Customer Reviews

The Sarmatians 600 BC-AD 450 (Men-at-Arms)

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"The Sarmatians 600 BC - AD 450" by Richard Brzezinski and Mariusz Mielczarek is an excellent resource about Sarmatians. The book lives up to the typical Osprey "Men-at-Arms" series standards; it provides a brief overview, along with many photographs of paintings and sculptures, and contains color plates depicting various scenes. The book is great as it draws from many accounts of ancient texts that mention the Sarmatians.

The Sarmatians were a nomadic people that came out of Iran in ancient times. There were various groups of Sarmatians, such as the Alans, Iazyges, Roxolani, Siraces, and Aorsi. My interest in the Sarmatians stems from the 17th century Polish nobles belief that they were descended from the Sarmatians. They even made their armor look like what they thought Sarmatian armor was like. This book provided me with insight into this subject. This book brushes on this topic, but by no means focuses on it and is only a small fragment of the information contained within this book.

The authors state that for centuries it was believed that the Sarmatians were the ancestors of the Slavs, as they lived on the same land and as one appeared the other disappeared. Furthermore, the authors state:

"Linguists and archeologists have long dismissed this idea; but at the same time have turned up evidence of the seminal influence of the Sarmatians on Slav language, art and religion. Indeed, it is now accepted that the Sarmatians merged in with pre-Slavic populations. Both Serb and Croat seem to be Slavicised Alan tribal names. The myth of Sarmatian origins took a strong hold in Poland, where the Alans had a minor presence. (p.39)"

Dismissing this idea into the class of myth may be just a form of extreme skepticism. It seems contradictory that the idea is dismissed, yet evidence in support of it has grown. Perhaps, it just goes to show the ancient beliefs were accurate in some cases, and modern re-thinking only distorts us from the truth.

Personally, I found it interesting that swords with ring shaped pommels were popular among the Sarmatians from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, as my family coat of arms has a sword with a ring shaped pommel.

This book was the first Osprey book I ever bought, but has inspired me to come back for, so far, about seventy more. It is an excellent source on this oft-overlooked warrior people, giving a summary of the history of the various tribes (Aorsi, Alans, Rhoxolani, etc.) and then going on to examine tactics, armor, lancing gear, blades, archery equipment, and lassos. Their roles in the 3rd-5th Century Roman army, as well as their possible role in the myth of King Arthur is also examined. The book also briefly looks at the unique Kingdom of the Bosporan Cimmerians, a Crimean people who combined the military thought of the Romans, Greeks, Gauls, Scythians, and Sarmatians. This is an excellent source on some of Rome's most fearsome 'barbarians'!

This is a very good source of information as it gives you alot of detail without going into various documents or expensive books. The details on the pictures and weapons are excellent and that is why this is such a good book. A 5/5 for this one.

Very few individuals are even aware of the existence of these forgotten northern Iranians. In the west, the Saramatians are incorrectly assumed to be another group of "Eastern Germans" (Ostrogoths). Some western authors have recently attempted to avoid referring to the Saramatians Iranian origins. Nevertheless History cannot be changed and the descendents of the Saramatians now live in a region called Ossetia (between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Georgia). The Ossetians speak an Iranian language related to the Farsi of Iran. This book is of interest in the following areas:



(1) The role of women in ancient Iranian society. There are two color plates that show women in positions of authority. Plate A (p.25) shows an "Amazon" (Greek term for northern Iranian warrior women) capturing an enemy with a lasso. Plate C (p.27) illustrates a matriarch receiving prisoners.



(2) The influence of the Sarmatians on the British legend of King Arthur.



(3) Saramatian influences on Roman cavalry. Note that the Romans were already heavily influenced by the technology of the Iranians of Persia (especially the Parthians and the Sassanians).



This book mainly covers military affairs. It outlines the Iranian origins of the Saramatians and discusses each of the tribes (Iazyges, Alans, Roxolan, Siraces and Aorsi). It is important to note that the Saramatians also bought many facets of the culture and architecture of Persia into Europe. One example is the "Dutch" windmill which actually originated in Khorassan in the Sassanian era. The Saramatians also combined Persian and Greek architecture and helped form the basis of Gothic, Merovingian and Rennaissance architecture. Despite the scope of Iranian influence on European culture, their legacy is passed over in silence. Books such as these will help us remember the exploits of these forgotten Iranians.