Plutarch's Wars: He's Spartacus

 Spartacus is one of the most well known figures of antiquity, perhaps as familiar to many as Julius Caesar. The Kubrick film is largely to blame although his story had entered the general public perception even before that through at least two novels and also via Karl Marx into the sphere of revolutionary politics. Within the last few years, the doubtlessly highly historical drama based on Spartacus has hit television screens and there has been a burgeoning industry in both fiction and factual books on the gladiator.

 His whole career is covered in a variety of ancient sources but even then there are really very few words written about him in those books. Even adding in the other two major slave revolts, the information would cover a handful of pages. I'll put a list of the sources and some links at the end. Modern writers have expanded on this and tried to reconcile the sometimes contradictory statements with a greater or lesser degree of success.

I won't try to write a resume of the wars - there is enough online. I'll concentrate on what I did to build a 15mm wargames army for DBMM.

 There are times where the purchase of a new army creeps up on you in a number of insidious ways until, before you know it, you find yourself immersed in lead.

 The first step would have been easy to stop at. On a visit to Oxford, I looked in the window of a novelty tee-shirt shop and saw 'I'm Spartacus'. That's for me, I thought.
 The next step was that my interest in the late Republic grew. I thought the slave revolts sounded interesting, but not very practical to get an army.
 Soon after, we had a DBA competition at my club based around the late Republic. I had time, so I thought I'd give the slaves a go. After all, its only twelve elements - less than sixty figures. No problem.

 Then, I kept coming across discounted packs of Xyston figures. Some from ebay, some from a bring and buy and others from people selling off stock. Before I knew it I had well over 100 figures, mostly psiloi.
 I made a start on adding to the DBA army to get ready for a DBMM100 game although that was cancelled. Then I thought I'd get them done to play DBMM200. Before I knew it, I was suggesting to my doubles partner that we took a 500 AP army to the Burton doubles.
 That was in October I think. I already had a lot of the lead and added more to it, some of it due to Xyston bringing out more packs which I thought would mix well and partly to replace stuff I bought at Derby and promptly lost. Christmas should have seen plenting of painting time but I was struck low by various ailments so I was still basing and painting the week before the competition. It didn't help that on the final night, I checked the list and found I was a cavalry general short. I had suitable figures and managed to get him done, finishing the base at 6.30 in the morning before setting out for Burton!

The DBMM slave revolt list is split by period to represent the three major revolts, each being seen as having its distinctive features. Mine has been built for Spartacus's rebellion but I used some sources for the earlier periods for a but of inspiration.

The army is composed of, in DBMM terms, ex-slaves (horde superior), ex-slaves in Roman gear (blade inferior), gladiators and veterans (blade ordinary), shepherds (psiloi inferior), Gallic and German veterans (warband ordinary and superior) and cavalry (cavalry ordinary).

The Gladiators





I steered clear of using gladiator figures for these for two reasons. One is that Plutarch says the escaping gladiators abandoned their gladiatorial equipment very quickly. Another is that the equipment of the early 1st century BC had probably not stabilised into the types which became the norm in the Imperial era. At this time they seem to have been basically the Samnite, the Thracian and the Gaul. There is even a suggestion that Spartacus was a 'Thracian' gladiator rather than being a native of the place, with the name being a pseudonym. However, most of the sources do give his origin as being Thrace.  The one bit of kit I've used which may have been gladiatorial is the Samnite shield. This is shown in various sculptures and described by Livy. Whether he is right about their origin, this shape of shield does seem to have been used by gladiators of the 1st century BC.

http://www.livius.org/a/1/romanempire/gladiators_sIBCE_mus_munchen.JPG is an intersesting 1st century BC depiction of gladiators.

UPDATE: http://archive.archaeology.org/image.php?page=0709/trenches/jpegs/gladiators2.jpg is a fairly recently recovered 1st century BC frieze of gladiators.

For those who still want to use gladiator figures, there are some useful comparison figures of various manufacturers at Irregular Wars . He also has shots of various period civilians.


