Yet another expert on the Sarmatians has chimed in on the total absence of evidence for a draco among the Sarmatians. I have the following from Dr. Lara Fabian of UCLA:
"The question of the Draco is an interesting one, because it seems to be an example of adoption by the Romans of something that they perceived to be related to their “nomadic” neighbors. The problem, as you identify, is that we have so, so little evidence for what these neighbors actually did, that the whole discussion becomes a bit circular. We have, of course, the Roman depictions of this practice which I am sure you know well (among them the funerary stele from Chester (though unfortunately damaged and worn in the critical areas), depictions of Dacia on coins, and of course the visual material from Trajan’s column, sarcophagi and so on). Among this material, I suppose the examples from modern Hungary and Romania are of most interest. But all of this is generated within the Roman cultural context.
What about material from the “Sarmatians” or “Scythians”? Here, we run into a few problems.
The first, as you point to, is the problem of how diverse the “Scythian” groups were—a note that is true for Sarmatians as well. The question of to what degree there ever was a cohesive group of Sarmatians is very open. I tend to the position that Valentina Mordvintseva argued in her 2013 article “The Sarmatians: The creation of archaeological evidence,” which suggests that the archaeological landscape of the supposed Sarmatian homeland is not indicative of this type of coesiveness, but rather suggests a tremendous diversity of communities in the North Pontic and into the steppe. So: problems identifying who is who all around.
But ok: what happens if we just take a step back and look for evidence of these types of mythological animal standards from the world of the steppe more generally?
I looked through material from the Bosporan world, as well as the wider N. Pontic, and specifically the Alan material (what of it there is) and checked some of the other depictions of soldiers we have from the Parthian world (graffitti from Dura-Europos and Artashat in Armenia), and in no cases are standards depicted.
There is, however, the supposed Simurgh head in the Hermitage Museum in Petersburg, Sasanian in date, which is said to come from the region near Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia, and which some think is a standard (but who knows?). If we look beyond dragon-heads, there are, as you note, there are the depictions of windsocks on the Orlat plaque and on the Indo-Scythian coins, but that doesn’t quite get us to a Draco.
That said: we do have images dragons in metalwork and other media from the steppe and neighboring regions—it is a fairly common motif. There is a bone plaque from Georgia, for example, that shows a dragon slaying scene, and there are numerous “animal style” dragons on metal objects. But in these cases, there is not anything that speaks particularly to the idea of the Draco standard."
***
NOTE: Since writing this piece, I have been in contact with scholars who actually specialize in Sarmatian studies. They were unable to produce a true Sarmatian draco. I am quoting here their correspondence with me, and then attaching the images from the Orlat plaques and a coin, which along with that of the British Chester horseman comprise the only "evidence" for the use of the standard among the Sarmatians. As it happens, the images plainly show that while the Sarmatians had a windsock, there was no dragon head attached to that. Instead, the windsock has an open, framed end that was attached to the top of the pole with thongs. The tail of the body of the windsock is tasseled; it does not end like a serpent's tail, as with the Dacian wolf-headed draco. [1]
Another author (https://www.academia.edu/37610668/_Caesar_quo_agnito_per_purpureum_signum_draconis_) claims that "an aureus commemorating the military campaigns of Marcus Aurelius against the Marcomanni andSarmates (AD 175–177)" shows a draco, but I have viewed this coin (see below) and others like it and the so-called draco in this context has the upright, perfectly curved shape of a carnyx and lacks a pole or spear attached to the head. Numismatic experts rightly identify this 'draco' as a carnyx.
I thus continue to maintain that we have no evidence whatsoever for the presence of the draco among the Sarmatians.
***
From Istvánovits, Eszter – Kulcsár, Valéria: Sarmatians through the eyes of strangers. The Sarmatian warrior. In: International Connections of the Barbarians of the Carpathian Basin in the 1st–5th centuries A.D. (ed.: E. Istvánovits – V. Kulcsár). Aszód – Nyíregyháza 2001.139–169.:
The Sarmatian dragon standard is perhaps the geographically most widespread
element of warfare. Evidence for its use extends from Central Asia (Orlat) (fig. 11: 1) to the British Isles (Chester) (fig. 14: I ). It also appears frequently in the hands of Dacians (allies of the Roxolani in the Dacian wars of Trajan), and later in depictions of the Roman military (fig. 14:4). A Roman depiction, the closest to Sarmatian territory comes from Ságvár, Pannonia (fig. L4:3) (Burger 1966, pl. XCV, but we see several of them on Roman Imperial monuments (Coulston 1991 - with detailed reference to literary sources), one in the Notitia Dignitatum (fig. 14:2) (Robinson 1975, 186, ltg. I9I ) showing one element (besides cataphracts, archers etc.) of the influence oí Sarmatian (Iranian) warfare on the Roman army (Makkay 1996,737-748 - with detailed references, Makkay 1998,I8-2I ). Germans adopted dragon standards - together with several other elements - from the Sarmatians too, and their use extended into the Middle Ages (e.g. the battle of Hastings , 1066 - Gamber 1964, 9).
