FASCICULI ARCHAEOLOGIAE HISTORICAE

FASC. XIX, PL ISSN 0860-0007

A L E X A N D E R K. N E F E D K I N

ARMOUR OF THE GOTHS IN THE 3RD-7TH CENTURIES AD

The main sources of information for study- defensive arms. Of course, the majority of the
ing Gothic armour are narrative, the surviving infantry, who were the most numerous and main
artefacts are not numerous, the pictorial repre- kind of the Gothic army in this epoch, wore no
sentations are very rare and their application armour and could only defend themselves with
questionable. The aim of this paper is to collect their shields. Ammianus Marcellinus tells about
information about Gothic armour given by late the same panoply of the Visigothic footman in the
antique authors and then to compare it with ar- 370s AD4. The author of Strategicon notes that
chaeological and iconographie data. No ancient the blond-haired people were armed with shields,
source discusses the subject in detail. The relevant spears, and short swords5. As the above sources
knowledge is to be found in various works by tell us about the typical offensive and defensive
Greek and Latin authors: the biography of the arms of the Goths, one can suggest that armour
emperor Claudius II (AD 268-270) by Trebellius was not in widespread use in Gothic forces.
Pollio; the Scriptores historiae Augustae contains In his Panegyric to Ostrogothic King Theod-
some information dating back to the third century; oric the Great (AD 493-526), the bishop of Pavia
the Greek soldier and Latin historian Ammianus Ennodius describes the king's arms6. The ruler
Marcel linus mentions Gothic arms and armour was protected by a suit of steel armour, greaves
at the end of the 4th century AD; there is some and armed with a sword. The Panegyric is a piece
data in The Wars by the 6th-century military of poetry and its contents depend on the author's
historian Procopius of Caesarea. The author of literary aims and the rules of versification. On the
Strategicon included a chapter about warfare of one hand, the author does not mention a helm, the
the blond-haired peoples. According to Procopius, usual protective headgear of Gothic chiefs, but on
the European blond-haired peoples included the the other, he tell us about the greaves, which were
Goths1. The Russian scholar P. Shuvalov, who not a common type of armour used by barbarian
studied the composition of Strategicon, suggests warriors. Theodoric could have protected his
that the chapter dealt with a part of the treatise by shins with greaves, following the Roman military
the Roman general Urbicius, which means that the tradition, he might have worn rich armour, which
information dates back to the late 5th - the early his officers and soldiers did not wear. Being a
6th centuries AD2. successor to the Roman emperors, he wore late
There are some descriptions of the Gothic Roman stately armour, a scale corselet, which was
panoply, a set of weaponry and armour. In his represented on his gold medallion7.
letter found in Scriptores Historiae Augustae, In AD 681, the order of Visigothic King Er-
Claudius II describes the arms of the Visigoths wig (680-7) told the magnates to arm their servants
in the 3rd century AD: their shields, swords, and with various kinds of arms: some of them had to
small spears3. There is no information about the

4
Amm. Marc. XXXI.5.9, 7.12.
5
Ps.-Mauric., Strat. Xl.3.2 - Mauricius. Arta militarà,
1
Procop., Bel. Vand. 1.2.2-5. editie critica, traducere çi introducere de H. Mihäescu,
2
P. V. S h u V a 1 о V, Vragi Imperiy (po traktatu Psev- Scriptores Byzantini, VI, Bucureçti 1970.
6
do-Mavrikiya), [in:] Zapiski Vostochnogo otdeleniya Ros- Ennod. Paneg. 8.42.
7
siyskogo arkheologicheskogo obshchestva, Vol. I (XXVI), See A. L u s с h i nvonE b e n g r e u t h,Münzwesen
Sankt Peterburg 2002, pp. 448-449. [in:] Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, hrg.
3
SHA. XXV.8.5. von J. Hoops, Bd. III, Strasburg 1915-1916, Tabl. 17,14.

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 ALEXANDER K. NEFEDKIN

Fig. 2. Reconstruction of an Osthrogothic mounted chief (the

second half of the 4th century AD). Drawing by John Warry.