 For Spartacus and one of his sub-generals I used Xyston Gallic nobles. These are very animated figures though a little smaller than the Romans and some of their other figures and have been mounted on a bit of plastic card to even out the heights. There may be differences in the build of different men but you can hardly have Spartacus being towered over by his men. I've thinned the swords somewhat and made Spartacus's curved to represent a sica. This may well be (literally) poetic licence - Sidonius's poem written half a millenium later describes the use of such a sword. The figure is also carrying the small squarish shield of a Thraex - I cut it down from a Xyston Gallic oval shield. Florus (2.8.12) describes him as a murmillo though this could also be a literary fluorish especially as the name seems to have been used for the type known as the Gaul once that province had been pacified.

 The fighters accompanying them are Principes and Triarii from the Republican Roman range. I've taken off the feathers from the helmets. There are also one or two of the Carthaginian veterans in Roman armour. I've also used some lictors - "his men brought to their leader the insignia and fasces captured from the praetors" (Florus). It helps to identify the generals from afar. One of the standard bearers has lost his hand in a previous fight (also known as a miscast).

 The rest of the ex-slaves with Roman gear are a mishmash of Xyston types. From the Roman range there are a few hastati (mostly with the armour painted out), accensi, rorarii and penal legionaries. There are some Greek hamippoi and a few peltasts in pilos. One or two are Gauls with the trousers carved off and the tunic slightly lengthened but I found this took too long to be worth the results.


The shields are mostly a mix of the Xyston Roman shields, Italian scuta, Samnite shields and a few Gallic ovals. Some have been hacked about to give that 'one unlucky previous owner' look. There are pila holes in some though these can't really be seen and wasn't worth the effort. A few have been painted to look as if the leather outer layer has begun to fall off. Exactly what Republican Roman shield designs were is the source of much debate. I've used some patterns from the early Empire, a few inspired by a later painting of gladiators and some from a Republican monument. In some cases I have painted the same design but different colours. This may have been a way of distinguishing cohortes. Some are plain red with a yellow strip across the top or either side of the boss. I've imagined these as being local troops with a shield giving the name of their city. I have no evidence for this!






 I wanted the warband to look different enough to be identified easily but still like recently freed slaves. There is a picture in the Osprey Spartacus book showing an attack by Crixus's Germans who look as if they have recently trotted over the Alps. I doubt that many would have had the time, the resources or the inclination to get themselves trousers made.

The first way I distinguished them was to use different shields. The superior warband carry a long shield which appear to be "rude shields of wicker work and the skins of animals" (Florus)
These are from Xyston's Skythian range. They look very similar to the 'ancile' - the shield of Mars. There are shields of this type shown on the Munatius Plancus mausoleum which _may_ be Gallic going by some of the other equipment also shown. The best photos I've seen are in D'Amato and Sumner.
 To increase the ease of identifying the elements and also for effect, I used quite a few velites wearing animal skins and put some dogs on the stands. More on this later...

 The ordinary warband carry round shields which again look as if covered in animal hides. "...small circular shields for themselves like those used by cavalrymen." (Sallust, Historia). They may not be rolling burning logs at the enemy but some are carrying torches to burn the property of the slave-owners or interfere with Roman fortifications. Most of these figures are either of the types of hamippoi from Xyston with a few others including some peltasts in pilos. While the felt or fur cap may be suitable for freed slaves (albeit these had freed themselves!) I had a go at converting a few by using greenstuff to give them helmets. Some are bit bulky but overall not too bad. There are also some scratchbuilt swords. My first go was to carve some out of plastic strip. These looked pretty good but it seems the superglue weakened them and they all snapped off. Instead, I squashed some wire and shaped the point.


 The horde and shepherds are mostly Xyston psiloi with the odd figure from OG15s and Mirliton which I had lying around. There are also some of Xyston's more recent releases such as Numidians and Judaeans. A few have shields and I might get around to adding some more - I have lots spare. Many of the javelins have been left with a black point - Sallust says that initially the slaves used fire to hardened the wooden points of the javelins. Later on, stocks of metal allowed new weapons to be made to supplement those captured. Some of this iron may even have been the ex-slaves' chains.

The dead Romans are some from Freikorp. I bought these when they first came out so must be around 25 years old.

 I tried to use a variety of skin tones to represent the varied origins. After working in fields for years I dare say the differences would have been less noticeable but it adds to the effect. There are various works on the origin of slaves at this point. It is likely that the majority of slaves captured by the Romans in warfare would at this time have come from the Mithridatic Wars and the related campaigns into Thrace etc. Perhaps some were taken in the early years of the Sertorian War. Those captured when young from the Teutonic invasions and the Jugurthine War may also have been capable of fighting though I suspect they would be in the minority. There was also a steady supply of slaves from outside the empire and many of these could have been captives from inter-tribal wars as well as those who were deemed surplus population. Many would have been second or later generation slaves. Pirate raids in especially the Eastern Mediterranean would have been another source.

