View Full Version : Preview: The Lugiones
Greetings Europa Barbarorum fans.
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Today we are proud to present the Lugiones, from the deepest, darkest forests of eastern Germania come the terrifying warriors of this powerful nation. Kinsmen to the last, these fearsome men of the wild east have spread themselves throughout much of the land there, even up to the great plains of the Sauromatae. For what the "civilised" world calls death, these men know as life.
The Lugiones represent a new threat and a new way of life; alien to those weak men of the city. And when a man has no home, how then can he be enslaved?
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Faction Description
Throughout all the nations of the Lugiones, humankind was ordered by the conventions of kinship, and within the limits of law, freemen ruled themselves as they saw fit. Herein, a small ruling class lived much as those they governed. The latter of which were exceedingly great in number. That both bore weapons and in full measure prepared and participated in what was a constant state of endless war. To affect this cause all men served as warriors, levied every year to defend and extend their realm. Otherwise, they remained to tend their farmsteads, so that neither the pursuit of war, nor subsistence was ever neglected. As well they owned few slaves, a small number of which were kept as tenants, while the greater portion thus ensnared, were sold to satisfy local needs or the bottomless greed of the Mediterranean markets. Also by choice the Lugiones did not build large walled capitals or towns, and forbid the private ownership of land. Of the common land that was tilled, fields and farmsteads were often relocated, so that the ties that bind kith and kin to the land would not risk the survival of their nations. To a great extent these people lived off the milk and beef produced by their cattle. In addition some fished as many hunted the game that abounded throughout their vast wilderness.Between the 4th century BC and early 1st century AD, the Mediterranean world viewed greater Germania as divided amidst five seperate races. Although the form and human face of each region was similar and overlapped one to another, all differed somewhat in tradition, law, and tongue. In the south along the upper reaches of the Elbe, Rhine, and Danube were the Volcae Celts, whom the Romans called the Istriaones. This name came from the Goddess and the mighty river the Greeks called Istros. Their principle tribes were the Ubii, Tectosages, and Boii. Along the lower Rhine, coast of the Wadden Sea, and Cimbri Peninsula were the Ingaeuones. Its claimed they sired the mighty Belgae, a people that would one day come to hold much of Gaul and the Isle of Britain. Then from where the North-winds blow there is a mysterious place of unknown size and shape. They say in this land of cold and shadow dwell the Gautes, a race of tall and vigorous men. To the east were the Irminones, of which its said the Semnones were indeed an ancient tribe who lead the fearsome Swaboz. Nonetheless, still further east are the Wenetai, who extend far into the lands of Sauromatae. Here there are so many nations, with the Lugiones in the west, the Æstai to the north, as well as the Bastarnae and Sciri in the east. Each tribe was numerous, renowned for bravery, and as is their custom watch over the southward flow of amber, furs, and slaves as wine, weapons, and silver trickles north.
Indeed, the Lugiones were unaccustomed to obligation or discipline, and altogether disinclined and opposed to bring about a common will. To this end their rulers, as well as the common man, nurtured violence to produce a huge collection of savage humanity seemingly unable to be united by a single cause for any span of time. This inhibition was only magnified by the few roads and the enormity of their domain, together with the length, breath, and depth of their forests, swamps, and waterways. Yet it was in this manner and by these means that with great success the Lugiones resisted the aggressive and persistent advances of the Celts, Sauromatae, and later the Romans. Offered as friend or foe, each in turn represented a direr challenge to the continued independence of their tribes, and thereby the personal freedom of all. Once well versed in communal songs their story now remains largely shrouded in shadow, and all but dimly lit by the written-word of more literate nations. Still, with the fullness of time, great patience, and the proper leadership sudden chance may intervene, and prove the right person can indeed unit the Lugii people for more than a moment. Yet its often said whichever way the tides of fate are turned, fickled fortune and the Gods help only those who help themselves.
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Faction Symbol
The symbol for the Lugiones Faction consists of pale yellow crescent moon with downturned horns centered on a light blue circular shield made of rough-hewn planks. The interior of the crescent is decorated with a pale yellow late La Tene-like scroll pattern. Superimposed upon the crescent is a pale yellow icon known as the V-rod motif. Together these motifs are a masterfully adaptation of what is referred to as the crescent and arrow V-rod symbol commonly found in northern Scotland, as incised rock-art on Pictish Stone. These sculptures have been dated to the 6th to 9th century AD and the symbols thereon are widely understood to represent totems that were associated with particular tribal, clan, and personal names. Overall the shield and faction symbol are bounded by a narrow pale yellow edge.The rational for using this symbol for the Lugiones Faction are two fold. First, as discussed above, the faction name is intended to signify the primal form of the Lugus deity, who was often abstractly expressed by a pale colored light and a lunar symbol. Second, the clustering of Pictish Stones in northern Scotland with the crescent and V-rod appears to be roughly similar to at least part of the territorial extent of a tribe that Ptolemy named the Lugi. Although the relationship between the Lugi of northern Scotland and the Lugii of Poland is unclear, a common association with the Lugus deity is assumed. Therefore it was agreed that the crescent and V-rod symbol would be used to represent the Lugiones Faction.
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Land of the Lugiones
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Based on a western Baltic affiliation, the Lugiones are viewed as an important element of the Vistulic Veneti, which we have reconstructed as the Wenetai. However, given the need to be more specific one must also address the political aspect of the Lugii confederation, which we render simply as the Lugiones. Our primary sources for the Wenetai, include Book 4 of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, Chapter 46 of Tactius’ Germania, Book 3 of Ptolemy’s Geography, the 4th century Peutinger Map, and Jordanes’ Getica. In contrast our knowledge of the tribes that compose the Lugiones confederation is limited to Tactius’ Germania, Book 2 of Ptolemy’s Geography, and Jordanes’ Getica.In chapter 43 of Germania, Tacitus turned to the Lugii tribes, of whom he saw as distinct from the Istaevones, Ingaevones, and Ierminones. He began this discussion by using Greek forms of the confederation name itself. These included the Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, Helisios, Naharvalos, and Lugio. It seems throughout Germania, Tacitus used a mix of Latin, Celtic, and Greek suffixes depending on his familiarity with the subject or source. In this case the use of Greek and the brevity of the discussion suggest he had no directly knowledge and may have been using a text Greek. He states that beyond the continuous mountains as one 'drives on,’ which means 'continues;' a phrase suggesting a purposeful movement along a well established route. Thus, in this case Tacitus may have used a Greek itinerary that outlined one or both of the two major amber roads that crossed the Moravian-Silesian Beskids and Carpathian mountains into the central Polish uplands.
__Luguwa (Central Poland)___________________________
Introduction:
Daily the sun passes over a land of open plains hemmed by dense woodlands, swamps, and lakes. As well the enterprising traveler bears witness to thickly-forested uplands and well-timbered ancient mountain peaks. Whereby he may pass along the Amber Road or other less-worn paths, the length and breath of this domain is crossed by countless rivers, brooks, and streams. Altogether, fleeting shadows and husted tones among the trees, tell the traveler this mist-shrouded realm is the homeland of the war-like tribes, that are the Lugiones confederation. This place is called Luguwa (LEWK-uhwah), and the natives live in small farmsteads scattered throughout this rather rustic landscape. By decree individual holdings are held in common, whereby convention and the threat of endless war requires they relocate their homes, yearly. Indeed, they are addicted to war and its spoils, as personal worth and fame are measured only by success in battle, while the fruits of the plow garner far less regard.Geography:
Depending on what measurement is used, Luguwa can be located very near the geographic center of Europe. It is composed of two distinct physiographic zones; the first of which is an extensive lowland area also known as a part of the vast northern European Plain. The second physiographic zone includes a series of mountain ranges called the central uplands, or the Hercynian zone. This region is traversed by a series of large, but shallow valleys and the Warta (Warta), Noteć (Natissis), Narew (Naura), Brda, Western Bug (Bugas), and Vistula (Wisla) rivers. This part of Lugiuva is where the bulk of the native population reside has the lowest relief, which rarely exceeds an elevation of 150 meters above sea level. The disruption of vegetation types within the lowlands zone can best be described as mosaic, with numerous open grasslands interspaced within a matrix of woodlands, groves, bogs, marshes, and gallery forests that parallel the major and minor drainages. In fact, about 90 percent of the grasslands in Luguwa are situated in the Central Lowlands with the remainder found in isolated meadows and pastures in the mountainous central uplands. The central uplands represent an eastern extension of the primeval Hercynian Forest, which runs from the Rhine, across southern Germania, to the furthest extent of the Carpathians (Mountains of the Carpi). Overall, the dense forests of Luguwa are home to a vast variety of flora types largely composed of Larch, Poplar, Oak, Sycamore, Black Alder, Elm, White Willow, small-leaved Lime, Bilberry, Birch, Fir, and Beech trees; as well as many other broadleaf trees and coniferous Pines, Firs, and Spruce. Luguwa has a temperate climate with precipitation evenly distributed. Spring and fall are somewhat short, the summers typically range from warm to hot, while the winters are very cool to cold, the farther one travels south.
Social and Political Organization:
The social and political organization of Lugiuva can best be characterized as a system of tribal based chiefdoms that represent relatively egalitarian collectives that displayed little evidence of stratification. As a multilayered ethnicity these communities seem to have shared a somewhat common set of legal, religious, and militaristic customs. These tribes were ruled by clan affiliation and temporary charismatic leaders that were maintained by small groups of heavily-armed retainers and local craft-specialist. However, these tribes were informally administered by an ill-define religious cast and by virtue of their numbers, real authority and the power to act, as well as the cause and course of indenture was held by the general citizenry, whom were but common freemen.
Proto-History:
Due to extensive archaeological survey and excavation the proto-history of the Luguwa province is relatively well understood. The historical stage opens with the 7th century BC Lusatian Culture, which was influenced by the late Hallstatt Culture and characterized by large fortified settlements and extensive cremation cemeteries. In the 6th century this region was also repeatedly attacked by Scythian nomads that targeted the Lusatian settlements and may have contributed to the collapse of this culture around 500 BC. Thereafter attacks by eastern nomads stopped and the vacuum was quickly filled by the southern expansion of the Pomeranian Culture. In chapter 43 of Germania, Tacitus tells us that later the tribes that occupied much of modern Poland shared the name Lugiones (Lugii). As individuals they include the Helveconas, Manimos, Kelisios, Harios, and Nahanarvali; of the latter two, the renowned Roman historian proved slightly more detail. The Harios, or Karios, were accomplished and much feared night-fighters while the Nahanarvali were connected to the Baltic Aswiniai cult and holy grove sites called Alkas. Archaeologically, these tribes were initially represented by the late Pomeranian and, after the mid 3rd century BC, the early Przeworsk cultures. Both constructs can be characterized as pastorally based tribal societies, with the populous residing in small scattered farmsteads and hamlets. They preferred not to have established capitals and in no way used stone, timber, ditch, or mound to enhance the defense of their settlements.
In this order, their most important pursuits were tied to war and the maintenance of their cattle herds, the chief reasons they frequently changed the locations of their settlements. As for war the sources that generally speak of the peoples of greater Germania we lean that the Lugiones did not trust man-made walls. Rather, they relied on the warriors of the common levy who were made ready for war by the very nature of their rustic society and daily environmental challenges. It was claimed they possessed an unmatched ferocity in battle and often with a single-mind were imperious to hardship or reversal. From the texts and excavated warriors burials of this period, we learn that the common levy was simply armed with a spear, javelins, and shield. However, burials of far better armed warriors have been found, including well-made swords, spears, helmets, shields, and body armor of Celtic design; these internments no doubt represent members of the war-leader’s retinue. Arms recovered from 1st century BC warrior burials also demonstrate a wider range of weapons and indicate that troops were being organized around and trained in the use of specific weapon sets.
Although the Przeworsk Culture continued until the 4th century AD, by the beginning of the current era it experienced significant change, losing much of its West Baltic character by the mid 1st century AD. This process seems to be linked to the collapse of the La Tene Culture and the Swabian's rise to power. Some suggest that the rejuvenated Swabians and newly constituted Vandalic tribes were buoyed by a steady flow of people from northern Scandinavia, yet this goes beyond the scope of our study. It may be suffice to say that as small migrating groups gathered, they coalesced with native populations to form new polities, which soon proved extremely aggressive. Nearing the end of the 1st century BC the Swabian confederation expanded to encompass most of modern Germany east of the Rhine and Bohemia. The Lugiones countered this by allying with the Swabians of Bohemia against those of the Elbe region. However, within a few decades Vandalic tribes had gained control of Pomerania, and through a process that included open warfare, direct migration, infiltration, and acculturation were actively reducing the authority of the Lugiones polity.
Strategy:
Although Luguwa has significant agricultural potential, under the Lugiones faction it was an important source for cattle; as well as a vital iron mining and weapon manufacturing district. Geographically, it controlled several of the primary trade routes, called ‘Amber Roads,’ that connected the middle Danube basin to the Baltic Sea region. This province literally represents the extent of the early Przeworsk culture and the political core of the Lugii confederation. For the Lugiones faction to exert hegemony over eastern Europe, control of this province is impetrative, while its domination by the opposition will no doubt reduce the western Balts to a state of vassalage.