The panoply of a common Gothic warrior

remained nearly the same for four centuries. As
the infantry were the most numerous armed force
of the Gothic army, one can assume that the above
descriptions deal with footmen. The arms set of
a Gothic infantryman was typical of ancient and
medieval Germans: shielded warriors were armed
with various kinds of spears and side arms, such
as daggers and swords. Suits of armour are hardly
ever mentioned in historical sources, which, as far
as I know, reflects the historical fact.
Fig. 1. Reconstruction of an Osthrogothic warrior (c 500 AD). A shield was the main and often the only defen-
Drawing by Oxana Gricik. sive weapon of a Gothic footman. It is unclear whether
a horseman had a shield, like an ancient Germanic
be equipped with two kinds of armour (zaba and cavalryman10. Contemporary authors tell us nothing
lorica), the majority of them with shields, swords, about the armour of the Gothic horse. One can assume
bows, spears, and some with slings or other kinds that in the 4th century AD, the Goths were influenced
of weaponry8. According to the order, there was a by the Sarmatians, who were mounted lancers without
clear distinction between the armoured warriors shields. Procopius notes that the Ostrogothic horse-
and the more numerous unarmoured soldiers, who men had no protection against Byzantine arrows11. At
could only use shields as a protection. Most prob- the beginning of the battle of Taginae (AD 552), the
ably the skirmishers had no shields at all and the mounted king Totila showed some military exercises
Italian Goths did9. with his long lance, holding it in his both hands. Con-
sequently, he cannot have had a shield12. Maurice's
mention of the use of shields by the blond-haired
8
people's horsemen could have referred to other
LV. IX.2.9 (Leges Visigothorum, edidit K. Zeumer, [in:] Germaic peoples and not the Goths13.
Monumenta Germaniae historica. Legum Sectio I: Leges na-
tionum Germanicarum, 1.1. Hannoverae; Lipsiae 1902): par-
tem aliquem zabis vel loricis munitam, plerosque vero scutis
spatis scramis lanceis sagittisque instructos, quosdam etiam
10
fundarum instrumentis vel ceteris armis, que noviterforsitan Tacit., Germania. 6.2.
11
unusquisque a seniore vel domino suo iniuncta habuerit, Procop., Bel. Goth. 1.27.27.
12
principi duci vel comiti suo presentare studeat. Procop., Bel. Goth. IV.31.19-20.
9 13
Procop., Bel. Goth. 1.27.27. Ps.-Mauric., Strat. III.5.6.

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 ARMOUR OF THE GOTHS

Fig. 4. Reconstruction of two Visigothic infantrymen from

Spain (the 5th-7th centuries AD). A drawing from F. Ardanaz
Ardanaz, S. Rascón Marqués, A. L. Sanchez Montes, Armas
yguerra en el mundo visigoto, [in:] Arqueologia, paleonto-
logia y etnografia, vol. 4, 1998, p. 441, fig. 16.
Fig. 3. Reconstruction of a Visigothic shield bearer (c 400 AD).
Drawing by John Warry.
Tacitus considers the round shield a kind of
What form did it have? Greek authors use weapon typical of the region17. The round shield
the word a a m ç , while Latin sources refer to it is thought to be typical of the epoch of the Great
as scutum14. If we accept the literal meaning of migrations18. The wooden find from the village
the Greek term, a shield was a large, round object of Belenkoye of the Chernyakhov culture sug-
(especially a hoplite's one), while according to gests that the shield was round, 80 cm in diam-
the Latin expression, a shield was oblong, oval, eter, with a umbo, and a handle (the 4th century
or rectangular. However, the Greek and Roman AD)19. Besides this find, other shields have also
authors often used these words not as military been excavated. The shield from Novy Targ of
terms, but as general names of the shield. A the Wielbark culture is rectangular in shape with
professional soldier, Ammianus Marcellinus, rounded edges and the artefact from the village
calls the Gothic shield a scutum orparma x5 . The of Oselivka has an iron binding20. In fact, the
former could be a general name for the shield, Latin term scutum may be used to describe their
because the historian uses it referring to the arms shape. Perhaps, both the forms of a large shield,
of both enemies, the Romans and the Goths, but i.e. the round and rectangular ones, co-existed in
the latter might be a proper noun. In the Roman the first centuries AD. Undoubtedly, the shield
military terminology, the parma was a round, of the Goths was big enough to form their usual
leather shield. Other Latin writers describe the battle array the "wall of shields"21, and to protect
Visi and Ostrogothic shield as a clipeus, the Latin
equivalent of the Greek term aamc;16. Therefore,
one can assume that the Gothic shield was round.
17
Indeed, discussing the arms of the Gotones Tacit., Germania. 43.6: rotunda scuta.
18
and neighbouring peoples, the famous historian F. C o n t a m i n, Voyna v Sredne veka, Sankt Peter-
burg 2001, pp. 197-198 (Russian translation).
19
A.V. G u d k o v a , Mogilnik IV v. n. e. vs. Belenkoe,
[in:] Nove issledovaniyapo arkheologiy Severnogo Pricher-
nomoryja, T. L. Samojlov ed., Kiev 1987, p. 59.
20
A. K o k o w s k i, L'art militaire des Goths l'époque
14
'AGTTÎÇ: Dexipp., fragm. 19 (Dexippifragmenta, [in:] romaine tardive (d'après les données archéologiques), [in:]
e e
Historici Graeci minores, L. Dindorfius ed., Vol. I, Leipzg L'Armée romaine et les barbares du III au VII siècle, F.
1870, p. 165-200); Procop., Bel. Goth. 1.29.35; IV.5.19, Vallet, M. Kazański ed., Rouen 1993, pp. 338, 350, Fig.
35.25, passim; scutum: Veget. Epit., 1.20; SHA. XXV.8.5; 6a; B. V. M a g o m e d o v, M. E. L e v a d a, Oruzhye
LV. IX.2.9, passim. chernyakhovskoy kultury, [in:] Materiały po arkheologiy,
15 istoriy i etnografiy Tavriy, Vol. 5, 1996, p. 307.
Scutum: Amm. Marc. XXXI.7.12;parma: XXXI.5.9.
16 21
Merobaudes. II. 158; Cassiod., Varia. IV.2.2; X.31.1 ; Dexipp. fragm., 19; Amm. Marc. XXXI.7.12; Procop.,
Julian., Hist. Wamb. 18. Bel. Goth., 1.29.35; IV.5.19.

