperor Maurice, who ruled during ad 582- 607. Although specifically referring to the Avars and other Turkic tribes, the tactics and strategies which he describes go back to the days of Sarmatian dominance, and perhaps even earlier.⁹⁵

They are armed with mail, swords, bows, and lances. In combat most of them attack doubly armed: lances slung over their shoul­ders and holding bows in their hands, they make use of both as required.... They give special attention to training in archery on horseback.⁹⁶

The Sarmatians became masters of feints and ambushes, which could be used against a stronger enemy. When attacked, they would flee until the enemy had pursued them for some distance, then Unexpectedlyturn on their pursuers, who by this time had been weakened by a stream of arrows fired backwards, and de­stroy him with lance and sword. When the enemy had a par­ticularly large cavalry force the fleeing Sarmatians would retreat to where another force lay in wait, surround the pursuer and annihilate him. The tactics, along with the heavy armor and long lances, were adopted by the East Roman emperors and used to great effect.

When facing infantry, with a sufficient numerical strength, the Sarmatian Cavalrywould meet the enemy head on. All units would form a single rank which would begin to advance on the enemy positions with both flanks bending in a quarter-moon formation to encircle the enemy infantry. Before launching the final charge with long lances, the enemy would be “softened up” by a continuous hail of arrows. In a variation described by Maurice as “the Alan system,” the horsemen would be divided into an assault and a defense group, all drawn up in a single battle-line, at some distance and unobserved by the enemy, with horsemen of the two groups alternating with each other. The assault troops would advance towards the enemy at a gallop, and halfway turn back and pass through the gaps in their own rank which they had just created. The hope was that the enemy Cavalrywould follow in pursuit, in which case the entire recon­stituted line would charge and surprise the enemy with their increased numbers. Once the enemy cavalry was destroyed the infantry would fall easy prey to the Sarmatian horsemen. Should the enemy not pursue the feint, the Sarmatian assault group would return, split into two, and attack the enemy’s flanks, with the “defensive” portion of the line following behind to charge the enemy’s center. With constant practice the Sarmatians were masters at wheeling in formation and falling on their attackers, often snatching the proverbial victory from the jaws of defeat. As Maurice wrote: “nobody makes a habit of immediately re­trieving a defeat except the Scythians (sic) and it is particularly foreign to the Romans.”

By Maurice’s time the Romans had developed an appar­ently effective defense against enemy cavalry similar to the hol­low square practiced much later in western Europe: “except for a small force all should take their stand on foot... in one four­sided rectangular formation with horses and baggage in the middle, with the soldiers on the outside and the archers on foot in front of them.”⁹⁷

Aparticularlywell-Icnown Sarmatian tribe in western Eu­rope were the Alans, who after raiding Asia Minor and Persia had become established in today’s southern Russia, while further to the west the present Ukrainian steppes were occupied by the Rox-Alani, the West Alans.⁹⁸ Lucian, writing in the 2nd CenturyAD informs us that they spoke the same language as the Scythians and dressed alike, but apparently wore their hair short.

They are described as a handsome people with hair tending to be blonde. Warlike and freedom-loving, “the ferocity of their glance inspires dread, subdued though it is.” Their dress consisted of long, billowy trousers called “sharvars,” leather jerkins or “kurtas,” and leather boots and caps. All were con­sidered equally noble, but judges (when the need arose) were chosen from those who had gained the greatest renown in battle. Like the Scythians, they had a sword-worshipping cult, the sword being stuck in the ground and worshipped as a symbol of the God of War, the protector of the land.