[gothic-l] Gothic Cavalry Strength

[Lada]

----- Original Message -----
From: Bertil Haggman <mvk575b at tninet.se>
To: <gothic-l at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2002 9:46 PM
Subject: [gothic-l] Gothic Cavalry Strength


> Berill,
     As far asI can recolect, Gothic heavy cavalry is mentioned in reports
about the battle at Hadrianople. Small horses can't bear much armour, so it
could be sound to conclude that Goths used western breeds of horses.
Germanic peoples of the middle ages rarely emplyd cavalry in battle. One
could mentin the Battle of Hastings, where Anglo-Saxon infantry faced Norman
cavalry. Or the account  of Battle of Maldon.
     Gaul supplied great Chargers to the Roman Army. Perhaps they got to be
used throughout central Europe?
                               Il Akkad


Einar and Tore,
>
> Even if Icelandic and Gotlandic horses were allowed to graze
> this would not have been possible for the military commanders
> of a weakened West Roman empire, where the commanders
> were Gothic and others anyway.
>
> The Goths learned from the Huns the use of the horse and
> could during migration let the horses graze. During military
> campaigning the natural security decisions don't allow
> grazing. Grain feeding is necessary and that was the problem
> the Romans faced. Roman cavalry had also earlier consisted
> mainly of recruits from different parts of the empire.
>
> If we turn to special works on the Late Roman Empire I would
> like to recommend Arther Ferrill, _The Fall of the Roman Empire:
> The Military Explanation_, London:Thames and Hudson, 1986.
>
> The Roman Army was under threat from the at least the beginning
> of the 4th century AD - afflicted by man-power shortages, loss
> of status, declining morale, and rampant indiscipline. These are
> well known facts. Of course, it has to be admitted, that at times
> the Roman Army fought valiantly. Roman cavalry, quite under
> strength for the task facing fighting armies based on horse culture,
> was strategically inefficient, although it could at times be
> tactically efficient. There was always the need to protect the
> horses of the small cavalry detachments from surprise raids.
>
> Thus Quigley, whose book is of course very broad because the
> large time span it covers, has a point here. It is, as he
> notes in the subtitle, _An Introduction to Historical Analysis_.
> I think it is important to bring in this broad perspective to avoid
> too much concentration on a few recent archaelogical articles
> in reviews.
>
> An important aspect of the Gothic warfare during the late empire
> was also the sociology of weaponry, how structure and development
> of society could be a reflection of the weapon system (in this case
> cavalry) and military organization among the Goths.
>
> Gothically
>
> Bertil
>
>
>
>
>
>
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