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 ALEXANDER К. NEFEDKIN

Fig. 6. Late antique armour: 1 - chain mail; 2 - scale armour;

3 - plate armour. A drawing from F. Ardanaz Ardanaz, S.
Rascón Marqués, A. L. Sanchez Montes, Armas y guerra
en el mundo visigoto, [in:] Arqueologia, paleontologia y
etnografia, vol. 4, 1998, p. 433.

barbarian, viz. Gothic, Alanian, and Hun defemces.

We have no information about Gothic armour, but
Fig. 5. Drawing from the silver dish from Isola Rizza, Italy
Alanian armour was scale armour or chain mail26.
by R. Boss (the 6th century). The cavalryman might be a
Byzantine, Ostrogothic, or Lombard warrior. The sources rarely mention armour of the
Goths. Describing the battle of Adrianopole (AD
King Teya in the battle of Vesuvius, where twelve 378), Ammianus Marcellinus writes that battle-
spears were stuck in his shield22. axes broke the enemy's colresets and helms: et
In the epoch of Caesar and Tacitus, body mutuis securium ictibus galeae perfringebantur
armour was not in widespread use in the Ger- atque loricae21. At that time, Gothic warriors
manic land23. In the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, could have worn armour carried off as loot from
Gothic warriors seldom wore armour. According battles with the Romans28. The Gothic command-
to the data collected by A. Kokowski, В. V. Ma- ers frequently used Roman officers' corselets.
gomedov and M. E. Levada, there were no suits Alaric and Theodoric the Great, whose portrait is
of armour among archaeological artifacts from presented on the above-mentioned gold medal-
the Wielbark and Chernyakhov cultures24. The lion, wore this kind of defence29. Procopius often
Gothic horsemen must have been the first to wear mentions armour of Gothic noblemen, officers,
armour, because they were tribal noblemen, who and horsemen, but he never descripes it30. In the
equipped themselves with booty taken in battle. great migrations epoch, chain mail, scale and plate
Furthermore, when they fought on horseback, they armour was in widespreaded use in the barbarian
were not protected by shields and this is why they and Byzantine worlds. Probably, plate shirts were
needed suits of armour. Discussing Roman arms popular in the Barbaricum. The cavalryman on the
and armour, the military theorist Vegetius notes: dish from Isola Rizza (Italy, the 6th century), the
"nam licet exemplo Gothorum et Alanorum Hun- guardians of Lombardian King Agilulf, depicted
norumque equitum arma profecerint, pedites con- on a helm, wear this king of body armour. In ad-
stat esse nudatos"25. In the text, Vegetius contrasts dition, a find coming from the Frankish tomb at
the Roman infantry, who had no defensive arms, Krefeld-Gellep is a shirt consisting of about 1100
with the cavalry wearing aromour copied from the plates (Germany, the 6th century)31. During the war

