The World of Killing the Hydra - Part III - Sarmatian Horse Warriors

It’s been a while since we last visited The World of Killing the Hydra.

I’ve been caught up in writing posts about Herakles and Jason and the Argonauts which, I’m happy to say, have been receiving a lot of great feedback.

The myths have great appeal, so I can see why those posts are so popular.

Today, in this third installment of The World of Killing the Hydra, we’re going to look at a group of warriors who also have ties to myth, and who, as a fighting force, became legendary in the Roman world.

I want to talk about the Sarmatians.

In Killing the Hydra, Lucius Metellus Anguis finds himself getting to know the men of the cavalry ala of Sarmatians who have been sent to join the III Augustan Legion at Lambaesis, in Numidia.

Artist impression of Sarmatian Cavalry

The leader of this fighting force is Mar, a king of his people who led them against Rome in the wars with Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Mar is joined by his royal nephew, Dagon, and both men play a key part in the story.

But who were the Sarmatians?

The average person has not heard about this group of warriors that came to form the elite heavy cavalry of the Roman Empire. Most people probably know of them only from the role they play in the movie King Arthur, with Clive Owen.

Researching Sarmatian warrior culture was a fascinating part of the research for Killing the Hydra.

The Sarmatians were a Scythian-speaking people from north of the Black Sea, and the high point of their civilization spanned from the 5^th B.C. to the 4^th century A.D. when they eventually went into decline because of pressure from the Huns and Goths.

Lance head of a Sarmatian 'contos', a 16 foot lance

The Sarmatians were a nomadic Steppe culture whose lands extended from the Black Sea to beyond the Volga in western Scythia.

Herodotus believed the Sarmatians (or ‘Sauromatae’) were descended from intermarriage between Scythian men and Amazon women, and that ever since the two peoples joined:

"the women of the Sauromatae have kept their old ways, riding to the hunt on horseback sometimes with, sometimes without, their men, taking part in war and wearing the same sort of clothes as men… They have a marriage law which forbids a girl to marry until she has killed an enemy in battle; some of their women, unable to fulfill this condition, grow old and die unmarried." 

(Herodotus, The Histories, Book IV)

Indeed Sarmatian grave discoveries have revealed armed women warriors, so it seems likely that such tales would easily have given rise to the Greek perception that the Sarmatians were descended from the Amazons, those beautiful and terrible daughters of Ares.

Amazons in Battle

In Killing the Hydra, Mar, in conversation with Lucius, relates to the young Roman how the women of their people also fought:

"The women of our land are brave souls. We do not lock them up before the hearths of our homes. They are free to ride with us and wield the sacred sword. Some are priestesses and others have been gifted by our gods with foresight. Sarmatian women are nobler than what your Latin word 'noble' implies."

(Mar, in Killing the Hydra)

And what of the men? Sarmatian men were fierce warriors and skilled horsemen, and according to the Roman writer Ammianus Marcellinus, they:

“...have very long spears and cuirasses made from smooth and polished pieces of horn, fastened like scales to linen shirts; most of their horses are made serviceable by gelding, in order that they may not at sight of mares become excited and run away, or when in ambush become unruly and betray their riders by loud neighing. And they run over very great distances, pursuing others or themselves turning their backs, being mounted on swift and obedient horses and leading one, or sometimes even two, to the end that an exchange may keep up the strength of their mounts and that their freshness may be renewed by alternate periods of rest.” (Ammianus Marcelinus, Roman History, Book XVII)

Sarmatian Crown

 Sarmatian art and culture is also very rich.

Animal imagery was common in their artwork and often included such totem animals as dragons, griffins, eagles, sphinxes, snake women, and of course, horses. Often, these images were tattooed on their bodies.

The characters of Mar and Dagon are naturally curious about the dragon imagery on Lucius’ armour and weapons. They see it as a sign.

Also, if you remember the Sibyl’s prophecy from Children of Apollo, you will know that Lucius’ meeting with the Sarmatians is no coincidence.

The Sarmatians take their gods very seriously, but the one they most revered was their war god who was represented by the Sacred Sword.

Sarmatian Warriors on
Trajan's Column

The Sarmatians’ favourite trial of strength was single combat.

They believed that there was mystical power in battle, and when they defeated their enemies, it’s said they often took the heads, scalps, and beards of the vanquished, drinking blood from the skulls of the slain.

Ancient cultures often did have what we might perceive as barbaric rituals, but it’s sometimes difficult to detect truth in the midst of Greek and Roman propaganda or storytelling.

The picture painted does make for a wonderfully colourful group of warriors.