 The shepherds were a group of slaves whose lives were rather different from those who worked the latifundia by day and were locked in barracks at night. Instead, the shepherds roamed with their sheep and were often armed to protect their flocks. More unscrupulous owners used them as a private army, raiding neighbours' property, or expected the slaves to provide themselves with food and clothing by force of arms. I feel their grading as Ps(I) in DBMM may be a bit harsh but this is part of the result of the way psiloi are counted.
 There is a description of them in one of the early wars as wearing wolf and boar skins, and being accompanied by fierce dogs. I decided that most of the more aggressive types could represent the warband - especially as Gallic slaves were favoured as shepherds. I had enough left over to mix a few into the psiloi though. My doubles partner also did a psiloi element with one shepherd and four sheep :).

Spartacus had a cavalry force, much of which was mounted on horses which they had captured and
broken. These wouldn't have been truly wild but some of the herds may have been effectively feral. Strauss puts quite a lot of emphasis on the effectiveness of these cavalry although the sources don't say a great deal. The figures are a mixture of Xyston Greeks and Judaean horsemen. Their Numidians would also mix pretty well.

 
The camp is protected by a palisade. One of the Stratagems describes how the slaves evaded one Roman force by propping up bodies with the camp, giving enough time to escape. This is Baueda's palisade.











This is the first camp I've done with a bit of a story. It also helped to use up most of the female and child figures which I'd managed to acquire.

 Spartacus's wife made some prophecies. Here she is bringing down the wrath of the goddess or of Dionysus on one of the slave-owning capitalists.




So far, the army has been used in five games, all at 500AP and against opponents that are moderately close in history. I really prefer historical match-ups but in competition you can't be so choosy. The strength of the army is its size. In some games we tried to be too clever which just ended up with commands being defeated in detail. Our best results were when we massed the troops, spreading the losses. The horde are quite effective against light troops - they are probably better against light horse and cavalry than the mass of blades since they don't recoil and if they are lost the effect is less damaging. One has to be careful not to end up putting them behind other troops who then die, so the wings need protecting with something else.

Sources:

By author

By date

Also from Attalus, the fragments from Sallust which aren't all included above



Persian Era Egyptians

It's been a long time since I've posted, so something quite quick...

A good while back, I bought a few packs of Xyston Egyptian spearmen largely because I liked the look of them rather than any hope that they'd be a worthwhile addition to a Persian army. They had sat in the lead mountain for a couple of years but I thought I'd try and get them painted in time for the Plataea Society of Ancients game.
As it turned out, I didn't get them done in time but as they were nearly finished I carried on with them rather than add them to the nearly-finished-but-not-ready-to-put-on-the-table pile.

This is how they turned out.

The figures are a straight rendition of the reconstruction in Duncan Head's Achaemenid book.
 Much of this is based on the description in Herodotus
"The Egyptians furnished two hundred ships. Their crews had plaited helmets upon their heads, and bore concave shields with rims of unusual size. They were armed with spears suited for a sea-fight, and with huge pole-axes. The greater part of them wore breastplates; and all had long cutlasses. " http://www.parstimes.com/history/herodotus/persian_wars/polymnia.html

There is also the description in Xenophon's Cyropaedia (7.33) which describes the use of long spears and large shields which they lock together as they advance on the Persians. The whole passage has many suspect features but some of what he writes may represent Egyptian practice in his own day.

The shape of the shield may have been the inspiration for Assyrian shields, replacing their earlier large roud shields. They certainly resemble earlier Egyptian shields though greatly enlarged. Alternatively the Egyptians may have adopted an Assyrian shield which resembled their own earlier shields; sort of convergent evolution.

The same  figures would probably be suitable for Saitic Egyptians - the 26th to 30th dynasties - though finding matching figures might be a problem. One of the reasons I painted the shields in different ways was to be able to pick out Guard infantry if I ever decided to expand the force.

I also wanted to try out different styles of shield. One pair of elements have a basic rawhide look but these have the traditional spotted cowskin look as was traditional in earlier times.