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Lands of the Wenetai
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__Pomera (Historic Pomerania)___________________________
Introduction:
In late fall the admirable traveler stares across a sandy beach towards the wind-swept sea called Morimarusa (Baltic). Biding time, he awaits arrival of the craft commissioned to take him to his winter-quarters, still farther north. In the native tongue this land is called Pomera (Pomerania), because it faces onto the sea. In ancient times it ran from the Wisla's (Vistula) environs to the Cimbric Peninsula (Denmark), but more recent events dictate it extends not beyond the bay of the Widur (Oder) River. Except for several small inlets and swamps the coastal plain has been smoothed by the ceaseless assault of the sea. Inland this realm of sandy soil is marshy, hilly, heavily forested, and dotted with numerous lakes. It is inhabited by a warlike tribe named the Læmowes (Lemovii), meaning ‘the smashers,’ who live in small farmsteads scattered all about. These people farm the earth as best they can and conflicts permit, but primarily subsist off their cattle herds and the profits bestowed by endless war.Geography:
Pomera roughly corresponds to historic extent of the Pomerania region; as well as Pomesania, Kulmerland, and part of Masovia. This province is crossed by the north flowing Vistula River which empties into the Baltic Sea. This region is defined by three discrete geographic zones; which include a coastal plain, uplands, and river delta (Vistula Delta). The vegetation is largely related to these major geomorphology settings, whereas the coastal plain, as an extension of the Northern European Plain, is dominated by grassland and small relatively isolated deciduous forests. Furthermore, the upland area known as the hilly Baltic Ridge includes an extensive lake district is characterized by a mixed deciduous and conifer forests. Known as the Żuławy, the river delta is a low wetland with numerous stream and river channels, ponds, bogs, marshes, and swamps that support a variety of aquatic plants, scrubs, and segmented forests. Pomera has a continental climate with precipitation somewhat evenly distributed. However, spring and fall are somewhat short, the summers typically range from warm to very warm, and the winters are cool to cold.
Social and Political Organization:
The social and political organization of Pomera can best be characterized as a system of tribal based chiefdoms that represent relatively egalitarian collectives that displayed little evidence of stratification. As a multilayered ethnicity these communities seem to have shared a somewhat common set of legal, religious, and militaristic customs. Overall, these tribes were informally administered by an ill-define religious cast and ruled by dominant clan affiliations and an assembly of the general citizenry, which formed the overwhelming bulk of the populous.
Proto-History:
Due to extensive archaeological survey and excavation the proto- or culture-history of the province of Pomera is relatively well understood. In the late 8th century BC, about the time the first fortified Lusatian settlements were established, a large number of small dispersed settlements situated along the wide coastal strip between the mouth of the Vistula and the Oder rivers began to reflect a common set of traits. In archaeological terms these traits are known as the Face-Urn or Pomeranian Culture. Yet, these attributes were identical to those that defined the Lusatian Culture, with the notable exception of extensive cemeteries and large fortified villages. The dispersed farmsteads and modest burial areas of Pomeranian complex, may indeed represent only contrasting scales, whereby the latter example is a less sophisticate basal stratum, and the former the upper end of societal stratification. Nonetheless, tree-ring dates indicate that all of the large fortified villages of the Lusatain Culture were abandoned by 500 BC. In contrast, the proliferation of burials interned with distinctive Face-Urn funerary vessels and Pomeranian farmsteads continued unabated as this culture spread to the south and east.
In the 5th century BC, after the Pomeranian Culture had become firmly entrenched in Vorpommern to include the Gubener group and throughout Pomerania to the Vistula. At this point, by tribal migration it slowly spread east across the Vistula River into Pomesania, Kulmerland, and part of Masovia; as well as south into lesser Poland, Silesia, and Masovia. By the mid 3rd century this manifestation was slowly replaced by the Oksywie culture. While this complex is characterized by the introduction of bog Iron extraction techniques, development of weapon or warrior burials, and increased interaction with the Cimberic bronze jewelry industry in Denmark, its attributes were largely based on those of its predecessor. Thus, a developmental continuum between the Pomeranian and Oksywie cultures is assumed. The only historical reference to this region that may relate to the Europa Barbarorum II timeframe, comes from Germania, written in the 1st century AD. Form Tacitus we discern that Pomerania was occupied by a war-like people called the Lemovii, who were armed with short swords and round shields. The Lemovii tribal name seems very similar Ptolemy's 2nd century AD Leuonoi or the Medieval Lami people of Courtland. This name may be derived from the West Baltic root Lam- or Lem-; meaning to ‘wreck, break’ or ‘smash.’
Nonetheless, by the beginning of the 1st century AD Tacitus informs us that the Rugii, from the Old Norse rugr meaning ‘rye-farmers,’ had become the Lemovii's neighbors. The Rugii and the more eastern Goths represent the replacement of the Oksywie by the Wielbark culture, which is primarily characterized by high-status inhumations or cremations and an absence of warrior burials. In fact they seem to have had a taboo against burying weapons or indeed any iron artifact with their dead. The only possible indication of warrior burials are pairs of bronze spurs interned as funerary offerings. The Wielbark Culture more or less corresponds to Jordanes' 6th century Getica account of a Berigian migration from Scandza. Indeed the Wielbark culture includes may of the native traits and attributes found in the preceding Oksywie culture. However, there can be little doubt that this development represents one aspect of a larger phenomenon that entailed a long series of small scale migrations that engulfed the Baltic world. This process ultimately culminated in the relocation of a sizable population from northern Scandinavia and the merging with native groups, over the course of a century. Thus as part of the greater Vandalic manifestation, the Wielbark Culture symbolized the emergence of what would soon prove a dynamic and aggressive new ethnos.
Strategy:
For the most part Pomera is a densely wooded coastal upland with only limited agricultural potential. However it was an important district for raising livestock and fishing. It is also known as a place were furs, amber, ivory, and slaves from the Baltic were passed south, while trade goods from the Mediterranean world were funneled north. Geographically, it controlled several of the primary trade routes, called ‘Amber Roads,’ that connected the middle Danube to the Baltic Sea region. This province literally represents the extent of the Oksywie culture and the tribal Lemovii. For the Lugiones faction to exert hegemony over eastern Europe, control of this province is necessary, while its domination by the opposition will significantly hinder expansion of the western Balts.
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__Æstuwa (Historic East Prussia and Lithuania)___________________________
Introduction:
With color splayed, the sun’s rays filter through the forest canopy to the wonderment of the far-off traveler. Later our wayfarer finds the waves of the Morimarusa Sea (Baltic), washing yet another foreign shore. Here he seeks a much sought gem known in the indigenous tongue as glæsos (glass), whereas the Greeks say 'electron;' a glassy gift from the God Helios. For good reason, still others call it amber, the 'Burn-stone.' For countless years, this quest has lured many beyond the Wisla (viss-LA [Vistula]), to the land of large bays, open plains, hills, deep forests, swamps, and many rivers called Æstuwa. Indeed this is home to the tribes called the Æstai (hes-TAY [Aestii]), meaning spearmen. These natives dwell in small farmsteads scattered far and wide, while their nobles reside in hill forts, encircled by the ditch and high-mounded timber walls. This brave and war-like people own herds of cattle, goats, and sheep; yet favor more the arts of farming. Its said they venerate a mother goddess, and wear her emblem as a wild boar, which instead of armor they believe she will protect better, even amidst an enemy. Besides the spear, the Æstai seldom employ swords, while in the heat of battle they are often seen with clubs.Geography:
The province of Æstuwa includes much of the historic extent of East Prussia and Lithuania. Geographically, this region primarily consists of two large bays and a series of open plains and hilly or mountainous upland areas crossed by the Venta and Musa rivers, as well as the lower portion of the Neman drainage system with its large coastal delta. The vegetation is largely defined by these major geomorphology settings. For example, the coastal plain and middle lowlands, as the farthest extension of the Northern European Plain, are dominated by grasslands, or in swampy areas aquatic scrublands, with small relatively isolated deciduous forests. The upland areas include the Samogitian highlands or the northeast extension of the Baltic Ridge with numerous swamps and literally thousands of small lakes. This area is characterized by a mixture of open meadows and dense deciduous or conifer forests. Finally, the Neman river delta is a low wetland with numerous stream and river channels, ponds, bogs, marshes, and swamps that support a variety of aquatic plants, scrubs, and segmented forests. Æstuwa has a continental climate with precipitation somewhat evenly distributed. However, spring and fall are somewhat short, the summers typically range from warm to very warm, and the winters are cool to cold.
Social and Political Organization:
The political and social organization of Æstuwa can be expressed as a confederation of small tribal based chiefdoms. These were organized as a low-level feudalistic society that displayed only limited stratification. As a diverse ethnicity the communities that composed this polity shared a somewhat common set of legal, religious, and militaristic traditions. These communities were ruled by a small warrior-elite, that was enabled by a symbiotic relationship with the lower classes. The elites were also supported and maintained by a system of limited servitude, which was informally administered by religious and secular magistrates. To provide the requisite logistics for the aristocracy and symbolize the extent and authority of the state, this system was anchored by a network of small fortified settlements.
Proto-History:
Although this region did not fully emerge into historic view until the Medieval Period, the proto- or culture-history of Æstuwa is relatively well understood. From Tacitus’ Germania we learn that this region was home to the Æstai (Aestii), a name apparently derived from the West Baltic word asti, like the Latin hasta, meaning ‘spearmen.’ Tacitus tells us that they lived along the shore of the Baltic Sea from where they collected amber. In archaeological terms the Aestii ethnos was the western Baltic Tumulus culture, which was reconizable by the middle of the 7th century BC. This construct was represented by three local expressions; the east Mazuria, west Mazuria, and Sambia archaeological groups. Overall, the material assemblage associated with this complex included globe-shaped or round-bottom jars and mugs with tall necks, wide-mouth egg-shaped bowls, and vessels with multi-level handles. These were decorated with incised exterior, roughed, or a smoothed surface.
Cemeteries consisted of small tumuli with individual or multiple chest burials with cremation urns deposited on stone pavements. Settlements were typically farmsteads and small lakeside- or hill-fort villages. In fact, the distribution of these fortified sites across the landscape indicates that they served as the strongholds of local chieftains. Initially West Balt Tumuli Culture was largely dependent on tools and jewelry manufactured in the Pomeranian culture area. However, by the 4th century BC, native bronze production increased considerably and in the 3rd century with the introduction of bog Iron extraction techniques local industries were developed to the point where domestic artifacts had outstripped foreign imports. Nonetheless, the local production of iron arms and weaponry continued to lag considerably, well into the Europa Barbarorum II timeframe. In the mid 3rd century BC the West Balt Tumuli Culture appeared to contract under the influence of the Oksywie Culture in Warmia and Mazuria, as the Przeworsk Culture penetrated into Mazovia, while a more concrete expression of this process is the development of the Nidzica group.
The period between the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 1st centuries BC also witnessed a dramatic increase in the number and type of artifacts associated with both the Oksywie and Przeworsk cultures. No doubt due to the economic conduit created by the expanded Przeworsk culture influence, large numbers of late Latene artifacts have been recovered from West Balt Tumuli Culture burial contexts. The final West Balt Tumuli developmental phase roughly corresponds to the terminus of the 1st century BC and is directly linked to the replacement of the Oksywie by the Wielbark culture. Referred to as the early Roman Iron Age, although the ceramic tradition seems unaltered several significant changes in the material culture are apparent. The practice of marking important burials with earthen mounds was discontinued, a number of large unfortified villages were established, and hill-fort villages were abandoned in favor of defensive refugia that lack residential components. This final episode also witnessed an increase in the number and types of contacts and exchanges that revolved around the trade of amber occurred between the Baltic and Mediterranean worlds.
Strategy:
Æstuwa is an important agricultural and fishing district, as well as a source of Amber. It also symbolized a market for exotic furs and due to a nearly constant state of war, it produced a never ending stream of slaves. Geographically, it was the head of several prominent trade routes, called ‘Amber Roads,’ that connected the middle Danube to the Baltic Sea region. Some of these extended east into the vast hinterland, as far as the upper Volga. This province literally represents the extent of the western BalticTumulus culture and the tribal Aestii. For the Lugiones faction to exert hegemony over Eastern Europe, control of this province is necessary, while its domination by the opposition will significantly hinder expansion of the western Balts.
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__Wenetwa (Historic Belarus)__________________________
Introduction:
For weeks on end, the ambling traveler is passed from one guide to another, until a landlocked realm of rolling hills, plains, forests, swamps, and lakes is revealed. As fate dictates, this country includes the headwaters of countless streams, foremost of these connect to the Nawra (Narew), Bugas (Western Bug), Preipetē (Pripet), and Nemuna (Neman) rivers. Indeed this is hearth and home to the tribes called Wenetai (Veneti), meaning 'those afoot;' from which the region Wenetwa, takes its name. They draw much from the wandering-ways, for everywhere to the east, through forests and uplands they’re aroused to raid. Nonetheless, they are sedentary because their homes and small scattered settlements are fixed; they bear shields, rejoice to be swift-of-foot, and in all other ways differ from the true nomads that reside in horse-drawn wagons. While, crops are sowed and reaped to some extent, they favor raising cattle, sheep, goats, and are otherwise much given to the pursuit and profit of war.Geography:
The province of Wenetwa includes much of the territory covered by the Grodno and Brest districts, as well as the western portion of the Minsk Oblast, of Belarus and the western Ukraine. This region consists of two large hilly plains, central uplands, and an extensive low wetlands area; wherein each geographic zone enjoys discrete environmental settings and vegetation types. The regional vegetation is directly related to the geomorphology setting. For example, the hilly plains are dominated by grassland, scattered groves of deciduous trees, and narrow gallery forests that line the larger streams and rivers. Large and diverse deciduous forests prevail in the central upland zone, while the eastern lowlands represent the meandering streams, ponds, bogs, swamps, and general wetland environment of the enormous Pripet marsh. Overall, Wenetwa has a temperate climate with precipitation rather evenly distributed. Spring and fall are short, the summers typically range from warm to hot, while the winters are very cool to cold, the farther one travels north.
