Sagittarii
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Sagittarii (Latin, plural form of sagittarius) is the Latin term for
The normal weapon of Roman archers, both infantry and cavalry units, was the composite bow,[5] although Vegetius recommended training recruits "arcubus ligneis" (with wooden bows), which may have been made in the northern European self bow tradition.[6] It has been suggested that most Roman composite bows may have been asymmetric, with lower limbs shorter than the upper.[7]
By the 5th century, there were numerous Roman cavalry regiments trained to use the bow as a supplement to their swords and lances, but the sagittarii appear to have used the bow as their primary rather than supplemental weapon. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, most units of sagittarii, especially equites sagittarii, were in the Eastern empire or in Africa. Possibly some of the other cavalry regiments there carried bows as back-up weapons, but were not the dedicated mounted archers that the sagittarii were. The use of bows as primary weapons probably originated in the East in the later 4th and earlier 5th centuries to help the Roman army counter Persian and Hunnic bow-armed cavalry.
By the time of Procopius's histories and Maurikios's Strategikon, the main effective field arm of Roman armies was cavalry, many of them armed with bows. After the fall of the Western empire, Eastern Roman armies maintained their tradition of horse archery for centuries.
See also
References
- ^ G. L. Cheesman: "Auxilia of the Roman Imperial Army", (1914)
- ^ a b Jeffrey L. Davies: "Roman Arrowheads from Dinorben and the 'Sagittarii' of the Roman Army", Britannia, Vol. 8. (1977), pp. 257-270.
- ^ Knight, Sir James Turner. Pallas armata, Military essayes of the ancient Grecian, Roman, and modern art of war vvritten in the years 1670 and 1671. London: Printed by M.W. for Richard Chiswell (1615-1686). p. 47
- ^ Tacitus, Annales 2.16
- ^ Coulston, J.C. "Roman Archery Equipment. The Production and Distribution of Roman Military Equipment". Ed. M.C. Bishop. Oxford: B.A.R. International Series, 1985. pp. 202-366.
- ^ http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0189/_PG.HTM Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris, book 1, chapter 15
- ISBN 978-1-84217-159-2