[gothic-l] Gothic Advantages- Horses

[Bertil Haggman]

Einar,

Thanks for your comments on the advantages of
the Goths over the Romans. It might have been different
in viking era Iceland. Horses in the Late Roman period
of course were fed grain but also fed on grass.

It was naturally impossible for the Romans to introduce
cavalry at short notice. They lacked training and had to
rely on Gothic and other Germanic cavalry, who in turn had
lerned there craft from Huns and other steppe peoples.

Using horses in warfare was revolutionary and even if the
Romans had managed to establish large cavalry units,
there would not have been the training and experience
of many hundred years that made the Asiatic cavalryman
superior. The Romans also lacked the complex of the horse-
associated system of values (ethics of warfare, for instance).

The cumbersome system of legionary infantry was kept
long into the 17th century by the Spanish. The tertio was
used during the Thirty Years War and was defeated by the
more moveable system introduced by the Dutch and the Swedish.
Part of the West Roman catastrophy was thus that the empire's rulers
failed to understand the importance of cavalry and that the legions
were losing their importance.

The West Roman empire could not be compared to the empire
around 0 BC. It was by the time of the onslaught of the Goths and
other Germanic peoples a "poor" empire.

Thanks for your always valuable Icelandic perspective. I hope
Icelandic scholars are undertaking DNA studies of the oldest
Icelandic horse skeletons. Agree that would be highly interesting.
Especially the Erulic-Gothic perspective.

Gothically

Bertil



>I have problems digesting this comment about grain eating horses. 

Grain are much used today(not in Iceland) to feed horses. But the 
older horse races did not feed on grain. Icelandic horses were never 
given grain. They ate grass. And still do,though today grain might be 
used to suppliment their diet.                            

They are even kept out the whole winter up here to make them strong. 
Then they are given dry grass and access to a shelter. Then they dig 
through the snow and eat,yes frozen grass. 

These are small and disease free horses. You cannot compare the old 
races to the horses you see around in Europe today. Except the 
Icelandic horse ( and presumably the other older races!). The older 
races were much healthier,more resistant to diseases,needed less care 
and less to eat.
Horse race like the Icelandic one would be perfect for somebody using 
a bow. Because those horses have the ability to walk/run in a special 
way making it easy for the rider to hold balance and use a bow.

This way of walking/running, the horse can do in 5 ways(I think) but 
that ability all these "newer" races do not have. Maybe 3 ways!

The origin of the Icelandic horse is not known. It is not related to 
Norwegian breeds. Not as far as I know.

It is accepted that this race came with the settlers about 1100 years 
ago.
It has been connected to races in Scotland but I think that they 
should:                                                             

Do DNA analysis of skeletons from:                                 

a. Continental Europe from the period,lets say 300-550 A.D. from 
areas connected to the Heruli,Huns and Longobards.

b. Lake Mälar area in Sweden from about 450 - 500 A.D. and up to 700 -
800 A.D.

c. South East Norway. From about 700 A.D to about 900 A.D. 

d. Iceland from the early periods. That is from the 9th and 10th 
centuries.

There are lots of old horse skeletons around in these places in 
graves. So it would be easy to compare. 
Was there not even a horse head in Zuran! Lots of horses in the 
Icelandic pagan graves and I think too in S-E Norway and lake Mälar 
area.

Would be interesting to see the results of such a study.

 The Icelandic horse has changed little from the 9-10th centuries. 
That is for about 1100 years,then I see no reason it would have 
changed so much genetically from , say the 6th century to the 9th 
century.

I have problems believing the Romans were too poor to have horses. 
And the horses have great advantages as carriers of supplies and 
could therefore save time,manpower and energy.

> 
> Rome would have to shift from infantry to cavalry quickly. This was
> of course impossible because the weakened Classical economic
> system could not support a large number of horses. Being grain-
eating
> animals they competed for food directly with man. Agriculture in the
> Mediterranean economy was weak. It was based on institutionalized
> slavery and could not produce such a surplus. Yet without cavalry 
society
> could not resist the Goths.



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