Social and Political Organization:
The social and political organization of Wenetwa can best be characterized as a system of tribal based chiefdoms that represent relatively egalitarian collectives that displayed little evidence of stratification. As a multilayered ethnicity these communities seem to have shared a somewhat common set of legal, religious, and militaristic customs. Overall, these tribes were informally administered by an ill-define religious cast and ruled by dominant clan affiliations and an assembly of the general citizenry.
Proto-History:
Our current understanding of the proto-history of the Wenetwa region and thus the tribal Wenetai (Veneti) is somewhat uneven. First off, the classical use of Venetī is certainly both general and specific. For example, this term was indiscriminately used to denote Gaulish, Adriatic, and Vistulic expressions each seemingly independent and possessing an unclear etymological relationship. Speaking in less broad terms, in chapter 46 of Tacitus' Germania, we find that the Vistulic Veneti lived between the Bastarnae and Phinnoi; the later appear to roughly represent the Greek Androphagi. Herein, Tacitus seems to include a number of discrete yet related tribes and cultural groups. Thus, its assumed that Venetī was a generic term that suggested a West Baltic ethnos, which in the context of eastern Europe, could be applied to the tribal elements associated with the Oksywie, Poienesti-Lukashevka, Pomeranian, Przeworsk cultures, West Balt Tumuli, and Zarubintsy cultures.
However, our proto-historic overview of this region opens with the 7th century and the eastern most extent of the Lusatian Culture. In the 6th century this region was also repeatedly attacked by Scythian nomads that targeted the large fortified Lusatian settlements and may have contributed to the collapse of this culture around 500 BC. Thereafter attacks by eastern nomads stopped and the Wysocko Group quickly rose to premininance. While the small Wysocko settlements represent a local expression these were soon joined by newcomers from the Face-Urn or Pomeranian Culture. Throughout the 5th and 4th century BC the latter spread south and east slowly replacing the Wysocko Group. By the mid 3rd century BC the Pomeranian expression was quickly replaced by the Przeworsk Culture and elements of the Zarubintsy Culture, referred to as the Pripet Group. Thus, given the geographic setting, a number of tribes mentioned in the Classical sources seem to be directly linked to Zarubintsy Culture.
From Pliny the Elder's Natural History we learn that this region was occupied by the Sciri and Hirri, who were also known as the Vistulic Veneti. Although written in the mid 1st century AD, the Scirii can be dated as early as 230 BC, with the Bastarnae attack on the Greek colony of Oblia. The Scirii tribal name may be compared to the Old Prussian skirits; Lithuanian skaistus; and Latvian skaidrs, meaning clean, chaste, and pure. Therefore, Scirii or Skirai could have meant 'those who are pure,' which demonstrates a West Baltic affiliation. On the other hand the tribal Hirri seem to represent a form of the Old Indic Arya, or Old Persian Ariya. This may be similar to the Baltic Arias or Ari, which roughly correspond to the Middle Eastern applications, and suggest 'those that farm' or 'those that roam.' From Ptolemy's Geographia, other tribal names that were associated with this region were the Galindai and Soudinoi; clearly the historic West Baltic Galindi and Sudovi/Yotvingi before they shifted northwest into East Prussia, in the late Roman Iron Age and early Germanic Period.
Strategy:
Although Wenetwa has the potential to become an important agricultural district, currently its economy is centered on cattle, swine, and sheep. Some Iron is extracted from the swamps and bogs, which with great effort is largely fashioned into the deadly tools of war. However, its most valuable resources are found in animal pelts, that are traded eat for copper, which is exchanged for Baltic Amber. Geographically, this region controls several prominent trade routes, called ‘Amber Roads,’ that connected the upper Volga to the Baltic Sea region. As a compromise this province represents elements of the Incised Pottery culture, as well as the Pripet, Chechersk-Kisteni, and Goroshkov-Chaplin groups of the Zanubinsty culture. For the Lugiones faction to exert hegemony over Eastern Europe, control of this province is necessary, while its domination by the opposition will significantly hinder expansion of the western Balts.
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The Lugiones and Wenetai Tribes
Within a broad regional or larger ethnic context, the Lugiones can be viewed as an element of the Vistulic Veneti, which based on a West Baltic affiliation, we have reconstructed as the Wenetai. However, given the need to address the historic polity, herein the Lugii are differentiated and render as the Lugiones. Our primary references that mention the Wenetai, as well as the Budinjoi (Budini) and Neurjoi (Neuri), elements of which under that proper circumstances may also be considered Vistulic Veneti, include a number of sources. These are Herodotus’ Histories, Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, Tactius’ Germania, Ptolemy’s Geography, the Peutinger Map, and Jordanes’ Getica. In contrast, our knowledge of the tribes that composed the Lugiones confederation is limited to Tactius’ Germania and Book 2 of Ptolemy’s Geography.In chapter 43 of Germania, Tacitus turned to the Lugii tribes, of whom he saw as distinct from the Istaevones, Ingaevones, and Ierminones. Interestingly, as Tacitus began this discussion he used the Greek form to include the confederation name itself. These included the Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, Helisios, Naharvalos, and Lugio. It seems throughout Germania, Tacitus used a mix of Latin, Celtic, and Greek suffixes depending on his familiarity with the subject or source. In this case the use of Greek and the brevity of the discussion suggest he had no directly knowledge and may have been using a source written in Greek. He states that beyond the continuous mountains as one 'drives on,’ which means 'continues;' a phrase suggesting the purposeful movement alone a well established route. Thus, Tacitus may have been using a Greek itinerary that outlined one or both of the two major routes of the Amber Road as it crossed the Moravian-Silesian Beskids and Carpathian mountains into the central Polish uplands.
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Major Eastern European Linguistic Groups Between 300 and 200 BC.
__Nadarai (Naharvali, Naharvales, Nahanarvali, or Nahanarvalos)___________________________
Tacitus provides several important bits of information that may aid in defining the tribal Nahanarvali. First, Tacitus tells us that they were members of the Lugiones (lugii) confederation with a religious center identified as an ancient sacred grove. He also informs us that this sacred grove was serviced by male priests dressed in female garb, and was dedicated to twin deities. The twin-god ideology is a relatively common Indo-European manifestation. For example one may note the Vedic Ashwini Kumaras or the twin-horsemen-gods from the Rigveda, that represent the shining sunrise and sunset, appearing just before dawn or dusk, on abstracted horseback bringing rewards to men and averting misfortune and sickness.Although one may offer a long list of similar cases, of special interest to our current inquiry is the Lithuanian myth of twin gods referred to as the Asvieniai. The Asvieniai, or in Old Lithuanian Asvienis, were horsemen betrothed to the sun, one symbolized by a white horse for sunrise, and the other a black horse; for sunset. The similarity of the Asvienis in name and myth, to the Vedic Ashwini, indicates that its inclusion within western Baltic cosmology is of great antiquity. Moreover, this myth is similar to the twin Latvian horse gods, which on a larger scale are tied to solar seasons. In turn these myths are in fact analogous to the Greek Dioscuri. Of course the Dioscuri were the twin sons of Zeus; Kastor and Polydeukes who may be better known by their Latin names of Castor and Pollux.
As with the twin-gods, the Indo-European concept of the sacred grove as a symbol of constitutional authority and national identity is a relatively common feature found throughout central Europe and the Pagan Baltic. In Courland for example the local nobility preserved pre-Christian traditions associated with three such religious sites well into the 16th century. These and many others have been documented in local folklore, historic records, and historic maps. For example an interesting description of rituals practised at one such sacred grove in Courland was written by Reinhold Lubenau, a traveler that visited the area in the Christmas of 1586. Again, of special interest is that these sacred groves were referred to as ‘Elka’ or ‘Alkas.’ In fact, the in Old Lithuanian elkas or alká literally means 'holy grove.' The similarity between the Baltic expressions and Tacitus’ ‘Alcis,’ as the name of the religious site he described, can by no means be entirely coincidental.
Additionally, the mythic twin-gods found in the Lithuanian, Latvian, Greek, and even Vedic cosmologies, while anthropomorphized, were abstractions that directly related to specific celestial movements and seasonal change. This may be behind Tacitus’ statement that within the sacred grove, there was no image or symbol of the twin-gods themselves. Finally, another parallel between the Latin and Greek Castor and Pollux cults and the West Baltic Asvienis is the veneration of youth and brotherhood. Again, Tacitus mentioned these features as central to the Alcis or sacred grove worship.
Herein the tribal name Naharvali, Naharvales, Nahanarvali, or Nahanarvalos have been reconstructed as Nadarai, based on West Baltic. This was achieved through the root word Nahanar- (pronounced NAH-anar- or NAH-adar-) followed by the -vales suffix. This indecates that Naharvales, Nahanarvali, or Nahanarvalos may have been the name of a tribal district rather than a tribal name per se. Thus, Nahanar- or Nahadar- may be compared to the historic Old Prussian tribal name Nadra and the associated Nadruwa district. By extension Nadruwa may be expressed as Nadra-gales or possibly Nadar-vales. Historically, the Nadra were both a large clan and tribe recorded by Peter of Dusburg in the 13th century, as occuping the northern most portion of East Prussia. Its possible that the etymology of both Tacitus’ Nahanar- and the East Prussian Nadra may be traced to a common source that includes the Old Prussian nadir, meaning 'to guard' or 'protect.'
One may also see in the –vales suffix an early form closely related to the Old Prussian walstis or Lithuanian valstija, which simply means ‘the state, country' or 'land.’ This form can be found in a number of Medieval examples that include; Latgale or Lætgale (meaning 'land of the Lett') and Zemgale or Ziemgala (meaning Lower-land). Thus, we may find Tacitus’ Naharvali, Naharvales, Nahanarvali, or Nahanarvalos as meaning ‘land of the Nahar.’ Nonetheless, the geographic home of the tribal Nadarai may ultimately be found in northern Masovia, southern Masuria, and Palenke; included within the watershed of the Narew River drainage. The Polish Narew River is also known in Lithuanian as the Naura which displays an uncanny similarity to both the East Prussian Nadra and Tacitus’ Nahanar-. Therefore one may suggest, that Nadra was a toponym, from which the Naura River also received its name. Overall, this may provide for the setting for the pre-Roman Iron Age Nahanarvali, somewhere east of the Vistula and immediately south of East Prussia.
__Arrai (Hari/Harios)___________________________
In Germania Tacitus tells us that the Arrai (Hari) were the first of the Lugiones (Lugii people) and compared to those listed, they had greater vigor. The implication seems that the Arwyai where more numerous and were able to field armies that were often successful. As well, their placement on Tacitus’ list suggests that the Arrai occupied the central uplands immediately north of the upper Vistula valley. Furthermore, Tacitus says they used both art and opportunity to enhance their ferocity making themselves nearly irresistible in battle, when confronted by those unfamiliar with their aspect. Thus, with blacked shields and darkened bodies they gathered in the pitch-black of night to fight as a ghastly army of ghosts that incited great fear. Other that this Classical sources remain silent as far as the Arrai are concerned.
__Helveconas and Kelisios___________________________
The Helveconas appear to have occupied the area around the confluences of the Oder, Notec, and Warta rivers. However, about the same time that the Belgae and Bastarnae tribes began to migrate towards the west and east, respectively, part of the Helveconas seemed to have shifted southwest. They may have hit the Elbe between Dresden and Wittenberg, then moved on to the Main and later the upper Rhine, only to become the Helvetii. On the other hand, the Helveconas seemed to have remained in what is now modern Poland. Another tribe mentioned by Tacitus in Germania was the Helisios/Kelisios. It is likely they were situated immediately to the east of the Helveconas, within the Warta drainage system, in the vicinity of Kalisz. Today many scholars dispute a connection between the Helisios, Ptolemy's Calisia, and historic Kalisz, but in truth these agreements are largely unsupported. Recent archaeological survey and excavation around Kalisz indicates that this area was densely occupied from the 4th century BC to about AD 100.
__Manimoi/Omanoi, Diduni, and Buri___________________________
Many of the Celtic settlements in Lower Silesia were abandoned soon after 120 BC. This seems to roughly correspond to part of the 100 mile wide Vacare Agros mentioned in Book 4 of Caesar's Gallic War. On the other hand with the steady political decline of the east Celts, and retraction of the Latene Culture, Upper Silesia was increasingly pulled into the sphere of the Przeworsk Culture. This archaeological construct may be characterized as pastorally based tribal society, without an established capital, that was based on small scattered unfortified farmsteads and hamlets. Although written in the early 2nd century AD, form Ptolemy's Geographia we learn that Upper Silesia was occupied by the Buri, Manimoi/Omanoi and Didunoi tribes, who were associated with the Lugii confederation and Lugidunum, apparently an important settlement. The Didunoi or Diduni tribal name may represent Greek and Latin forms of the Celtic Dī dunos; meaning 'those of' or 'from the uplands.' In contrast the tribal name Omanoi or Omani may be similar to the Gaulish 'komantos' and mean ‘those who are equals.'