As for the men's skin, I did use a darker tone than usual but the photos make them look lighter than they are. When I did my New Kingdom Egyptians I found it difficult to get a tone I was happy with.

Coincidentally, two recent TMP threads on Egyptians are useful, with links to pictures of Egyptian cowskin and to the way that the Ancient Egyptians showed their own skin colour

Plutarch's Wars: The Shahenshah

The Persian Kings tend to be seen through the eyes of the Greek historians - generally as rather effete and luxury loving despots. Yet Xenophon praises many achievements and habits of the Persians which shows the rather ambivalent attitude which existed.

The 4th century saw the rule of four Persian Kings. Artaxerxes II and III ruled for most of the century. Artaxerxes II saw a challenge from his brother Cyrus at the start of his reign, details of which are covered in Xenophon's Anabasis. He had various further dealings with the Greeks with much playing off of one side against the other. The treaty which ended the Corinthian War was known as the King's Peace - Artaxerxes essentially threatened that he would aid those who wanted to accept the agreement against those who wouldn't.

There were various revolts by territories of the Empire against the central authority - the most successful being the Egyptians who maintained their independence through much of the century. One of Artaxerxes's attempts to regain control was led by Pharnabazus supported by the Greek Iphikrates, though the campaign failed due partly to disagreement by the two men.
 Artaxerxes III regained control of Egypt, taking two campaigns to do so. Diodorus says that he and most of his sons were murdered by the eunuch Bagoas. The sole survivor was elevated to the throne as Artaxerxes IV but he too was removed and replaced by the man who assumed the name Darius III.
 Darius was probably a case of a man having greatness thrust upon him and he doesn't seem to have been up to the job. Perhaps if he'd had time he might have made a better showing but he was up against Alexander the Great.

 It was traditional for Persian kings to be depicted in a chariot, such as this seal. Note the position of the axle. Some other depictions seem to indicate a further forward axle though there has been a lot of online discussion about this.

The studs on the wheels are very noticeable though the 'Alexander Mosaic' may  overexaggerate them, producing what this blog terms the marshmallow wheels.
The studs doubtless help traction but also help to fix the tyre in place. Sections of tyre have been found, including the nails, and could be bronze shaped around the wheel in a U shape rather than a shrunk on iron tyre.

I used the Xyston chariot. The wheels in the set are smooth - I tried to show the studs by using a blob of paint which was enough to show them but quick enough to do. I tried as much as possible to use the colour scheme from the mosaic.The purple tunic with broad white stripe may well have been a royal feature, as were the upright tiara with diadem tied around. The figure wears a cloak - I think it may have been likely that the king wwould have had a coat worn as a cloak, so I could have added some arms to it.

The reins were made from dental tape. This is a bit wider than floss but probably too wide - I ended up splitting each strand in two.

 This is a bit of baggage I put together. The Greek historians could be rather snearing about the finery and family which could accompany a Persian king so I thought I'd give them something to sneer at.

I had a pack of Xyston 'Eastern levies' and some of the same company's women. The younger women has had sleeves and a veil added to make her a bit more Persian. The men have been painted using some of the designs shown on the clothes of the Immortals on brickwork of the previous century. Since these chaps are defending the tents I'm letting them keep ceremonial gear.

The tent is from Baueda. It is quite small compared to these rather large Xyston figures but it nice all the same. If I played something like FoG where the camp is a single large base I might be tempted to build a single grand pavillion. Part of the booty of Plataea in the fifth century was the King's pavillion which is siad to have been the model for the original Odeon in Athens. This article gives the theory that since the Odeon and the Hall of a Hundred Columns at Persepolis were of such similar size that the pavillion would have been modelled after the one and used as the model for the other. It would have been at least partly wood. Alexander's tent could well have been a similar design, though with fifty columns.  

I still have a fair few unpainted 'Kardakes' who may yet find themselves forming a second arc of honour guard.

Plutarch's Wars: Thracians and Mercenary Peltasts

A quick post with some of my troops which can be used with Greek and Persian armies of the early to mid 4th century BC.

These are Xyston 15mm Thracians. I think they are possibly Xyston's best with a great deal of variety - you need to go to the website to see just what a large mix is available.
They wear the traditional dress with foxskin cap - some also wear a patterned claok. This fashion seems to have gone out of style in at least part of Thracian society going by the tombs of the late 4th century. For all sorts of links and discussion about Thrace, see the Thracians Yahoo group.
The shields are handpainted but you can buy transfers for the Xyston Thracians from LBMS.