26
A. K. N e f e d к i n, Podznamenem drakona: Voyen-
22
Procop., Bel. Goth. IV.35.22-29. noye delo sarmatov vo II v. do n. e.-Vv. п. е., Sankt Peterburg
23
Tacit., Germania. 6.2. 2004, pp. 31-36.
24 27
А. К о к o w s к i, L'art militaire..., p. 353-354; В. Amm. Marc. XXXI. 13.3.
28
V. M a g о m e d о v, M. E. L e v a d a , Oruzhye..., pp. Amm. Marc. XXXI.5.5, 9, 6.3; Oros., Hist. VII.34.5.
29
304-323. Claud. XXVI {Bel. Goth.), 82.
25 30
Veget. Epit., 1.20. C. Zuckerman dates Vegetius' Procop., Bel. Goth. 1.16.11,22.4,23.9; II.5.14; Ш.4.21.
31
treatise at about AD 386/7, while W. Goffard thinks that it See S. M. P e r e v a l o v , I. L e b e d i n s k i , Les
was written during the reign of Valentianus III (AD 425- combattants sarmates at alains dans l'armée romaine,
455) (C. Z u с к e r m a n, Sur la date du traité militaire Saulcet 1998, p. 21 \Die Alamannen, K. Fuchs, M. Kempa,
de Vègéce et son destinataire Valentinien II, [in:] Scripta К. Redies, В. Theune-Großkopf, ed. A. Wais, Stuttgart-
classica Israelica, Vol. XIII, 1994, pp. 67-74; W. G o f - Zürich-Augsburg 1998, p. 407, Fig. 461a; I. L e b e d i n -
f a r d , The Date and Purpose of Vegetius ' De re militari ' ski, Armes et guerriers barbares au temps des Grandes In-
[in:] Tradition, Vol. 33, 1977, pp. 65-100. vasions (IV au VIe siècles après J.-C.), Paris 2001, p. 187.

