I'm trying to figure out what miniatures to use for Isaurian Light Infantry for my Early Byzantine army; insofar as I can see, things are hazy to say the least. According to my WAB V.2 AoA V.2 army lists (yeah, I know!) they were Light Infantry but this is seemingly not the case not so when consulting The Strategikon though there are hints. This is obviously problem.
So where did the Isaurian soldiery originate from? Well, as wargames folk law would have us believe the Isaurians were depending on what you read were in some way related to The Daylamites who inhabited the mountainous region of DaylamÄn (modern-day Gilan, Iran). Rather, it would appear they came from the Isaurian Mountains in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). Obviously, with any human population we would expect gene flow between the two populations given their close-ish regional geographic locations, but, as this is not going to stand out on the wargames table I am (warily) unconcerned in terms of appearance.
Daylamite Warrior (In Sassanian service):
Isaurian Warrior:
The Montvert book describes the Isaurian Warrior as follows:
"Isaurians are distinguished from regular units and perhaps served as distinct units. This man is based on the figure at the foot of the cross in the Rabbula Gospels and has patterned oriental trousers and light shoes. He carries an issue sword and an Isaurian javelin, which could be used for throwing or thrusting. He could carry lead weighted darts in his belt, as specified by The Strategikon. It is likely that some Isaurians had bows (slings in my list!) and that the leaders could have worn mail shirts. Isaurians were valued fighters, but were quite likely to betray their post if unpaid (as they did at Rome). Persian armies possessed similar units of Daylamites, the later Dailamis." (again, more possible confusion between the two distinct warrior cultures!)
So, the fun part. what to use for miniatures in 28mm? It may be possible to buy plastics, convert from various kits etc then have them snap on me so not going to happen! Instead I'm going to look for metal alternatives, maybe even do the old school conversion thing.
I've have found what I consider to be the closest models to the speculative image of the Isaurian above and irony piled upon irony, they come from the Footsore Miniatures
Daylami Infantry from their
Armies of the Caliphates range. These miniatures are, at the very least, from a century later and two of the miniatures have solid one piece/single piece helmets which are anachronistic. I may have to paint them in a lather dyed caps (of which I have zero evidence for!).
Footsore Daylami Infantry:
After all of that, I got to thinking; maybe I'm overthinking this? Maybe the Isaurians were just regular units capable of performing light infantry roles on the battlefield or in skirmishing? This is probably the most likely explanation.
The Footsore Byzantine Spearmen and
Byzantine Javelinmen jumped out at me! These miniatures would do very nicely
as either regular Byzantine Spearmen and Byzantine Javelinmen
or Psiloi with throwing spears and javelins.
Footsore Early Byzantine Javelinmen:
Footsore Early Byzantine Spearmen:
Not being able to make up my mind about the appearance of the typical Isaurian soldier in the armies of Belisarius and Narses the only thing to do was to do both! I will put together a formed Isaurian Light Infantry unit based on the Footsore Daylami miniatures and a couple of Psiloi type units based on the Footsore Late Roman/Early Byzantine range.
Inconclusion, a pedantic look at future additions to the army or an abject lesson in how to talk oneself "back to the drawing board." LOL. I'll leave it for you to decide!
Next, probably Lombard Heavy Cavalry in Early Byzantine service or the even more confusing/controversial The Heruli.
Hello! I have just answered your question in my blog :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jose :>) just got into the house but will pop over to your blog ASAP.
DeleteA question I've often asked myself! The Byzantine army of the period did not place much emphasis on the infantry arm, so it is likely that these 'Isaurians' refer to troops from the east purchased in for infantry work.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing their trousers!
Well, one might argue, in general, Belisarius did not trust his infantry but Narses did.
DeleteGreat article. Good luck defining who the Heruli are š¤£
ReplyDeleteYep! I'm hopefully getting academic advice for the Heruli!
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