__Wenetai (Vistulic Veneti), Sciri, and Hirri__________________________
Our current understanding of the proto-historic Wenetai (Vistulic Veneti) is somewhat uneven. First, the classical useage is certainly both general and specific. For example, this term was indiscriminately used to denote Gaulish, Adriatic, and Vistulic expressions each seemingly independent and possessing an unclear etymological relationship. Speaking in less broad terms, Tacitus' tells us that the Vistulic Veneti lived between the Bastarnae and Phinnoi; yet the former tribe is often included within this ethnos while the latter certainly is not. Herein, a number of related tribes and cultural groups are included within this concept. In fact, the Peutinger Map, which often employs archaic terminology, seems to suggest that all the tribes of eastern Europe north of the Carpathians and northwest of the Black Sea were considered Wenetai.Our current understanding of the proto-historic Wenetai (Vistulic Veneti) is somewhat uneven. First, the classical useage is certainly both general and specific. For example, this term was indiscriminately used to denote Gaulish, Adriatic, and Vistulic expressions each seemingly independent and possessing an unclear etymological relationship. Speaking in less broad terms, Tacitus' tells us that the Vistulic Veneti lived between the Bastarnae and Phinnoi; yet the former tribe is often included within this ethnos while the latter certainly is not. Herein, a number of related tribes and cultural groups are included within this concept. In fact, the Peutinger Map, which often employs archaic terminology, seems to suggest that all the tribes of eastern Europe north of the Carpathians and northwest of the Black Sea were considered Wenetai.
This inclusive or ethnic concept seems to be reinforced by the Old High German use of 'Winida,' and the Old English 'Winedas' or 'Wends,' a deeply rooted archaic useage similar to the Germanic Walha, that eventualy was applied to any nation that occupied the region to the east. A West Baltic association with the Vistulic Veneti may be found in the Old Prussian Wan- or the Lithuanian Vin- meaning to 'meander, wander,' or 'ramble;' or the Old Prussian Wandrai, rendered as 'those who migrate.' Thus, its assumed that Vistulic Veneti or Wenetai was a generic term suggesting a West Baltic ethnos, which in the context of eastern Europe, could be applied to the tribal elements associated with the Oksywie, Poienesti-Lukashevka, Pomeranian, Przeworsk cultures, West Balt Tumuli, and Zarubintsy cultures.
On the one hand Pliny the Elder suggests that the tribal Sciri and Hirri were known as Vistulic Veneti. Although written in the mid 1st century AD, the Scirii can be dated as early as 230 BC, with the Bastarnae attack on the Greek colony of Oblia. The Scirii tribal name may be compared to the Old Prussian skirits; Lithuanian skaistus; and Latvian skaidrs, meaning clean, chaste, and pure. Therefore, Scirii or Skirai could have meant 'those who are pure,' demonstrating a West Baltic affiliation. Additionally, the tribal Hirri seem to represent a form similar to the Old Prussian Ari or Ariai, suggesting 'those that farm' or 'those that roam.'
Although attempts have been made to contort a purely Germanic etymology for the Bastarnae, even the most casual observer may note the similarity with the Old Prussian bastweî, or Lithuanian bastūnas meaning ‘nomad, vagabond,’ and ‘ranger.’ Of course, these are derived from the Baltic root bast-, meaning to ‘wander, roam,’ and ‘range.’ From Ptolemy's Geographia, other tribal names that were associated with this region were the Galindai and Soudinoi/Sidonen; clearly the historic West Baltic Galindi and Sudovi/Yotvingi before they shifted northwest into East Prussia, in the late Roman and early Germanic iron ages. Finally turning west, the Lugiones (Lugii) of central Poland, Æstai (Aesti) of East Prussia, and Læmowes (Lemovii) of Pomerania, given a West Baltic affiliation, one may include these elements within a greater Vistulic Veneti ethnos.
__Budinjoi (Budini)__________________________
The proto-history of the tribal Budinjoi (Budini) is rather obscure. However, Herodotus’ Histories tell us that in the mid 5th century BC they were a large and numerous nation, that lived in a well forested land where there was an enormous marsh. We also learn that they lived among the Geloni, at Gelonus, the latter's huge fortified capital. Fortunately, Gelonus has been identified as the site of Bilske Horodyshche, in Poltava Region of the Eastern Ukraine, near the village of Bilske. Armed with this and the general time frame provided by Herodotus, we may deduce that the Budini were directly associated with the Milograd or Pidhirtsi culture. The extent of this archaeological complex fits the merger geographic references provided by Herodotus; centered upon the woodlands as demarcated by the steppes and the Pripet Marsh of the northwestern Ukraine.Interestingly, events and processes that shaped the proto-history of this region paralleled those that occurred farther south and west. Early in the 3rd century BC the Pidhirtsi culture was brought to an abrupt end due to another large scale tribal migration linked with the Pomeranian-Przeworsk complex to the west. This process also appears to be associated with wide spread abandonments of earlier communities with some of these populations resettling around the Greek Black Sea colonies. The Budini seem to have been both pushed east and assimilated under the auspices of the Zarubintsy Culture, which represented the tribal Skirai (Scirii). From their base in the general area of Kiev the Scirii, along with the Bastarnae further south, participated in a number of migrations and attacks into southeast Europe and the eastern Ukraine. However, by the end of the Europa Barbarorum II time frame, the Scirii had largely confined their military adventures to the Ukraine.
In broad terms the etymology of the tribal names addressed above may also be used to suggest an ethnic affiliation. The Budinjoi can be compared to the Old Prussian budit; Lithuanian budinti; Latvian budīt; Old Church Slavonic budėti; Polish Budzić; Russian budit; Sanskrit bódhati; and Hindustani Buddha, meaning to ‘wake’ or ‘rise up.’ Thus, the earler Budinjoi or Budini may have meant 'those that rise up,' and additionally indicates a very significant Balto-Slavic affiliation. On the other hand the Scirii tribal name can be compared to the Old Prussian skirits; Lithuanian skaistus; and Latvian skaidrs, meaning clean, chaste, and pure. Therefore, Scirii or Skirai could have meant 'those who are pure,' which also demonstrates a clear western Baltic connection.
__Neurjoi (Neuri)__________________________
Given the current state of understanding the proto-history of the tribal Neurjoi (Neuri) is difficult to discern or assess. In Herodotus’ Histories we find that by the mid 5th century BC the Neuri lived beyond, or north of the Budini, Geloni, and Scythes. Furthermore, the site of Gelonus has been located in the Poltava Region, near the village of Bilske. Therefore, the tribal Geloni were centered on the Vorksla, Sula, Desna and Sejm river valleys of the Eastern Ukraine. Based on this, the Geloni can be associated with the Sula and Vorksla archaeological groups, while the Budini are roughly linked to the Milograd or Pidhirtsi culture. We also learn from Herodotus that the Neuri were near neighbors of the Androphagi; a Greek attempt to somewhat transliterate the Iranian term Mardxvāra (Mordvins), used for the Uralic Erzya and Moksha people that lived along the Volga, east of Moscow. Additionally, a 11th century Russian chronicle mentioned a large district called Neroma located in the area east of Latvia.In archaeological terms the Medieval Neroma district, is represented by the Early Iron Age Plain Pottery Culture, wherein the material assemblage is relatively indivisible from that found in the Smolensk, Moscow, Tula, Kaluga, and Brjansk areas to the east. The hallmark of this culture is the fortified hill-top village of which several hundred sites that date to the Early Iron Age have been identified in this area. They appear to form clusters of five to ten settlements that are individually spaced a distance of about five km. Several of these community clusters are known from the upper Oka river valley and the associated Zhizdra, Ugra, Upa, and Nara drainages. A number of other communities of this type are grouped along the Protva River southwest of Moscow, as well as around Smolensk, Vitebsk, Minsk, and Homel. These sites are fortified with a rampart and ditch that either partially or entirely enclose an oval, elliptical, triangular, or rectangular shaped area of around 100 to 500 m², with as many as ten residential structures. The one to two meter high ramparts were built of stone, earth, or baked clay interlaced and covered with wood upon which a two meter high timber wall was constructed. The exterrior ditch often were three to seven meters deep and between 10 and 15 meters wide.
With the construction of a lower rampart enclosure designed to hold livestock, some settlements took on the aspect of the motte and bailey castle. This type of defensive architecture and site structure is clearly the forerunner of the Gord, which is a widespread and enduring hallmark of the historic Slavic culture. Another important aspect of this culture was the extensive yet low-level tool industry that relied on bone and stone; as well as localized bronze jewelry production. With the introduction of bog Iron extraction techniques the use of Iron tools and weapons had increase, but would not entirely replace those made of less durable materials until the 1st centuries AD. By the middle of the 3rd century BC the western aspect of this common culture had differentiated only slightly from the eastern expression becoming the Brushed Pottery and Upper Oka cultures, respectively. On face value, other than changes in the predominant ceramic ware types, these cultures remained very similar. However, it is also evident that these subtle changes also underlie the cultural process whereby the genesis of an incipient Slavic ethnos was established.
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Lugiones and Wenetai/Veneti Tribes Between 200 and 100 BC.
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The Lugiones: A Culture History
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An Introduction
The history of the Lugiones confederation is hindered only by the paucity of a written account. Therefore, in order to reconstruct a narrative of it's prehistory we must largely depend upon archaeology, a sub-discipline of anthropology. Herein, as prolog this story of conflict and ultimate assimilation begins with the European Iron Age, and a climate favorable for both agricultural and pastoral expansion. The subsequent spike in demographic growth seems to have inspired increased attacks by steppe nomads and directly resulted in what may be considered the first urban centers, in the region known today as Poland and northeastern Germany. Although the vast majority of the population remained dispersed across the landscape in small farmsteads and hamlets, the best examples of this selective aggregation are the large fortified settlements of Sobiejuchy, Senftenberg, Biskupin and Buch. They reflect a relatively high degree of community planning and engineering, as displayed by their location, general layout, and use of an intricate form of defensive architecture. Collectively, both the rural and urban settlements, and the associated material assemblages are referred to as Lusatian Culture.
The Hallstatt, Lusatian, and Pomeranian cultures
Although not otherwise reflected, funerary offerings and the associated iconography indicate the emergence of an equestrian class that paid considerable attention to the ways and means of trade and industry to further the prosecution of war. Of course, by extension this infers that warfare played a significant role in the early Iron Age, and thus arose the need of a managerial elite. While not common, a representative group of warrior burials at Gorszewice, a Lusatian cemetery near the fortified settlement at Komorów, reveal a wide array of weapons of late Hallstatt design. These included spears, swords, daggers, and axes, as well as evidence of head and body armor. Incised decoration on ceramic funerary vessels also depicts the use of horse drawn chariots and cavalry. Additional evidence of the procurement, maintenance, and use of horses has been found in burials and household trash. On the other hand, structures grouped around ceramic kilns and smelting furnaces, along with stone moulds and a host of glass, bronze, and iron artifacts, implies craft speculation. It also signifies a thriving industry engaged in the local manufacture of arms, armaments, tools, and items of personal adornment. Furthermore Baltic amber, late Hallstatt weapons and armor, as well as imported exotic items made in Denmark, Italy, Greece, and Scythia; demonstrate that some of the more important Lusatian settlements were part of a trading network that operated throughout much of central Europe.
The relevance of the Lusatian Culture to the later Lugiones polity, is threefold. First, it clearly demonstrates the requisite demography, technology, and resources, as well as a cultural predisposition, necessary for population aggregation. Secondly, the fortified Lusatian settlements and the rise of a warrior class, as a response to the proposed intrusive attacks of steppe nomads, establish a need for a comprehensive strategy of defense. Finally, the presence of a few relatively large and well fortified villages, amidst a sea of small rural settlements without defenses indicates a certain degree of social stratification. However, the lack of differentiation in domestic architecture also suggests that higher levels of class distinction and the ability to establish large political networks, were all but absent. These are themes to be revisited in greater detail when we provide more substance to the shadow that is the story of the Lugiones.
Within this context, by the late 8th century BC, or at about the time the first fortified Lusatian villages were established, a large concentration of small dispersed settlements situated along the wide coastal strip between the mouth of the Vistula and the Oder rivers began to reflect a common set of traits. In archaeological terms these sites would become known as the Pomeranian Culture. However, in truth this diagnostic set of traits were relatively common before, and for all intents and purposes, were identical to those that defined the Lusatian Culture. That is with the notable exception of the extensive cemeteries and large fortified villages. Thus, the small dispersed farmsteads and modest burial areas of Pomeranian complex, may be yet another example of contrasting scales, whereby the later represents a less sophisticate basal stratum, while the former the upper end of societal stratification. Nonetheless, tree-ring dates indicate that all of the large fortified villages of the Lusatain Culture were abandoned by 500 BC, while the proliferation of small Pomeranian farmsteads continued unabated throughout Poland, as far as the western Ukraine and Belarus.
Reliable explanations why the Lusatain Culture failed, and was replaced by the Pomeranian Culture are at best fleeting. Some claim that the large fortified sites were abandoned due to raids by steppe peoples. However, this might seem a tad odd, since increased warfare was initially offered as one of the underlying causes for population aggregation and class differentiation, in the first place. Others attempt to demonstrate an oscillation to a slightly cooler climate, ergo decreasing agricultural productivity; the basis of the early Iron Age economy. While there were changes in the location of farmsteads and hamlets, there was no apparent decrease in the regional population; as the number of Pomeranian settlements actually witnessed a sizable increase. Although the environment may have been a factor, if the rapid population growth Europe experienced between the early 7th and 1st century BC is any indication, the climatic regime of this period was relatively stable, and might best be described as ideal.