Orlat Plaque
Warriors with contus, bow and dragon standard on the bone plate from Orlat (drawing by A.M. Savin and A.I .Semionov)
A coin of the Indo-Scythian king Azes II with equipment similar to that of the Orlat plaque.
Again, no dragon head atop the pole.
***
Dacian Draco
,_The_Grosvenor_Museum_(8394907246).jpg)
Chester Cavalryman
Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 2 1991
101
The ‘draco standard
J.C.N. Coulston
"At some point in the 1st or early 2nd century AD, Roman cavalry started to use an entirely new type of military standard, the draco'."
All along, in treating of a possible connection between the Pendragon epithet, the dragon-star of Uther and his draco standards, I have assumed that both the Dacians and the Sarmatians have types of the draco.
But, I assumed this was the case only because I kept reading the assertion in the resource materials. Still, I was bothered by the utter lack of a Sarmatian draco on Trajan's Column, where several Dacian dracos are depicted. I recently confirmed the serpent-tail of the wolf-headed Dacian draco through ancient ceramic evidence from Romania.
For all we know, if the Sarmatians did eventually have a draco, they could well have borrowed it from the Dacians!
What, then, is the so-called evidence for a Sarmatian draco?
1) Arrian tells us the Roman draco originated with the Scythians. Scholars have guessed these Scythians are Sarmatians. But while closely related, the Scythians and Sarmatians were separate peoples. And, in fact, the Sarmatians eventually conquered the Scythians. Furthermore, Arrian had fought the Alans, and most scholars believe these are the Scythians he is referring to. [2]
We could only conjecture that the Sarmatians took a draco from the Scythians, then, after conquering and, presumable, absorbing elements of Scythian culture.
The Dacians, on the other hand, are believed to have descended from the Thracians.
2) The Chester cavalryman is said to be either Sarmatian or Dacian. As the Dacians had infantry stationed in Britain, not cavalry, the Sarmatian theory has prevailed. I also think the figure exhibits a spangenhelm, not a Phrygian cap, a distinction that would point to a Sarmatian warrior. No detail reveals any indication of a Sarmatian's scale armor.
However, given the proposed 2nd century date for the Chester horseman, why could this not simply be a Roman cavalryman with a draco? And, more importantly, the fragmented condition of the relief carving shows only what appears to be a windsock or long, tapering banner. We can't say with any degree of certainty there actually was a draco head on this stone. The missing portion could well have been something else entirely.
Here are the recent arguments for the ethnic identification of the Chester cavalryman:
Pro-Dacian Argument:
Pro-Sarmatian Argument:
Note that the author of the Dacian argument had, like myself, searched for literary or archaeological examples of the Sarmatian draco and found none (personal communication):
"No, I searched for that just in order to see if it is not possible that the rider could be also Sarmatian. A did not find anything."
Prof. Dr. Lucretiu Birliba "Al. I. Cuza" University Iasi Faculty of History Department of Ancient Studies and Archaeology
If the Sarmatians did not have a draco, how does this affect my Ribchester Arthurian theory? For I have opted to put Uther Pendragon at the Sarmatian veterans' fort rather than at the Dacian garrisoned Birdoswald fort on Hadrian's Wall.
Not affected at all, fortunately. The whole Uther-Illtud-Sawyl Benisel argument depends on seeing 'dragon' in Uther's epithet as a Welsh poetic term for warrior or warriors - and it is this very meaning which allows for the identification of Uther with Sawyl of Ribchester.
Sure, it would be nice if the draco had indeed been held in special reverence at Ribchester. And that may even be true. But it is just as likely, if not more so, that the dragon-star and the two golden dracos is Galfridian fiction, derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth's faulty interpretation of Pendragon as 'the dragon's head.'
[1]
[2]
"The earliest description of this standard may be found in
Arrian of Nicomedia. Around AD 136 he wrote:
“Τὰ Σκυθικὰ δὲ σημεῖά ἐστιν ἐπὶ κοντῶν ἐν μήκει συμμέ-
τρῳ δράκοντες ἀπαιωρούμενοι. ποιοῦνται δὲ ξυρραπτοὶ ἐκ
ῥακῶν βεβαμμένων, τάς τε κεφαλὰς καὶ τὸ σῶμα τᾶν ἔστε
ἐπὶ τὰς οὐρὰς εἰκασμένοι ὄφεσιν, ὡς φοβερώτατα οἷόν τε
εἰκασθῆναι. καὶ τὰ σοφίσματα ταῦτα.
ἀτρεμούντων μὲν τῶν ἵππων οὐδὲν πλέον ἢ ῥάκη ἄν ἴδοις
πεποικιλμένα ἐς τὸ κάτω ἀποκρεμάμενα, ἐλαυνομένων δὲ
ἐμπνεόμενα ἐξογκοῦται, ὥστε ὡς μάλιστα τοῖς θηρίοις ἐπε-
οικέναι, καί τι καὶ ἐπισυρίζειν πρὸς τὴν ἄγαν κίνησιν ὑπὸ τῇ
πνοῇ βιαίᾳ διερχομένῃ”3.
Arrian classifies the draco as a Scythian standard. However,
we may suspect that he meant the Alans instead of the
Scythians, whom he fought while holding the post of the
Prefect of Cappadocia and the commander of the legions on
the Armenian border."
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