Despite the tales of fighting women, magic swords, scalping, and the drinking of blood, there is one fact that remains certain – the Sarmatians were some of the best cavalry the world had ever seen.

They were sometimes known as ‘lizard people’ because of their scale armour which covered both the horse and rider almost completely.

The Sarmatians were heavy cataphracts, the shock troops that were used to ride down the enemy while wielding their long swords, and the contos, a lance of about five meters, or sixteen feet long.

Artist impression of a
Draconarius carrying a Draco 

The image that the Sarmatians are probably most known for, however, is the draconarius.

This was their war standard which they carried into battle. It consisted of a bronze dragon’s head with a long wind sock attached to it. It was held on a pole and carried at a gallop. When the wind passed through the draco, it made a loud howling sound that was to terrify the enemy.

The draco was adopted as a standard by all Roman cavalry in the 3^rd century A.D.

It’s amazing that, as a highly disciplined fighting force, the Sarmatians remained active for as long as nine centuries.

When Marcus Aurelius won a decisive victory of the Sarmatians in A.D. 175, he obtained a force of heavy cavalry for Rome that would make the auxiliary forces much more of a force to be reckoned with.

Coin of Marcus Aurelius showing Sarmatian captives

As ever, the Romans knew a good thing when they saw it.

In the aftermath of Rome’s victory, Marcus Aurelius obtained 8000 heavy Sarmatian cataphracts which became the most skilled cavalry of the age.

It is these warriors, descended from the Amazons and mighty Scythians of the Steppes, who now step into The World of Killing the Hydra.

Mar, Dagon, and their warriors turn the tides of war against the nomads in Numidia, and become an important new force in the life of Lucius Metellus Anguis.

Draco standard

The Dragons are now in the thick of it with the Eagles of Rome.

Thank you for reading. 

Site Visits and Writing Historical Fiction

Sunning myself in the Sahara
In January!

As you can probably tell from many of the posts on this blog, travelling is one of my biggest inspirations.

I truly believe that travel is the best education you can get, and if it weren’t for the need to have academic degrees to achieve a measure of acceptance when looking for work, I’d say you would be much better off putting all that university tuition money toward travelling around the world.

The experiences and knowledge you gain from travelling are invaluable.

Not long ago, I was a guest on the site of my good friend and fellow historical fantasy author, Roberto Calas.

In the post, I talk about travel and the importance of site visits when writing historical fiction. If that sounds interesting, you’ll want to read Get thee to a Castle (if you can)! – Historical Fiction and Site Visits

Roberto has been a guest on Writing the Past before. You can read his post HERE. 

If Medieval historical fantasy is your thing, you’ll definitely want to check out Roberto’s series The Scourge. It’s an action packed adventure with knights, ladies, an apocalyptic plague, and loads of accurate historical research by the author.

Finally, a note of thanks to all of you!

Killing the Hydra has been out for just over a week now and (as I write this) it is at #16 in Ancient History on Kobo, and in the Top 100 (#49) on Amazon in the category of Greek and Roman Fantasy. 

On Kobo

Those numbers will likely change by the time you read this, but it is nice to see nonetheless.

So, thank you for the fantastic support, for spreading the word, and, as ever, thank you for reading!

Next week I’ll have a very interesting post on some special site museums that have made a big difference to my research over the years.

Eagles and Dragons - The Mixed Bag Post

The last few weeks have been like prep for a military campaign into the wilds of Dacia, or some such place.

Releasing a new book can be exhausting, a logistical nightmare. But it's also exciting, especially when early input from beta readers has been so favourable. I know it has been a long time since the launch of Children of Apollo, so I am grateful that you have stuck with me. It won't take as long for the release of Book III, I can tell you.

There are a few things I wanted to update you on.



Killing the Hydra

First of all, last week I released the book trailer for Killing the Hydra - Eagles and Dragons Book II. You can watch it right here:

If you are saying to yourself that 'most of those paintings are representations of scenes from Homer', you are correct. It is not completely unrelated to the story as you will find out if you read Killing the Hydra.

Killing the Hydra will be released this coming Friday, March 7th, in e-book and paperback on both Amazon and Kobo at an introductory special. More details to come on that…


Children of Apollo 

In the run-up to the release of Book II, I've put the e-book of Children of Apollo - Eagles and Dragons Book I on special offer until March 6th.

If you haven't read it, and if your curiosity is piqued, do be sure to take advantage and download your copy.