Moreover, it may be obvious to even the most casual observer that the demise of the large fortified Lusatain settlements represents nothing more than the removal of an overt example of social stratification. In this respect the benefits of a hierarchy may have been outstripped by the escalating costs imposed by a ruling elite, who were in due course rejected by the basal society at-large. As well, a shift towards pastoralism, adoption of a defensive strategy based on local levies, and the elimination of targets that inherently drew or supported external attacks may have offered additional advantages. Regardless, the Pomeranian Culture denotes the genesis of the tribal elements that later comprised the Lugiones confederation.
Face Urns, Endless Warfare, and the La Tene Culture
The next chapter in the story of the Lugiones confederation is embedded in the tumults of territorial conquest and the fashioning of a society designed to endure external threat and a state of nearly constant war. In the upland valleys and forests of southeastern France, Switzerland, southern Germany, and Austria, at about the same time the Pomeranian Culture and its affiliates coalesced in Poland and northeast Germany, another important ethnos emerged. Today archaeologists refer to the sites and artifacts of this ethnic expression as the late Hallstatt and La Tene cultures. In more precise terms, this expression can briefly be described as a group of agriculturally based tribal communities organized as feudalistic societies that shared a common language and set of deeply rooted oral, artistic, legal, spiritual, and militaristic traditions. These tribes were ruled by the warrior-elite, who were enabled by their symbiotic relationship with artisans, merchants, and craftsmen. In turn these classes were supported and maintained by a vast system of indenture and other forms of servitude, which were informally administered by an indiscrete body of religious and secular magistrates. Overall, to serve as tribal capitals, provide the requisite logistics of the aristocracy, and symbolize the extent and authority the body politic, the La Tene Culture was anchored by a network of large fortified towns, called Oppida.
Collectively, the people of these tribes called themselves Celts, and it was not long before Europe felt their might. Again increased agricultural productivity throughout the 6th and early 5th century BC, fueled by technological advance and an optimum climate, resulted in explosive population growth and a heightened demand for new land. To satisfy this need they harnessed the dynamic potential of disinherited aristocratic youth and their retainers, with the promise that war would achieve both enterprise and upward social mobility. This policy is embodied in the well known Gallic axiom, that all legal rights and privilege can only be derived from courage and the sword. It seems success was quickly realized, as by 600 BC they had subjugated much of central Gaul, and soon large scale intrusions followed into Iberia, northern Italy, southern Germany, and Bohemia. Then, in the last decades of the 5th century, these Celts decisively defeated the Etruscans, destroying their political unity, and by 390 BC they even humiliated the burgeoning Roman state by capturing their capital and holding it for ransom. In the next few years Celtic tribes based in Austria began to expand eastward down the Danube, while those in Bohemia and Moravia crossed into Slovakia and Silesia, and within a half century they had craved out new homes throughout the Balkans and southern Poland. But the tribes of the Pomeranian Culture were also on the move, and it was under these circumstances that the Celts came into direct contact with the peoples of the Lugiones confederation.
One such tribe was the Helveconas, whose western branch may be better known as the Helvetii. In the 4th century BC, after the Pomeranian Culture had become firmly entrenched in northeastern Poland, it spread into Prussia, Lesser Poland, Silesia, and Masovia due to tribal migration. Ostensively it seems that as this process commenced, the Helveconas spelt, with an eastern element slowly shifting southeast into Lesser Poland, and a western prong that moved southwest by stages. As Tacitus informs, the western branch or Helvetii settled in the area bounded by the Main and Rhine rivers, as well as the Celtic Boii and Hercynian Forest. Thereafter, Ptolemy and Posidonius imply that the Helveti, enticed by the allure of gold, eventually abandoned this realm for the upper reaches of the Rhine. While it was there, they meet and some joined the enormously unwieldy and ill-fated expedition of the Cimbri and Teutones, the majority of the Helvetii were soon on-the-move again, and on this occasion they settled in western Switzerland. The Helvetii provide a number of insights into the general nature of both the societies of La Tene and Pomeranian cultures. Although it’s clear they originated beyond the initial La Tene sphere, by the 1st century BC, the tribal Helvetii in many respects appear to have been fully integrated into the fabric of the Gran Celteria. This alone demonstrates that tribal identities were somewhat fluid and not solely based on longstanding bonds of kinship. It also underscores the relative ease in which one group could exchange language and custom for a favorable political relationship and greater security.
Even so, the manner in which societies self-conceptualize and regulate morality seems deeply ingrained in a primal identity that is often difficult to alter. It appears that Helvetii jurisprudence may have preserved a relic that hearken to their tribal origin and an affinity to the society represented by the Pomeranian and latter Przeworsk cultures. This is found in the curious case of a nobleman named Orgetorix, who over a number of years conspired with two Gallic leaders, to convince the Helvetii and several neighboring tribes to migrate from Switzerland, with the purpose of seizing power and uniting central Gaul by means of intimidation and a nearly-bloodless coup. The details of this case or its ultimate disposition are not of consequence here, as immediately after the issue was resolved the Helvetii implemented the original plan. This indicates that the reason the Helvetii magistrates attempted to try and execute Orgetorix, was only because they were incensed that he intended to have himself appointed to an office, which was common among Celts, that they and their countrymen would simply not tolerate. Because of the close relationship between the tribes of the Suebi and Lugiones confederations, similar examples concerning this attitude towards the nature and authority of kingship involve Marbodius, Catualda, and Arminius. Because they attempted to supercede the authority of lesser nobles and the common assembly, as well as accumulate what was considered too much power; in turn each was deposed when opportunity presented.
In fact, due to proximity and a common inspiration, the Suebi and Lugiones confederations appear to have been organized along similar lines. Today these tribes are represented by the archaeological constructs called the Jastof and Przeworsk cultures, respectively. Although at some early stage their basic linguistic and oral traditions diverged and thus became dissimilar, both groups can be characterized as pastorally based tribal communities that were organized as large egalitarian collectives with a somewhat common set of legal, religious, and militaristic customs. These tribes were ruled by clan affiliation and temporary charismatic leaders that were maintained by small groups of heavily-armed retainers and local craft-specialist. However, by virtue of their numbers, real authority and the power to act, as well as the cause and course of indenture was held by the general citizenry, whom were but common freemen, and formed the overwhelming bulk of the populous. Overall, these people lived in small scattered farmsteads and hamlets, preferred not to have established capitals, and in no way used stone, timber, ditch, or mound to enhance the defense of their homes. In this order, their most important pursuits were tied to war and the maintenance of their cattle herds, the chief reasons they frequently changed the locations of their settlements. Thus, their dispersed communities were connected by an ever changing network of paths, trails, and informal roads that crossed countless rivers and streams, as well as vast tracts of forest and swamp.
We are told that between the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, the preparation and conduct of endless war became increasingly central to all of the peoples of greater Germania, including the tribes of the Lugiones polity. Of course the intensity of these wars ranged from simple clan feuds, petty rivalries, and the ubiquitous cattle raid; to long drawn-out massive multi-tribal campaigns designed to seize territory and resources. Due to the growing demand made by the Mediterranean markets, by the late 2nd century BC two of the most lucrative reasons wars were fought was over the control of the amber roads and slaves. Concerning the preparation for war, Caesar and Tacitus recall a type of common levy used by the Suebi tribes, that seems to closely correspond to the archaeology of both the Jastof and Przeworsk cultures. Hereby, every year each populated district within a tribal area was assigned to provide an equal number of warriors, allbeit 100 or 1000, to serve as the common levy. A comparable number of households within these districts were also tasked with the support of these troops throughout the course of the year. Furthermore, it appears that from year to year these duties were rotated throughout the populous, so that ‘neither the pursuit of war nor subsistence were ever neglected.’
As for the conduct of war, the sources also tell us that from the outset warriors of the common levy were made war-ready and battle-harden by the very nature of their rustic society and the challenges to survival, presented daily by the environment in which they lived. In regards to more intangible aspects, they were reported to have possessed an unmatched ferocity in battle and often with a seemingly-single mind, were imperious to hardship or reversal. As tacticians they were skilled in the use of terrain and proved competent in the meeting engagement, raid, or ambush, yet were often found lacking when it came to the set-piece battle. From the texts and excavated warriors burials of this period, we learn that the warriors of the common levy were simply armed with a spear, a pair of javelins, and shield; while dressed in nothing more than a woolen cloak, that also served as a bed roll. However, burials of far better armed warriors have been found, including well-made swords, spears, helmets, shields, and body armor of Celtic design; these internments no doubt represent members of the war-leader’s retinue. However, arms recovered from warrior burials that date to the 1st century BC also demonstrate a wider range of weapons were being used, and that troops were formally being organized around and trained in the use of specific weapon sets. This period also seems to have witnessed a general increase in the use of weapons, and due to the variety of type and source of manufacture, one may also question the origins of many of those that employed them.
The Early Przeworsk and Oksywie Cultures
Within the guise of the Przeworsk culture, the principle tribes and related groups that composed the Lugiones confederation may have formed by the early 3rd century BC. As a theoretical reconstruction these included the Didunas, Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, and Helisios. The Lemovii seem to have occupied the Baltic coast between the mouths of the Oder and Vistula rivers, and increased trade of Baltic amber for Cimbric bronze jewelry, resulted in a local variant of the Przeworsk culture, called the Oksywie culture. Between the lower Vistula and Nemunas rivers elements the Bur, Sidonen, Galindai, and Nahanarvali tribes appear to have incorporated to represent the Nidzica group. Possibly due to Celtic expansion into the Balkans, at about the same time, several related tribes abandoned the middle Vistula, shifted into the northern Ukraine, and formed the Sciri confederation. The Peucini, Atmonen, and elements of the Sidonen also appear to have quit southeastern Poland and by the middle 3rd century BC were well established in Galicia and Bukovina, becoming the historic Bastarnae confederation. In anthropological terms the polities of the Sciri and Bastarnae were confirmed by local expressions of the Przeworsk Culture called the Zarubintsy and Poienesti-Lukashevka archaeological groups, respectively. Yet, the tribes of the Bastarnae and Sciri only fully emerged onto the world stage around 230 BC when they beset and captured the Greek colony of Olbia. Throughout the 2nd century BC the tribes of the Bastarnae confederation, either as invaders or mercenaries, were militarily active in the lower Danube Basin and the Balkans, earning the reputation as the bravest of all nation. In fact, at this time the Peucini migrated south and established themselves on the large southern-most island in the huge delta of the Danube.
Collectively the ethnicity of the tribes mentioned above, which actually represent by the various aspects of the Przeworsk construct, remain unclear. However, the similarities with possible historic equivalents; as found in the Lemovii (Læmonii), Bur (Barta), Sidonen (Suduva), Galindai (Galinda), and Nahanarvali (Nadruva) tribal names, suggest a western Baltic linguistic affiliation. The same may be deduced by the Didunas, Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, and Helisios tribal names, yet with a somewhat closer relationship to the languages used by the Celt and Belgae peoples. The use of Lugii, Lugiones, or Lougoi to signify the confederates suggest a basic relationship with a deity called Lugus in Gualish; elements of which may also be found in Old Prussian and Lithuanian pagan gods Lauksargis, Laukamat, Laukpatis, and Laukų. Interestingly in Gaulish myth Lugus was paired to the Roman god Mercury, and supplied with an analogous epithet meaning, skilled in all arts. Furthermore, the Romans indecate that Lugus, in one form or another, was the most revered deity in Gaul and Germania, and claim he was the patron of trade, commerce, and the inventor of all arts and crafts. Another possible western Baltic connection with the Lugiones may be found in the role of Lugus in certifying oaths, as in the Old Irish luige, and Brythonic lugio or llw. Herein, the Old Prussian term laūks, meaning a bounded area, was also used to denote a tribal affiliation, and given its origin may indirectly refer to the oaths that bind communities. The root words used for the Sciri and Bastarnae tribes may be found in the Lithuanian skiriú and Old Prussian Bastweî, meaning to separate and thrust through, respectively. Finally, it’s also feasible that the Peucini and Atmonen tribal names may symbolize Greek and Latin renderings of the Baltic deities Purkūnas and Auљrinė. However, Ptolemy tells us that the Peucini took their name from the Island of Peuke in the delta of the Danube.
Turning to more corporeal facets, archaeological surveys and excavations conducted in the vicinity of the modern Polish city of Kalisz provide a wealth of information about the Late pre-Roman Iron Age (LpRIA). In all about 200 late La Tene and early Roman period loci were recorded and based on their attributes these represent residential or mortuary sites, as well as isolated hoards. Of these, three residential sites located approximately five Km south of Kalisz and west of the Prosna River, that surround a large LpRIA cemetery near Piwonice provide important insights into the composition and structure of early Przeworsk Culture communities. These settlements consist of loose yet discrete clusters of habitation structures, as well as byres, storage sheds, and workshops that appear to represent hamlets or small villages that lack any form of defensive architecture. Extramural features such as storage pits, hearths, ovens, kilns, and smelting furnaces were often scattered around the parameter of the settlement. The long walls of the habitation structures were generally orientated along a east-west axis with an entry facing south. Architecturally, habitation structures were typically relatively small rectangular pithouses, with floor areas that covered about 12 to 48 m2. The floor of pithouses ranged from one to 1.5 m below the occupational ground surface. Overall, these structures were timber-framed with waddle-and-daub walls, and steeply pitched roofs. Floor features include storage pits, formal hearths, as well as small ovens and smelting furnaces. Overall, these archaeological findings are similar and provide great credence to the descriptions of settlements associated with the Suebi and Lugii confederations, submitted by Caesar and Tacitus.