These are my attempt at Iphikratean peltasts. They are used in the Thracian, Later Hoplite Greek and Later Achaemenid Persian DBMM lists and count as fast pike.
Iphikrates was an Athenian who served as general for his own polis as serving a variety of other employers including Pharnabazus and Seuthes and, later, hisThracian father-in-law. His career is covered by Diodorus Siculus (see p.34 especially) and in less detail by Cornelius Nepos.
He is credited with introducing a form of boot which became named after him (quite appropriate as Plutarch says he was thought to be a shoemaker's son). He is also said to have reformed the arms of his men, converting hoplites into a lighter form of troop, though presumably some time after using more conventional peltasts to defeat the Spartans. There is a theory that this may have been connected with shipbourne service. The spear and sword were lengthened and the shield reduced in size. The Loeb translation renders the shape of the shield as being oval though I have seen discussion that it may be round - this being in contrast to the traditional crescent shaped pelta. Nepos also says that they received linen armour rather than metal, though he may be mistaken.
I went with a simple star symbol for the shields as this is shown in a number of places including Persian contexts. The figures are a mixture of various 15mm Xyston Greek peltasts. Many have had arms bent to a better pose for holding the long spears.

Plutarch's Wars: Successor Generals

There were a number of interesting characters in the Successor Wars. Some had held high office under Alexander whereas others made a meteoric rise in the confusion of shifting alliances or only attained maturity as the wars raged.

The careers of these men is covered in many places, so I won't go into detail. If you are interested, then reading the appropriate Lives by Plutarch is a good place to start although by his own admission he is interested in the moral aspects rather than straightforward history.

For my Successor armies, I painted a variety of generals. I wanted at least 6 so I can field two armies at once, plus some on foot. With so many theoretical elements, I decided to add a few details to give a bit of differentiation.

 This is one of the foot generals. Figures are by Xyston. For the phalangites shields I made some transfers. The general's aspis was inspired the the decoration in the Tomb of the Erotes. 










The picture at the beginning of this post shows some of the mounted generals I use. All figures are by Xyston.

The central figure wears a helmet as shown on some depictions of Alexander. He gets used as Alex and as various others of the Successors.

I use this as Eumenes of Kardia. He raised a large number of Kappadokian cavalry and some of these may have formed his personal agema. I have kept them on armoured horses as may have been used by Kappadokians at Gaugamela a decade earlier.
The Xyston Kappadokian figures are a little bigger than their Macedonians which makes Eumenes look quite young!

This rear view is the figure I use for Peukestes. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Alexander's move towards mixing the Persians and Macedonians and is noted for wearing Persian dress. For these figures I used the Xyston xystophoroi figures. These are larger than most others - the cloak and feathers add to this impression. As can be seen, I removed the feathers from all except the general. I also added some sleeves and a collar to turn his cloak into the distinctive Persian coat. This is shown in Achaemenid art, is worn by Easterners in Roman art and continues to show up in the area even today - Hamid Karzai frequently wears a coat in this fashion.

I know a lot of visitors to my blog are interested in the comparison shots. Here are some Xyston cavalry alongside Old Glory 15s Seleucids.

Here are, from left, Black Hat (ex-Gladiator) Kappadokians, Essex Companions and Xyston Companions.

Plutarch's Wars: Skythians and lots of Green Stuff

...or Scythians if you prefer!

I've never really fancied a Skythian army, but I seem to have always had a few figures for using in a variety of armies as far back as when I was using Peter Laing figures. I have a mixture of various sources although they are mostly stored away now that I have some Xyston figures.

For sources, I didn't go much further than the Osprey on these chaps. However, be careful! Virtually all of the figures in the plates are armoured and only one shows the typical Skythian cap which is worn by many of  the figures in Skythian art as well as depictions made by other nations. The Falcon figures range, which has some nice figures, follows the Osprey and as a result few of the range wear the caps.
One source which is worth a look is the Persian depiction of a fight between them and some Skythians. You can find it here - do a search for 'Scythian'.

