(1) Sarmatian cataphract; Adygeia, c. 110 AD
Archaeological finds at the Gorodoskoy farm site on the
ancient Pontic steppes in Adygeia (Russian Federation)
revealed the impressive armour of a true Sarmatian
cataphractus, a prototype for the Roman armoured contarius.
He wears a segmented iron spangenhelm with an attached
scale aventail; the skull consists of four vertical pieces with the
space between filled with horizontal strips, as depicted on
Trajan’s Column. The height of the occupant of the grave was
about 1.7m (5ft 6in), and the superb ringmail coat was up to
1.5m long (4ft 11in). At the top it fastened with buckles to the
scale aventail. At the bottom it was divided into two flaps,
allowing the wearer to sit on a horse with ease; the flaps were
wrapped around the legs like trousers, being fastened in this
position above the knee and on the shins with wide ringmail
strips. Because of the poor preservation of the recovered
armour the length of the sleeves is not clear, but given the
degree of easy movement that would be required to wield the
swords and javelins found in such graves we assume that they
ended at the elbows. He carries a long spatha-type sword, but
his main weapon is the very long contus sarmaticus.
(2) Decurio of Ala Prima Gallorum et Pannoniorum
catafractata, 2nd century AD
The reconstruction of this junior officer is based on the studies
of Gamber. He proposes that the chamfron found at Newstead,
Scotland, and other recovered fragments of leather horse
armour decorated with rivets, give an idea of the appearance
of the mounts used by the early Roman cataphracts. The
decurion’s personal armour is reconstructed from Pannonian
gravestones and archaeological finds; the troopers also could
wear decorated helmets like this Trajanic or Hadrianic example
from Brza Palanka, and bronze ocreae (greaves). We have
completed him with full-length ‘hooped’ articulated arm
protection (the galerus), a cavalry spatha and the contus.
(3) Praefectus of an Ala catafractata, late 2nd century AD
This unit commander is largely reconstructed from the horseman
balteus decoration from Trecenta in the Veneto region of northeast
Italy. The officers of the cataphracts wore beautiful decorated
helmets of Hellenic taste, here copied from an open-mask
specimen ex-Axel Guttman collection (AG451). He is wearing a
composite armour formed by a thorax stadios and laminae
vertically disposed around the lower trunk, following the system
of the Iranian ‘belt armour’, and copper-alloy greaves. Gamber
proposes the mace as an officer’s weapon, which may be
confirmed by a specimen found in Dura Europos associated with
cavalry finds, and by the fighting position of the cavalryman
represented on the Trecenta balteus fitting. A regimental
commander’s horse equipment would be suitably magnificent;
decorated pectoral protections with embossed figures, and
partial bronze chamfrons with eye-protectors, have been found
near Brescia, Turin, Vienna and in other localities.