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Example of a Lugiones Settlement Occupied in the 2nd Century BC.
A large number and variety of LpRIA artifacts were recovered from the excavations outlined above. These included a huge collection of locally hand-made pottery that was associated with either a residential, processing, or ritual context. In addition, a large number of perishable artifacts were recovered, made of carbonized wood, bone, and horn. These can potentially provide important information about the local environment, economy, and technology; as well as the natural faunal and floral resources used by the LpRIA culture. Another important artifact category includes manufacturing byproduct, such as slag or debitage, which was associated with the processing of bronze and silver artifacts; as well as glass bowls, and beads. Evidence of a diverse economy can be surmised from the impression of rye, wheat, barley, oats, and millet found on loom weights. Additional evidence of these cereals include carbonized remains found in a wide-range of contexts. Domesticated faunal remains included cattle, sheep, pig, goat, dog, and horse bones. While undomesticated types were rather under represented they consisted of stag, deer, boar, beaver, bear, elk, wild geese, and duck. Ceramic loom weights and carpentry tools suggest household-based textual and wood craft production. The only evidence of specialized production apparently were several workshops used as tanneries, furriers, and smithys. The presence of wheel-made La Tene pottery, Roman and Celtic coins, imported glass, silver, and bronze artifacts demonstrated trade with communities located to the south and southwest.
Although the Przeworsk Culture continued until the 4th century AD, by the beginning of the current era it had experienced significant change. In fact the archaeological attributes and textual references indicate that the western Baltic character reached an apogee around the mid 1st century BC then rapidly declined. Thereafter, the nature of change within the Przeworsk Culture became increasingly influenced by the Suebi tribes. The causes of this seem to be linked to a number of interrelated factors initially tied to the collapse of the La Tene Culture and the Suebi confederation's rise to prominence. Firstly, while Celtic expansion appears to have checked Germanic aggression, in the 3rd century BC a number of Belgae tribes seized the initiative, crossed the Rhine, and conquered a large portion of northeastern Gaul. At about the same time a number of important Celtic tribes embroiled themselves in a long series of wars in Italy that eventually claimed an enormous toll. Next, a resurgent Rome decisively defeated the united Gallic confederation under the leadership of the Arverni. Then, the Cimbric migration rampaged throughout Western Europe in the late 2nd century BC, inflecting untold hardship and ruin. Many of the Celtic Oppida in southern Germany were burned at this time and despite the claim that the Boii held out against the invaders, they were significantly reduced and soon after began to abandon Bohemia. The net result of these reversals was that political unity in Gaul was shattered, with the Celtic tribes weakened and in disarray civil strife followed, diverting resources once dedicated to expansion and maintenance of the Gran Celteria, to the defense of the homeland. However, it seems evident that only Rome and the reconstituted Suebi confederation would take advantage of this distress.
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Major Archaeological Cultures and Groups of Eastern Europe Around 100 BC.
The Rise of the Early Swabians
In regards to the Suebi, to explain we must turn to the area around Mecklenburg, Hamburg, and Luneburg, were it is evident that the Ripdorf phase of the Jastorf Culture represents the genesis of the tribal Irminones. Thus, soon after the emergence of the Suebi confederation may also be expected around 300 BC. This is only remarkable in that up to this point the Jastorf expression could be viewed simply as yet another variant or group of the much larger Pomeranian and Przeworsk cultures. Additionally, following significant growth between 600 and 300 BC, a steady population decline was detected after the 4th century BC. This process may in part be indirectly due to the large-scale Belgic migrations into northeastern Gaul. Nevertheless, large areas of northeastern Germany were effectively abandoned sometime shortly after 120 BC. These abandonments and the beginning of the Seedorf phase were no doubt connected to the passage of the massive Cimbric migration. Immediately following the abandonments, new settlements were established, particularly between Hamburg and Lüneburg. Here we find the sudden appearance of differentiated female burials; and the spur, spear, sword, and shield interned with males as funerary gifts. These demographic changes and the appearance of weapon burials suggest the rapid emergence of a militaristic community where the use of the lance and competent horsemanship became a defining cultural attribute.
With a slightly cooler and dryer climate, some have suggested that the tribes of the lower Elbe region were rejuvenated in part by a steady flow of people from northern Scandinavia. As this process goes beyond the scope of the current study, it may be suffice to propose that as these small migrating groups gathered into larger entities, they coalesced with native populations to form new identities, which soon proved extremely aggressive. When this region entered onto the historic stage we find elements of the Suebi confederation either fully engaged in wars of territorial expansion, or serving as mercenaries in similar conflicts. By the end of the 1st century BC the Suebi confederation had expanded to encompass most of what today is modern Germany east of the Rhine and Bohemia. Within a few decades Suebi tribes, in this case collectively called Vandals and Goths, gained control of Pomerania and East Prussia. This effectively marked the end of the Oksywie and genesis of the Wielbark cultures, a process which was achieved through open warfare, direct migration, infiltration, and acculturation. This also actively reduced the authority of the Lugiones polity. In attempts to counter these moves the Lugiones confederation allied with Rome and political factions that had been excised from the Suebi confederation. However, this proved to be of no apparent avail. Thus, by the beginning of the 2nd century AD, although the Przeworsk Culture continued in name, its character and by extension the nature of Lugiones confederation, had significantly changed to became increasingly dominated by elements associated with various Suebian tribes.
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Society and Political Structure of the Lugiones
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An Introduction
The following reconstruction is based on the descriptions of early Germanic social and political organization as provided in Caesar's Gallic War and Tacitus' Germania, Histories, and Annals. Of course this is tempered by the well established view of Indo-European societies as hierarchical and having three tiers. These tiers were the relative small noble and indentured classes, followed by a vast peasantry. In general, the structure of any given Indo-European ethnos was also subdivided by familial and political affiliations, which in turn were often defined by social or economic factors. Nonetheless, at the lowest level these represented extended clans, septs, and individual families whereby marriage and birth determined patrilineal decent groups. Thus a lineage was the demographic building blocks upon which a given society was ordered, from the rural household to the tribe. Descriptions of the political and military offices associated with the tribal Lugiones are offered below.
Lugioperôni
(Lugiones Society)
Due in part to proximity and a common inspiration, the Lugoperônai (LEWK-opeh-row-naye), meaning the overall society of the Lugiones, as well as Swaboz, appear to have been organized along similar lines. Today these polities are represented by the archaeological constructs called the Pomeranian-Przeworsk and Jastof cultures, respectively. Although at some stage their linguistic and oral traditions diverged and thus became dissimilar, both groups can be characterized as pastorally based tribal communities that were organized as large egalitarian collectives with a somewhat common set of legal, religious, and militaristic traditions. These tribes were ruled by clan affiliation and temporary civil and charismatic military leaders that were maintained by small groups of heavily-armed retainers and local craft-specialist. However, by virtue of their numbers, real authority and the power to act, as well as the cause and course of indenture was held by the general citizenry, whom were but common freemen, and formed the overwhelming bulk of the populous.
The Lugiones people lived in small scattered Laugai (LEWG-aye [farmsteads]) and Kaimai (KAHY-maye [hamlets]). Each small self contained cluster of botanai (BOTAH-naye [homes]), stegai (STEH-gaye [sheds]), kalanai (KALAH-naye [barns and byres]), kaminai (KAMY-naye [forges]) and dilibutanai (dilly-BOW-tah-naye [shops]) represented the abode and property of several extended families, with one or more clan affiliations. While daily domestic activities were supervised by a Towas (TOH-wahs [father, mayor]) and Botatawas (botah-TAH-wahs [an assembly of common elders]), several neighboring settlements formed administrative groups or districts. In turn, several nearby districts formed subtribes, then tribes, and ulimately the tribal confederation. Collectively, the Lugiones preferred not to have established towns or princely capitals, nor did they use timber, ditch, stone, or mound to enhance the defense of their settlements. In this order, their most important pursuits were tied to war and the maintenance of their peku kaimenoi (cattle herds), the chief reasons they frequently changed the locations of their settlements. Thus, their dispersed communities were connected by an ever changing network of paths, trails, and informal roads that crossed countless rivers and streams, as well as vast tracts of forest, swamp, uplands, and grassy plains.
Lesser Nobles
The following reconstruction is based on the descriptions of early Germanic social and political organization as provided in Caesar's Gallic War and Tacitus' Germania, Histories, and Annals. Of course this is tempered by the well established view of Indo-European societies as hierarchical and having three tiers. These tiers were the relative small noble and indentured classes, followed by a vast peasantry. In general, the structure of any given Indo-European ethnos was also subdivided by familial and political affiliations, which in turn were often defined by social or economic factors. Nonetheless, at the lowest level these represented extended clans, septs, and individual families whereby marriage and birth determined patrilineal decent groups. Thus a lineage was the demographic building blocks upon which a given society was ordered, from the rural household to the tribe. Descriptions of the political and military offices associated with the tribal Lugiones are offered below.
Moldo Korowados
(Junior War Chief)
Characters may become a Moldo Korowados (Junior War Chief) between the ages of 25 and 30. There is no limit to the number of characters that can hold this office. This office represents a notable young warrior of noble birth that had collected a large number of retainers and several lesser war chiefs; each with their own retinue of armed follows. As a side note, depending on their fame and renown the lesser war chiefs were themselves important personages, however they were of common or more typically foreign born. In turn, Moldo Korowadoi were recruited by Perôwaldoi (District Leaders) to bolster the resolve of the troops that comprised their common levy.
Mensowaldos, Kawallwiros, and Drewos
(Lesser Chieftain, Knight, and Holyman)
Characters may become eligible for the office of Mensowaldos (Lesser Chieftain), Kawallwiros (Knight), and Drewos (Holyman) between the ages of 25 and 30. The Mensowaldoi represent headmen that preside as civil judges over the common assemblies and oversee the distribution of war spoils amoung a number of small dispersed communities. The Kawallwiroi were members of the lesser nobility that for one reason or another did not occupy a formal civil or military office. Typically, they formed a levy of medium horse troops known as the Aswiniai. Similar to the Kawallwiroi, the Drewoi signified an informal office wherein individuals of the lesser nobility served as priests, shaman, doctors, and seers. In the military realm the Drewoi serve as standard bearers and are identified by a staff made from Rowan wood. Characters that assume these offices are accompanied by specific traits, however if these attributes are retrained for more than two years, they may not advance further in civil or military rank.
Wiswaldos
(Senor Nobleman)
Characters may become a Wiswaldos (Senor Nobleman) after the age of 30. There is no limit to the number of characters that can hold this office. This is an informal office that represents a nobleman that has both commercial and military attributes, but no civil authority. On the one hand the Wiswaldoi organized trading expeditions and established seasonal emporiums, with the purpose of acquiring amber, ivory, and furs from the north; in exchange for wine, weapons, and cattle. In contrast they also sponsed the trade of these items and local war-slaves for weapons and luxury goods made in the Celtic and Mediterranean worlds. However, given the nature of Germanic societies in this era, in order to amass the capital necessary to conduct these operations, the Wiswaldoi actively promoted and executed small scale raids primarily designed to capture cattle, horses, and slaves, using lesser war chiefs and the Aswiniai. Nonetheless at the end of this process, for prestige and fame alone, the proceeds from a lucrative exchange of goods was ultimately donated to the state and distributed throughout the members of the larger community.
Greater Nobles
Sentos Korowados, Leginatos, and Kriwas
(Senior War Chief, Magistrate, and High Priest)
Characters may become a Sentos Korowados (Senior War chief) or Leginatos (Magistrate) after the age of 30. There is no limit to the number of characters that can hold these offices. Due to the nature of Germanic societies in this era, under normal circumstances these represent the highest tier of political office available to Lugiones nobility. The Sentos Korowados, or senor war chief, was an informal office whereby an individual was not elected or appointed to; rather it was earned or achieved. The Sentos Korowadoi represented well-seasoned and relatively famous warriors of noble birth that had collected a large group of retainers and lesser war chiefs, based on reputation, charisma, and personal acts of bravery. Typically, the Sentos Korowadoi and their followers were recruited by the Perôwaldoi, or district chieftains, either to support their common-levy or to act as a personal bodyguard in battle. Although the Sentos Korowadoi had no civil authority, because of the importance of warfare to Germanic culture and their individual fame and prestige, their influence was felt throughout Lugiones society.
The Leginatoi were individuals of noble birth that were appointed to serve as magistrates with the authority to execute the will of the general or common assembly and the Perôwaldoi. These taskings usually focused on the apprehension or execution of individuals deemed outlaws, the confiscation of private property, and some type of ritual aspect; such as sacrifice or divination. Therefore, the actual authority and means of the Leginatoi to act was limited in scale and scope. As a result, this office was typically temporary with a term that did not exceed a single year; however successful individuals may find themselves repeatedly assigned to this posting. Nonetheless, this office provided opportunities for lesser nobles to gain a certain degree of renown in the civic realm, while demonstrating their competence and willingness to obey the wishes of the people. It was in this manner that physically and mentally fit noblemen were identified and selected for higher civil office.
A character may be eligible to become a Kriwas only after being a Drewoi reaching the age of 50. Those elder Drewoi of great knowledge and held in high esteem may serve as the high priest or priestess of a particular cult. They were known as Kriwai and were identified by the symbol of office; a tall Rowan Wood staff with a misshapen head. The office of Kriwas was formal and garnered somewhat more authority than the common Drewoi, as far as the founding and maintenance of shrines, altars, holy groves, and temples. These high priests often distributed or administered the proceeds of successful wars or commercial enterprises donated to the state. Finally, largely as a matter of prestige and influence, a Kriwas typically accompanied a Pirmowôros that was a follower of the cult they represented.