For my Persians, I wanted to have some Massagetae armoured cavalry. There is a lot of discussion about how and whether they were linked to the western Skythians and what differences there would be in armour. Roman  Army Talk has a discussion with loads of links - many are in Russian but if you don't read the lingo then you can still look at the pictures! I did a lot of searching for suitable figures. There are various ones available for 'Scythian Heavy Cavalry'. Here are some I looked at.
Falcon: a good variety, based on the Osprey book. The figures are quite nice but perhaps a bit lacking in animation compared to more modern figures. Also quite small and reportedly difficult to get hold of.
Alain Touller: I was quite tempted. I've been told that the figures are small compared to other Touller figures.
Essex: Only seems to be one pose and lacked the full armour I wanted. Their Later Saka figures have potential, though perhaps more for the period after the one I'm doing. The horse armour lacks a certain something too.
Khurasan: I think they have some Massagetae on the way.
Old Glory: Quite nice figures but again the armour wasn't what I wanted.
Donnington: One of the older ranges. Paint up quite nicely I believe.
I got very interested by the Tin Soldier figures on Madaxeman's very useful site - but they are actually 28mm!
Xyston: Used to list a Massagetae heavy in their range as being for future release, but no sign after many years. However, I had some spare figures so thought I would turn my hand to some conversions, aided by Green Stuff and snippers.

I had some Xyston 'Satrapal Guard' figures and a few 'Northern Thracian Cavalry' which I thought would fit the bill. Ideally, I would like all of them to have armoured horses but may end up mixing them. The main textual source for their appearance is Herodotus:
[1.215] In their dress and mode of living the Massagetae resemble the Scythians. They fight both on horseback and on foot, neither method is strange to them: they use bows and lances, but their favourite weapon is the battle-axe. Their arms are all either of gold or brass. For their spear-points, and arrow-heads, and for their battle-axes, they make use of brass; for head-gear, belts, and girdles, of gold. So too with the caparison of their horses, they give them breastplates of brass, but employ gold about the reins, the bit, and the cheek-plates. They use neither iron nor silver, having none in their country; but they have brass and gold in abundance.

I would like all of them to have armoured horses but may end up mixing them. I referred to the sources available in the Roman Army Talk discussion, the Osprey, Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, the Montvert Persian book and Gorelik's book on the Eurasian nomads.

With much chopping and Green Stuffing, this is what I got.

I had many goes with the caps unti I had something which I think I'm happy with.
The first ones I did were trying to look the same as those shown in Persian carvings, but they looked a bit too much like garden gnomes.
The next I was happier with, and weren't too different to the Xyston caps. However, I decided to go with something between the two, trying to look like those worn by some of the figures on Skythian gold artefacts.
 
 
They also needed to have bow cases added. These were pretty straightforward. I cut them more or less to shape before adding to the figure. Before it cured, I added it to the figure which allowed it to adapt to the shape of the figure. The bow was made as part of this and carved to shape when the case had hardened. If I did them again I would probably shape the bow with at least a core of brass wire (probably flattened) first. Hopefully they will be robust enough.
 

The bit which took the most time was making the shields. I did think of using Xyston peltas but the shapes weren't quite what I wanted. I had read a while ago about using Green Stuff to make push moulds and thought this would be an opportunity to try it out.

Firstly, I made some blanks out of plastic card. I mixed up some Green Stuff (apparently, a higher proportion of blue helps to retain detail). This needs to be coated with a release agent. Various things would work - I used something as high tech as olive oil from the kitchen. 
 
I left it overnight to cure.
The blanks can be removed fairly easily as the Green Stuff is still slightly flexible. I could have put some detail on the shields to begin with, but thought it might be easier to carve it into the Green Stuff. It worked reasonably well, but for the second attempt I put a think layer of the material in the bottom of each mould and worked the detail onto that. It also made the moulds shallower as the first shields came out a little thick.

To use the moulds, oil first then take a small blob of Green Stuff. This is squished and pushed into the mould, trying to make sure it gets right into all the detail. Leave overnight. These are the final results.
 
 
The excess trims off easily enough. The shields are slightly flexible but should be fine - I hope.
A couple of figures have had a wrap around shield added onto their backs as shown in some reconstructions.
Now I need to paint them which may well be a Christmas holiday job as I'm rounded off various other bits and pieces first. I also have to decide what length spear to give them - it'll probably be a longish spear but nowhere near as long as a Macedonian xyston as longer lance use on the steppes seems to have been later than the 4th century BC.