The war as seen by an archaeologist. Reconstruction of barbarian ...

Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 16 2008 119
Fig. 7: Image of a Germanic mounted warrior. Column of Marcus Aurelius, scene XXXIV (CAPRINO et al., 1955, Fig. 44-45).
According to the Ancient sources he organised his state
following the Roman model and had a large army (Velleius
Paterculus II, 109), formed after the Roman pattern. There
are no reasons to assume that the Przeworsk Culture population
had any centrally commanded troops using another style
of fighting than brave but uncoordinated attacks typical of
the majority of the Germans 88 . Moreover, there are no reasons
to believe that the Przeworsk Culture population could
use the horned saddle, so important for throwing a javelin
from horseback. Besides, the occurrences of more than two
shafted weapon heads in one burial are very rare; this seems
to exclude the possibility of using numerous javelins in the
Roman style. The above observations are on a par with the
information given by Tacitus that the Germanic riders, in
contrast to the infantry, did not use javelins but only a shield
and a framea. There thus arises a question as to why in burials
with riding equipment pairs of shafted weapon heads
occur so often? The answer may be that horses indicated the
high rank of the warrior and also were a means of transport
to the battle, an element facilitating chasing the enemy or,
in case of defeat, escape from the battlefield. The combat
Fig. 8: Germanic foot warrior represented on the
Portonaccio Sarcophagus
(HAMBERG 1936, Fig. 14).