Perôwaldos
(District Chieftain)
Characters may become a Perôwaldos, or district chieftain after the age of 30. The Perôwaldoi were nobles that served as district leaders or chieftains. Normally, the Perôwaldos was the highest public offical in the Lugiones power structure and served as a spokesmen for a large number of related communities or a subtribe. The term of office was irregular but averaged about four to five years, at which time a new district chieftain was selected from a pool of eligible nobles. This was done by an assembly of Mensowaldoi, Kawallwiroi, and Drewoi drawn from the affilated clans and cummunities that composed the body politic. Together with groups of elder statesmen, called Pirmowôroi, the duties of the district chieftains included the resolution of legal matters, such as ownership, criminality, and ritual observance. When discussions of war and peace, or significant issues were required, they also accommodated and oversaw the assembly of affiliated nobles and commoners. Other roles of this office was the issuance of the first spear and shield to the sons of noblemen who had come of age, as well as, the recruitment and hosting of war chiefs and their followers. However, by far the most important duty of the Perôwaldoi was to lead the army into battle.
Pirmowôros
(First Elder)
In contrast a character may be eligible to become a Pirmowôros only after being a Perôwaldos and reaching the age of 50. Although largely an honorary office the Pirmowôroi represent an assembly of prominent nobles who’s primary role was to advise and influence the Perôwaldos. In turn the Pirmowôros were normally accompanied by a Kriwas who had the ear of the statesmen. They also helped to initiate young men into the various warrior societies and otherwise were responsible for grooming young noblemen for higher office. Furthermore, they delineated the responsibilities of individual communities and in times of war supervised the Rēnksemtos (gathering of the hundreds), which represented the common levy.
Tribal Leaders
Tautowados and Æstsowados
(Tribal Chieftain and Transmigration Leader)
Characters may become a Tautowados (tribal chieftain) and Æstsowados (transmigration leader) after the age of 30. A Tautowados would be a nobleman of great distinction that was selected by a general tribal assembly of nobles and commoners. However, this office can only be activated immediately after a province controlled and dominated by a population affiliated with the Lugiones faction had been invaded by a foreign army. The Tautowados represents a temporary office created for the purpose of addressing the type of emergences that threatened the very existence of the state. The office of Æstsowados is similar to that of the Tautowados, however it is only activated immediately after a large army associated with the Lugiones faction invades a foreign province. The term of both offices do not exceed five years or the duration of the events that inspired the initial activation of the office. Collectively, the Tautowadoi and Æstsowadoi offer a level of leadership and authority whereby abilities and resources would not otherwise be available to the Lugiones faction.
Rikos
(King)
Characters may become a Rikos (King) only after the following conditions are meant. A character is eligible to become a Rikos when they are at least 30 year old and must have served as a Tautowados or Æstsowados. They also must have been able to establish themselves within a province located outside the physical extent of Greater Germania. Additionally, they must retain control of this province for no fewer than four contiguous years. If a character fulfills these requirements they will be provided the opportunity to become a Rikos. The office of Rikos offers the chance for the leader of the Lugiones faction to adopt the culture of the host province which they occupy.
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Warriors of the Lugiones
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The Moldoi (Youths)
Light Foot and Picqueters (Javelin and knife)
This unit was composed of a large group of lightly-armed men recruited from a number or neighboring farmsteads and small hamlets found throughout eastern Germania. They were often related by kinship and served for only a few months every year. Typically, while part of the common levy they were the youngest able-bodied men who had been prepared for warfare by the rigors of their daily life; however they had not been fully tested by the stress, fear, and lethality of actual combat. They were protected only by a cloak and a rectangular wood-plank shield and were armed with fire-hardened javelins, and a short knife. This type of unit often acted as the home guard or was used to raid the unprotected herds and farmsteads of their enemies. They were also utilized to initiate an ambush, harass, or instigate a delay, forcing an enemy army from the march to deploy and commit to battle. When the fight grew too intense, due to their quickness, picqueters could easily turn and run, only to stop and face back upon their enemies once again. Therefore, given their inability to deter a determine foe for long, a commander was somewhat limited in their use.
The young men of the Moldoi units followed war chiefs, who were in fact proven leaders in battle. In this respect they were energetic, prominent, and always fought at the fore, thus lead men because they were admired and not because they had the authority to command. Due to the grace of the gods, war chiefs were men who had survived many battles and were themselves skillful warriors. Native born, above all else they were men with the ability to heroically inspire those that followed, with words, deeds, and gifts.
But to chide or confine a warrior is not permitted, as only of those devoted to the gods may strike with a Koros staff made of Rowan, not as punishment, but rather to stir the fighting-spirit. And it is these priestly-men that attach themselves to a war chief who bear the battle-standards where they place atop, a figure or image of their gods taken from the sacred groves. Overall, the war chief and priestly-standard bearer were dressed much the same as the rank and file, except they had no leather hooded shoulder cape. Instead they have a leather tunic, a leather head band, and are armed with a leather covered circular wood-plank shield, with a cup-shaped iron boss and an iron hand-grip. They also carry a late iron La Tene type spear and long sword.
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The Koroi (Warriors)
Light Foot or the Common Levy (Spear and Javelin)
__The Early Koroi___________________________
This unit normally included a large number of lightly-armed men, drafted every year from each district to serve as the common levy. These were friends, bothers, sons, fathers, nephews, and uncles; all bound by the ties of community and kinship. Throughout the year of service, a corresponding number of households were obligated to support the common levy. This duty was altered annually, so that neither the pursuit of war nor subsistence was ever neglected. Over all, the common levy included both young and middle-aged men who had experienced warfare and demonstrated a capacity for battle. Thus, they were initiated into one of the many warrior societies dedicated to Koros, their god of war. Knowing that fate may await behind any tree and the ultimate wage of war renders all men equal, they care not for vanity and dress and arm themselves with little distinction. The youngest, least skilled and most poorly armed were always placed in the foremost ranks among a few wiser and cooler heads as the face of the shield-wall. The older more experienced and slightly better armed, were usually well represented farthest from the front. Yet after the clash-of-arms; as exuberance and strength ebbed, these practiced hands filtered to the fore to steady failure or reinforce success.
Protected only by a cloak, each man was equipped with a large oval shield made of planked wood and a single spear designed for short-sharp thrusts. As their only offensive weapon, if the spear was bent or broken, every man carried a hunting knife that could also be used for personal defense. Collectively, as was the nature of heroic societies, the men of the common levy were led by war chiefs. Select men tried, tested, and elected by good fortune with a fitting rank and respect. By the levy's brawn and war chief's brain, for personal pride and further gain; honor and reward was pledged in the defeat and degradation of enemies that always abound. To realize this enterprise, and in so doing so, outshine their one another in a fight, without reservation they promised their full devotion to their war chief. Yet in truth, the common levy formed the backbone of the ancient armies of the Lougiones and upon the ability to resist, hold-fast, or advance the shield-wall against a determine foe, hinged the safety and survival of their nation.
The members of the Kareus units followed a war chief, who was in fact a proven leader in battle. In this respect they were energetic, prominent, and always fought at the fore, thus lead men because they were admired and not because they had the authority to command. Due to the grace of the gods, war chiefs were men who had survived many battle and were themselves skillful warriors. Native born, above all else they were men with the ability to heroically inspire those that followed them with words, deeds, and gifts. But to chide or confine a warrior is not permitted, as only of those devoted to the gods may strike with a Koros staff made of Rowan, not as punishment, but rather to stir the fighting-spirit. And it is these priestly-men that attach themselves to a war chief who bear the battle-standards where they place atop, a figure or image of their gods taken from the sacred groves. Overall, the war chief and priestly-standard bearer were dressed much the same as the rank and file, except they had no leather hooded shoulder cape. Instead they have a leather tunic, a leather head band, and are armed with a leather covered circular wood-plank shield, with a cup-shaped iron boss and an iron hand-grip. They also carry a late iron La Tene type spear and long sword.
__The Late Koroi___________________________
At first glance the common levy of the Late Period may have resembled the Light Foot of the Early Period, however this unit represented a further advancement of a somewhat unique tactical concept. From a rather poorly-armed and rigid task-specific rabble, the common levy of the Late Period was better equipped, more flexible and maneuverable in difficult terrain, while at the same time it had become much more lethal due to the development of dual use weapon sets and formal training. With that said, the common levy was still conscripted, organized and composed along similar lines. As tradition required they nonetheless continued to quickly advance into battle protected only by a large shield, cloak, or a leather waist cloak; with a short hunting knife by their side. Yet as they formed the shield-wall, together with the skirmishers, they would unleash a maelstrom of javelins, rocks, and clubs. With this formal introduction finished they felt-free to close upon the foe with their last remain framea, in order to get better acquainted.
Throughout the course of battle, if the gods' favor turned, they might as well trust to their heels, and disengage with little loss or any sense of shame. Another important development was enhanced leadership provided by more experienced and better armed war chiefs together with a small troop of companions. Due to their greater devotion to the gods and arts of war, not only did these men display greater skill with weapons, they also knew how to inspire the body and soul to move with a purpose, remain resolute when hard-pressed, and in the end risk everything. It appears that many of these changes were part of a general trend in military development seen across much of Europe, attributable in large measure to the growing influence of the Italian peninsula.
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Korowados (War Chief) and Drewos (Standard Bearer) Set
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The Toutāginoi (Defenders of the Nation)
Elite Medium Foot (Spear and Javelin)
__The Early Toutāginoi___________________________
This unit represents relatively small groups of men that followed a particularly successful war chief. As war within greater Germania was endless and this was their vocation, these men tented to be better armed, were skillful in the use of weapons, and displayed far greater resolve in battle than any man of the common levy. These men and their war chief where not directly tied to a single district, nation, of even a specific ethnicity. Rather they offered their service to any and all, as their presence was always in demand. These warriors were the war chief’s personal escort, and they keenly vie with one another, as each was ranked according to the preference of the man to whom they had attached themselves. In turn, the war chiefs competed in order to attract the largest number of the bravest and most skilled warriors. To be surrounded by a large body of picked troops was a source of pride and a display of power, and was seen as a prize in peace and a shield in war. Because they bestowed renown and glory upon one so distinguished, officials flattered these war chiefs and wooed them to their cause with gifts and hospitality. Ultimately, it was understood by all, that the prestige of a war chief's name alone, may decide the outcome of a war.
Wearing a wool tunic and trousers, these men used a leather hooded-shoulder cape and a large oval or subrectangular shield made of wood for added protection. They were armed with several short javelins, which were hurled into the enemy’s ranks at a distance. This was often done in conjunction with skirmishers and other missile troops to create a huge hailstorm of dread and death, designed to promote the initial clash of arms. They were also armed with a single spear that was used at close-quarters to great effect in the melee that followed. In combat this swift-footed unit was used to reinforce the common levy and with harsh-toned war songs and their very presence incited a heightened sense of fighting spirit. Additionally, because of their tenacity, ability to endure, and inclination to freely parcel out the most relentless punishment they were used to anchor an entire battle line. And, it was there, in harms way at the very front and center, that war chiefs found a place to work their wonders, and roused the spirit to ever greater acts of courage. For often, it is on the backs of a few brave men, that the fate of mighty nations ride.
The Toutāginōs unit represented the followers of a war chief, who was in fact a proven leader of ‘picked men.’ In this respect they were energetic, prominent, and always fought at the fore, thus they lead picked men because they were admired and not because they had the authority to command. Due to the grace of the gods, these war chiefs were men who had survived many battle and were skillful warriors in their own right. Although they may have descended from the Istvaeones, Ingaevones, Herminones, or som e other race, for some reason they found themselves among the Lougiones. Yet, above all else they were men with the ability to heroically inspire those that followed them with words, deeds, and gifts; which were the prize of battles won. In battle it is a dishonor for the war chief to be surpassed in boldness, as likewise disgraceful for his followers not to match the valor of their chief. It is an outrage and reprehensible for his men to survive the war chief’s death, and return alive from the field of battle. To defend, to protect their chief, to ascribe their brave deeds to his renown, is the height of loyalty. The war chief fights for victory, while his men fight for the honor of their chief.
But to chide or confine a warrior is not permitted, as only of those devoted to the gods may strike with a Koros staff made of Rowan, not as punishment, but rather to stir the fighting-spirit. And it is these priestly-men that attach themselves to a war chief who bear the battle-standards where they place atop, an image of their gods taken from the sacred groves. As was their custom, these men were ministers of their gods. When consulted about the course or outcome of war, twigs lobbed from a fruit-bearing tree were tossed onto a white garment. With eyes aloft these holy-men three-times invoked their gods then read aloud the random rune-marked fall the twigs had made. Overall, the war chief and priestly-standard bearer were dressed much the same as the rank and file, except they had no leather hooded shoulder cape. Instead they have a leather tunic, a leather head band, and are armed with a leather covered circular wood-plank shield, with a cup-shaped iron boss and an iron hand-grip. They also carry a late iron La Tene type spear and long sword.