Is is available for FREE from Kobo at the following link: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/children-of-apollo-1

Kobo e-books can be read on their own e-readers as well as iPads, iPhones, Android devices,
computers and any other tablets. You can also get the free Kobo reading apps here: http://www.kobo.com/apps?___store=ca-en&style=onestore

Children of Apollo is also discounted to .99 cents on Amazon for Kindle e-readers HERE. I should also note that I've ensured that whenever someone purchases the paperback of any of my books from Amazon, they can get the e-book version as well, for free.

I'm really proud of this series and how it is evolving. I'm also very grateful to those who have taken the time to write a review on-line, which is always very important in helping other readers to find the books.

English Historical Fiction Authors

For the blog post this week, I was invited to write a guest post for a wonderful website called English Historical Fiction Authors.

This is a site that is well worth subscribing to if you are a fan of various periods in history. They are always posting new content by a wide range of wonderful authors. So, it is definitely an honour for me to have been invited to post.

If you are curious about the research for Eagles and Dragons Book III, you'll want to read my post called From the Sands of Africa to a Hidden Frontier in Roman Britain.

In it, I discuss the research for Warriors of Epona and how the archaeology of a little-known Roman frontier in Scotland must play a part in the story. This is a sort of work-in-progress sneak peak. 

The folks at English Historical Fiction Authors have asked me back for another post in April, so I am looking forward to that too.

That's all for now. Thank you, as ever, for reading and I'll see you on the other side of launch week!

Sneak Peek - Killing the Hydra - Eagles and Dragons Book II

Salve fellow history lovers!

A couple of posts ago, I told you that I would be posting short excerpts of Killing the Hydra prior to the official launch.

And so, as promised, here is the first one. I've tried to pick something that won't have any spoilers in it.

In this scene, Lucius is back in North Africa. He is travelling incognito (for a very good reason!) to the legionary base at Lambaesis in Numidia, where his men are stationed.

On the way, he must stop for a night in the town of Thugga. This was a massive Roman settlement in what is now central Tunisia. It contains some of the most impressive and intact remains that I have ever seen.

When Lucius arrives in Thugga, he finds himself in trouble and it is then that he enlists the help of a very unlikely person.

This is from Chapter V - 'On the Road to Cirta':

A day later, after another damp night out of doors, Lucius passed the milestone indicating that Thugga was a mere eight miles away. The sun was somewhat blotted out due to the low clouds that encircled the surrounding hills as he drew near to the city. It seemed odd that such a large and prosperous settlement should be found in so remote and quiet a region. The road was extremely well-kept and was flanked with many impressive shrines and tombs the closer he came to the settlement. Finally, the city came into full view, its vast array of bright buildings cutting through the cloud, foremost among them the tall peak of the Capitol with the image of an eagle soaring above the streets.

Thugga overlooked vast olive groves that blanketed the rolling land. It was a prosperous city with many new buildings in evidence; it even had an arch recently dedicated to the Emperor through which Lucius passed as he entered the city on the Carthage road. As he looked up, he was struck by how the buildings radiated from the Capitol at the top to cover the sloping hill like the surrounding olive groves. To the south of the city limits stood a lonely Punic mausoleum jutting out among the trees.

The streets were densely packed and Lucius could hear noise from the theatre at the top of the hill and the hippodrome to the north. Beautiful temples stood all around the walls providing the citizens with pockets of peaceful silence away from the forum and places of entertainment. Just inside the eastern gate, along the main road, Lucius spotted a large inn with stables in the rear and decided it might be a good place to spend the night as he could not take the wagon further into the city.

The inn was at the corner of two streets. Lucius left the wagon with the slave out front to whom he gave a denarius to watch his belongings. The man nodded, planted himself next to the horses and held the reigns tightly in his hand while Lucius went inside. He was welcomed by a man of Punic origin who was gaudily dressed in purple, gold and orange robes. His bangled arms clanged as he raised them in greeting to the traveller.

“Come, come inside, oh weary traveller!” he said in what must have been a completely new version of Latin. Lucius struggled to understand him. “You need a room for the night, two nights, a week?” His groomed eyebrows pointed upward curiously as he looked for a money pouch at Lucius’ waist.

“Just one night.”

“Very well, very well. I have a room for you. Only twenty denarii!”

“Twenty!” He must be putting me on? Lucius wondered.

“Thugga is a prosperous city, citizen, and very expensive during the games.”

“Very well.” Lucius laughed to himself as the man continued looking for a money pouch. “I’ll take it as long as you stable my horses and wagon for the night. I set out early in the morning.”

“Very good! Excellent!” The man clapped his hands and rubbed them together briskly. “You do have coins, do you not?”

“Something better, my good man!” Lucius reached into his satchel.