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 ARMOUR OF THE GOTHS

against the Byzantines, the Ostrogoths received Gothic helms are rarely mentioned in writ-
armour from the state armouries32. This is why ten records. Tacitus says that the Germans did not
one can assume some sort of uniformity. often wear them39. As I said above, Ammianus
In the above-quoted order to arm the servants mentions helms of the Goths and the Romans
issued by the Visigothic king Erwig, two kinds and Procopius says that Gothic warriors were
of armour were mentioned: zaba and lorica. The protected by armour and helms40. Written sources
difference between the meaning of the Greek and do not inform us about the form of the helms,
Latin terms is unclear. E. Oldenburg thought that while real artifacts and pictorial representations
one kind of armour was a leather corselet and the provide some useful details. During the Great
other type an armoured shirt33. The ^ a ß a had been migrations epoch, the typical form of a helm was
known in Byzantine military literature since the the Spangenhelm, a sort of metallic, spherical,
6th century AD. A. D. H. Bivar suggest that i^aßa frame wrought headgear with cheek-pieces and
was a coat of chain mail, and R. Munoz thinks a bush in which the crest was placed. The Goths
that it was a scale shirt34. A Byzantine Anony- used this type of helm. In Spain, Visigothic kings
mous of the 6th century notes that it was made of wore helms of this type as their status symbol in
either leather or felt35. In his Tactica, the emperor the 6th-7th centuries AD, which can be seen on their
Leo VI (AD 886-912) notes that the corselets coins41. Another example of such a helm was the
(ÀcopiKia) were made of mail, horn, or leather36. Baldenheim known in Italy in the late 5th and the
The Xcopkiov and i^aßa were synonyms in Leo's first half of the 6th centuries AD42.
treatise37. One should note that there were no Defensive horse armour was not used by
helms on the Erwig's arms list though it included ancient Germans, particularly the Goths, but
suits of armour, which were more expensive and Procopius says that the Ostrogothic king Vitigis
not so widespread. Taking this into account, one arrived in Rome with 150 000 cavalrymen and
could assume that Visigothic armour had a kind infantrymen in armour, "most of whose horses
of hood made of mail. Maurice argues that Byz- had horse armour"43. The above text would sug-
antine armour had a hood, because Alamanni's gest that both the cavalrymen and their horses
coat of mail had one38. The two kinds of armour were protected by some kind of armour44. To
mentioned in Erwig's order were either both made make this information clear, we should compare
of mail or one of them was made of iron, probably it with contemporary Byzantine sources. A Greek
mail, and the other type was produced of a non military theorists recommended officers' and
metallic material. elite troopers' horses be armoured and have iron
or felt chamfrons, peytrals, and neck guards45. If
we consider Procopius' account as true, one can
assume that Gothic cavalrymen were armoured
32
Cassiod., Varia. 1.40; V.ll; VII. 18-19; Procop., Bel. with the same details which protected the most
Goth. 1.11.28. vulnerable fore-part of a horse. Probably, pieces of
33
E. O l d e n b u r g, Die Kriegsverfassung der Westgo-
ten Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Dokturwiirde
genehmigt von der Pfilosopphischen Fakultät der Friedrich-
Wilhelmus-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 1909, p. 43. 39
34
A. D. H. В i v a r, Cavalry Equipment and Tactics on Tacit., Germania. 6.2.
40
the Euphrates Frontier, "Dumbarton Oaks Papers", Vol. 26, Amm. Marc. XXXI. 13.3; Procop., Bel. Goth. 1.23.9;
1972, p. 288; R. M u n o z, El ército visigodo: desde sus III.4.21.
41
origenes a la Batalia de Guadalete, Madrid 2003, p. 27. W. R e i n h a r t , Germanis he Helme in westgotishen
35
De re stateg. 16,9. C. Zuckerman argues that the Münzbildern, "Zahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldges-
anonymous treatise De re strategica was part of a lost larger chichte", Bd. 2, 1950-55, pp. 43-46.
42
work of Syrianus Magister, an author of the late 6th and early V. B i e r b r a u e r , Die ostgotischen Grab- und
7th centuries ( C . Z u c k e r m a n , The Military Compen- Schatzfunde in Italien, "Biblioteca degli studi medieval", t.
dium of Syrianus Magister, "Jahrbuch der Österreichischen 7, Spoleto 1975, pp. 194-198, Fig. XXII,5; XXVII-XXVIII;
Byzantinistik", Bd. 40, 1990, pp. 210-224. LVIII,1 ; M. Kazański, Les Goths (Ier-VIT après J.-С.), Paris
36
Leo, Tact. V,4. 1991, p. 114.
43
37
Ch. du С a n g e, Glossarium mediae et infimae Lati- Procop., Bel. Goth. 1.16.11: лл^аср те кае ле^оахр
nitatis, t. VIII, Niort 1887, p. 426, s. v. zaba; J. F. H a 1 d о n, о их a a a o v а цоркибаср леутека... бека тртауореуоср,
Some Aspects of Byzantine Military Technology from the к а ё auxïv teOcopaKiaprivot Ça>v тог](р атглокр о
Sixth to Tenth Centuries, "Byzantine and Modern Greek лА,ег]си;о1 a a a v .
44
Studies", Vol. 1, London 1975, p. 34. H. W о 1 f r a m, Goty, Sankt Peterburg 2003, p. 435,
38
Ps.-Mauric., Strat. 1.2.2; F. С о n t a m i n, Voina v note 85 (Russian translation).
45
średnie..., p. 198. De re stateg. 17,3; Ps.-Mauric., Strat. 1.2.6.

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 ALEXANDER К. NEFEDKIN

horse armour were distributed among the troopers enemy missiles. The Ostrogoths developed their
from state armories. The aim of such distribution cavalry under Sarmatian influence. They were
is clear: The armour was to protect the horses from mouthed lancers in chain mail, scale or plate corse-
arrows shot by Byzantine bowmen as the Goths, lets and frame wrought helms who did not carry
following the Germanic military tradition, had no shields, which would have hindered them from
effective archery. The Ostrogothic cavalrymen fighting on horseback. The cavalry battled with
were armoured troopers armed with lances, their lancers and swordsmen in close combat because the
main offensive arm, they rode on armoured horses, Goths had a heroic ethos. In the 6th century AD, in
which means they were real cataphracts. Italy the mounted lancers became real cataphracts,
In general, following the ancient Germanic because the Italian Gothic state started to distribute
tradition, the majority of the Gothic infantry were suits of armour for the warriors and their horses.
shielded warriors armed with various kinds of The Visigoths preserved the Germanic tradition of
spears and side arms. A large shield was a reliable foot combat. It was only in fifth century Gallia and
protection. With the shields, the Goths formed their Hispania that they improved their mounted forces
array called a 'shield wall', protecting them from and turned them into skirmishers.

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