“Gold!” The proprietor was practically jumping up and down like a child awaiting honeyed sweets. “You have gold! Oh, may the Gods bless you!”

“No. Not gold. Here.” Lucius produced the Imperial pass and handed it to the man whose giddiness soon vanished as if he had lead weights tied to his feet. He frowned and huffed. Evidently, he had seen this sort of thing before and was clearly disappointed.

“Not another!” he said to himself. “I knew I should have opened an inn in the area closer to the forum! Everybody has coin there. But here? No! Travellers passing through with Imperial passes!”

“I can go elsewhere if you do not wish to honour the Emperor’s seal,” Lucius said sternly. The man lightened up slightly.

“No! It is fine. I honour the Emperor’s seal.” He knew that if he did not, he would have trouble from the local magistrate. “Come with me to your room.” Lucius followed him up some stairs to a small room with a single bed and a small table. Not the most luxurious room in the house, but good enough for one night. “Here it is. The stables are around back. I keep them guarded all the time, so do not worry about any belongings,” he said curtly.

“Good. Are there baths in the town?” Lucius asked.

“Of course there are baths in the town!” The man looked greatly insulted. “Thugga has three baths! There is the large one down the road you came in on, there is the one at the brothel up the street in front of this inn if that is to your taste…” He winked at Lucius who ignored him. The man cleared his throat and stepped back. “Or, if you prefer, the family of the Licinii has recently constructed a beautiful bath complex toward the centre of town. Very nice, that one!”

“That sounds good.” Lucius then followed the man downstairs and took his wagon to the rear of the building where he stabled the horses and hid the wagon as best he could, covering the trunks with some loose planks of wood so that they were not evident in the dark. They had locks on them, but one never knew who was about at night.

With a change of clothes in his satchel, Lucius left the inn and walked up the street. At the second intersection, he found himself in the shadow of a giant marble phallus that protruded, very erect, from the front of a small complex. The brothel.

“By Bacchus!” Lucius laughed. He could hear giggling from within, mingled with moans and pitched screams of some form or another. A half-dressed man came running out into the street smiling and entered the next door where the public latrines were located. Soon after, he emerged quite relieved and re-entered the brothel beneath the giant phallus. Lucius moved on to the new baths. Just as he turned, a woman appeared in the doorway of the brothel.

“Hellooo!” she said in a feigned sultry voice. “Looking for company, Roman?” She was of an average height, dark and slender. She would have been beautiful if not for the thick layer of stibium around her eyes, the scent of previous customers and a musky oil that emanated from her body.

“No, erm, thank you,” he said politely as he turned to go.

“Don’t leave so soon!” She skipped after him, her silver anklets and bracelets jingling as she went. “I’m only being friendly!”

“Sorry, but I really must go now. Thanks for the offer.” Lucius continued walking, embarrassed by the unwanted stares he received by passing locals. The girl was unperturbed.

“My name’s Dido,” she said.

“Of course it is.”

“What’s yours?”

“Aeneas.”

“Ha! You’re playing with me, Roman! What’s your real name?” she persisted.

“Titus.” Lucius did not want to give his real name to her. He walked faster to escape her strong smell but she was fleet-footed.

“Oooo. I like that name. Titus, how would you like to play with me? Half price for the entire night. You look like you could do that.” She poked Lucius in the side and he stopped.

“Look here, Dido! I’ve been travelling for two days, I’m tired and there’s only ever one woman on my mind or in my bed: my wife! So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone, understand?” He continued walking and she followed him up the wide marble avenue that curved around the baths up the hill.

“Oh ho! You’re a feisty one! I like that. But since when is being married something to prevent a man travelling by himself from having a little fun?”

“Since me, woman! All right?” He stopped outside the doors to the baths. Dido lowered her head a little, either in disappointment or embarrassment. “Look,” said Lucius, feeling badly he had raised his voice to her so loudly. “I’m tired, filthy and otherwise extremely happy with my situation. Thank you again for your offer, but I’m sure that there are plenty of other men who would welcome a night immersed in your pleasures. Just not me.” Dido raised her head and smiled understandingly, her eyes glistening behind the dark stibium. 

“Forgive me, Titus. It’s rare that a man like you passes through Thugga. I respect your situation and though my offer still stands, I understand your reasoning. Good evening to you and may Baal protect you on your journey.” With that, she turned and went back down the white street, her bare feet smacking on the marble to the tune of her jingling jewellery.

The Capitol of Thugga

An average street in Thugga

The 'House of the Cyclops'
Thugga's brothel
(draw your own conclusions about the name)