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__The Late Toutāginoi___________________________
In the wake of the Cimbric migration much of the Gran Celteria and greater Germania reeled for years thereafter from widespread destruction, depopulation, and the dissolution of the local, as well as the regional status quo. In the broadest sense of this context, the reformation of the Toutāginōs unit represents a shift away from the dominant La Tene armaments and the emergence of a relatively new tradition primarily based in what is now modern Poland. Overall, the trends in the development of armaments, reflected by the Toutāginōs unit, as with the evolution of the battle tactics in general, were of course based on the progressive proliferation of iron. This was largely due to further advancements in the methods of extracting and smelting bog iron. Although an important source of ore used to make domestic tools, better grades of iron continued to be imported from the mining centers found throughout the upper Vistula basin, particularly for the manufacture of high quality weapons. In areas with even greater demands, the attributes of the readily available low-grade bog iron also inspired a number of important innovations in the design and production of armaments. With this said the late period Toutāginōs unit remained an elite formation composed of ‘picked men,’ recruited by war chiefs, who in turn were retained by district chieftains in order to bolster their levies.
The men of the late period Toutāginōs unit were dressed much the same as the early period. They were protected from the elements by a wool tunic, trousers, and a large cloak, while a leather hooded-shoulder cape, a leather tunic and a large leather covered hexagonal shield made of wood was used to guard against the outrageous fortunes of battle. Above all else, the hexagonal shield provided a greater degree of protection and more flexibility within the restrictions imposed by formation-fighting. Each man carried a single standardized spear of improved design that was efficiently used together with the hexagonal shield at close-quarters. They also were armed with several short javelins each tipped with a narrow iron point, called the ‘Framea.’ This weapon was used to strike at a distance, or face-to-face would just as easily put-down a foe. The Framea were often discharged in conjunction with a huge collection of other missiles to inspire an enemy to quickly close and commence the hand-to-hand. Likewise these men sing before a fight, that Hercules is with them, as the greatest and strongest of all warriors, unequaled strides into battle. That they also recite these songs, called the 'Baritum,' to inflame the will, and from the sing-song style forecast a melee’s outcome. In fact, to agitated and instill fear, accordingly course notes are fashioned, not so much an utterance, as to discern a manly-tone. They strive for a particular harsh sounding unruly roar, with mouth taut to shield; thereby reverberated their voice is swollen deep and full.
The Warowinoi (Men of Might)
Elite Medium Foot (Sword and Javelin)
__The Early Warowinoi___________________________
This unit is comprised of a small number of well-armed men bound to war and the leaders of great renown that made it. Overall, other warriors saw them differently as they would not wait for the clash of arms, rather they actively sought to instigate the start of battle. To this bloody end, they were often seen to range beyond the fro most ranks, with verbal slights and rage passed over outstretched shields. For in these early days, only they recited the primeval chants of the Baritum. As every child knows, to stage a row without this melodic harsh-toned provocation, designed to inflame the human soul, only served to invite the war god's enduring wrath. Nevertheless, these troops were primarily recruited from the lands that faced the sea, called in their native tongue, Pomeri. This was due to this regions reputation to supply efficient killing tools and first-rate men. Before events transpired that changed everything, small bans of these warriors attached themselves only to the most famous war chiefs, who were in turn employed by noblemen to affect the people's fortune. Unforeseen, as a means their steady-rise in number and social-stance meant of course more wealth as fate willed. Yet, a simple test of time laid bare indeed they had effect that would thereby transform the nation.
Into battle the Warowinoi wore the common garb; leather shoes, belt, a drab wool shirt and trousers. For protection a leather hooded-shoulder cape, leather tunic, and a large leather-covered oval or subrectangular planked-wood shield was used. A few might sport a thick leather skull cap, while most men were proud to cover their heads with nothing, but too-long wildly unkempt hair. Designed to extract a hefty toll each man was armed with several javelins, which were hurled into the enemy’s ranks to great effect. To inspire the melee’s blood, sweat, and tears they were more apt to exploit double-bladed swords fashioned by the Celts, and locally made weapons with a single edge called the 'kalaboi.' Indeed, the sword was the weapon's name that gave these men their might. Whereas, sight of their presence and knowing of their purpose, stirred in the bravest hearts, the very essence of fear. For while other tools of war were used to defend, injury, or maim an adversary, the sword’s sole role in the hand of the willing man, was to end another's life. Thus, these warriors were also known far and wide, as 'man-killers.'
The Warowinoi unit officer set represented the leaders of ‘picked men.’ In this respect they were energetic, prominent, and always fought at the fore, and thus led because of admiration; not because they had the authority to command. Due to the gods' grace these war chiefs had survived many battles and were skillful warriors in their own right. In battle it was dishonor for the war chief to be surpassed in boldness, as likewise it was disgraceful for his followers not to match their chief's valor. Above all else these leaders possessed the ability to inspire those that followed with heroic words and deeds. It was an outrage and reprehensible for his men to survive the war chief’s death, and return alive from of battle. To defend, to protect their chief, to ascribe their brave deeds to his renown, was the height of loyalty. The war chief fights for victory, while his men fight for the honor of their chief.
But to chide or confine a warrior is not permitted, as only those devoted to the gods may strike with a Koros staff made of Rowan, not as punishment, but rather to stir the fighting-spirit. And it is these priestly-men, having attached themselves to a war chief, that bear the battle-standards atop which they mount an image of their gods taken from the sacred groves. As was their custom, these men were ministers of their gods. When consulted about the course or outcome of war, twigs lobbed from a Rowan tree were tossed onto a white garment. With eyes aloft these holy-men three-times invoked their gods then read aloud the runes made by the random fall of twigs. Overall, the war chief and priestly-standard bearer were dressed much the same as the rank and file, except they had no leather hooded shoulder cape. Instead they had a leather tunic, a leather head band, and were armed with a leather covered circular wood-plank shield, with an iron boss and an hand-grip. The war-chief also carried a late iron La Tene type spear and long sword, while the bearer had the standard and a long Rowan wood staff with a lead-weighted head.
__The Late Warowinoi___________________________
Composed of relatively small groups of men, this unit represented those retained by important chiefs. Based on the merits of individual strength, weapon skill, and courage a district chieftain offered these warriors gifts of bread, beef, and beer; designed as praise inlisted to fulfill his wants and needs. Allotted accordingly, these gifts were no more than the spoils of past and present wars. Drawn from every lawful quarter, the most able and war-like, had surrendered the management of home and herd to women, old men, or the weakest family member. Between wars, they alternately devoted themselves to sleep and the feast, as strangely those so averse to peace were equally fond of sloth and idleness. Yet, if these men found a nation that retained them, tranquil for too long a while, they sought out another more aggressive tribe, and wherever they chose to make a stand garnered ever greater fame onto themselves. So that was often said, that on any given day the gods would find even the least of their numbers, worth more than twice the measure of any other man.
The Nokwlentoi (Night Fighters)
Elite-Assault Light Foot (Club and Knife)
The club is humankind’s earliest weapon and throughout history warriors have taken great pride in facing a well armed enemy with only the most primitive weapons. Herein, none of the Lugiones have greater vigor or dedication, before those first numbered as fit and brave, and yet to evoke uncanny ferocity they indulge both art and opportunity. Therefore they incite even greater fear by stripping down to the breeches, and with darkened shields and bodies, collect in the pitch-black of night, to fight as a ghastly horde of demons. As quick and quiet as a foul breath from Hell, they pass as shadows among the trees to suddenly reappear, and in one fell swoop strike down an enemy with wooden clubs. Yet, thereafter they would also end a panicked cry and calm so many troubled souls, with nothing but the hunting knife. Those untrained, unsteeled, or unfamiliar with such infernal aspects can only hope to withstand their unnatural onslaught. As in battle the eye is quickly overwhelmed and always turned first to flight by unseen assaults upon the mind.
The Aswiniai (Sons of Dievas)
Medium Horse (Spear and Sword)
This unit is comprised of the sons of the Lugiones' nobility, that either had not yet assumed authority, or due to birth-order had been deigned birth-rights. Indeed they used far-flung words and claimed divine descent from horse-tamers, who raced the stars from sunset to sunrise. Yet, in truth they were just mortal men of rank and little more than common means. In the distant past such horsemen had been a decisive arm in war. Nonetheless neglect, time, and circumstance beyond control, had relegated to them the secondary role, of reconnaissance and support. However, under the right conditions they could still scatter lightly armed troops and with the gods' speed quickly turn a hardwound fight into a route. For generations among cattle, they maintained their small horse herds, on the rich grassy plain of northern Europe, while new blood was procured from the eastern steppe, through the trade in slaves and amber. In like manner the finest weapons made, found a way into their hands, and by extension were paid as gifts, that further served the wage of endless war.
Often set astride the blanket or saddle, they reined their mounts with iron bits and rings held taut by leather rigs all wrought in foreign shops. Thus armed, with a well placed foot and skillful pride they dashed to or fro, then turned to quickly halt a steed drilled to bite, kick, and trample under-hove an adversary that ventured forth alone. Dressed as any other, for protection against nature's whims or careless man-made barbs, each rider wore a simple leather tunic and faded woolen cloak. To parry prods with greater punch every man carried a large oval shield fasioned from wooden planks. Moreover, for close-quarters a single sharp-edged thrusting spear was used to belie, transfix, and pull a rival to the ground. After the spear had done its bloody work, to better make a mark, from the sheath they unleashed the cruel double-edged iron sword. Although an open battlefield offered greater fame, their speed and capacity to detach with little loss, meant they were to find, interdict, and delay an enemy’s approach. Whereby the warrior levy could garner and prepare, and at the proper time and place, conjure up a woe-filled welcome for the uninvited foe.
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The Cosmology and Myth of the Early Western Balts
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An Introduction
At the outset, it is very important to note that the available information about pre-Christian Baltic religion is incomplete, filled with inconsistencies, and is often based on misconceptions. The primary sources are found in oral traditions; stories, songs, and folklore that were recorded between explain the 12th and 19th centuries. These tend to address the laws of the natural world such as the seasonal change, as well as their relationship to the divine and significance to humankind. In this context the celestial and terrestrial were often portrayed in terms of a human family; for example the sun was called mother, the sky father, and the stars sisters or brothers. Overlaid upon this, the surviving early Old Prussian, Lithuanian, and Latvian religion also includes many archaic traditions shared with other Indo-European mythologies; such as those of the Greeks, Romans, and Celts. Thus, within the limits imposed by the nature of the subject, a comparative analysis of these religious traditions and myths, and better documented examples was also used expand our theoretical reconstruction of the proto-historic religion of the ancient western Balts.
Immortal Gods, Nature, and Humankind
At first glance the early Baltic cosmology and myth seems to be a confusing college deities and an aimless patchwork of associated traditions. However on closer inspection several distinct patterns may be discerned. It seems that the collection of early Baltic gods and goddesses actually appear to form three discrete generational groups. The first of these generations represented an early state of being and what can only be described as celestial gods. The second and third generations were the Elemental and Triunic deities, respectively. This tripartite division of the divine was further advanced with the use of three temporal setting and three states of physical beings as a unifying context. Of course, three additional groups of lesser deities were overlaid or scattered over these three generations, who interestingly, often had more direct interaction with humankind, on a daily basis. Finally, for good or ill the interface of the divine and early mortal was seen in terms of dealing with the hero or holy man in the setting of the sacred place.
The pantheon of early Baltic deities appear to form three discrete generational groups. The first generation represented a primeval cosmos which was personified as the celestial gods. The next or second generation of early Baltic deities represented a group of elemental gods. The third generation signified a set of gods and goddesses who had assumed the traits and attributes of at least three earlier deities. Beyond the major deities associated with each of the three generations or divine ages were he lesser gods, which because of their vast number may seem overwhelming. Another important religious group was composed of the mythic semi-divine heroes of the Late Bronze and Early Iron ages.
The Celestial Gods
The first generation of early Baltic deities represented a primeval cosmos which was conceptualized as a small group of deities known as the celestial gods. This generation included three main figures; the ancient elder father or Sky-god, Deiwos, the venerable mother or goddess, Sauliā, and the unfaithful interloper or moon god, Mē̂nos. Although in this context the cosmos were viewed as not fully formed, the essence and shape of the male and female progenitors, as well as the original antagonist were indeed firmly established. Yet these figures were always perceived as physically remote as this era and generation of gods represented the Pirmokerta, or 'Frist Age;' the beginning of time.
__Deiwos___________________________
Collectively, Deiwos (DEAH-vohs) as the chief celestial deity represented the primeval sky and creator being, whose divine inception marks the moment in which time began. Apparently in the cosmology of the early western Balts he was somehow seen as a Father-time figure, whereby the sequence of creation naturally lent itself to a chronological redress for the chaos of the universe. In that respect, Deiwos was roughly analogous to the Norse Mundilfari, Roman Saturn, and Greek Cronus. Thus, he was known by the following epithets: Sentelos, Pramžios, Satvaros, Okopirmos and Prakorimos and was viewed as the progenitor or father of both major as well the lesser gods.
It seems that Deiwos, as an abstract anthropomorphism was also viewed as the 'Heavens' or 'Dome of the Sky.' Thus, he was similar to the Vedic deity known as Dyausa Pita or Sky-father, and might even be compared to the Greek Ouranos or Roman Uranus. Indeed Deiwos was conceptualized as a grandfather or elder figure who was somewhat detached from mundane concerns or happenstance. However, Baltic myth held that in his youth together with the sun, he made much of heaven's semblance, the substance of middle-earth, and all those things that slithered or crept in the cold darkness of the underworld. Of course this creative burst included a human being, an unintended consequence produced by the castoff of the gods upon the shore of the Baltic Sea. Thus humankind was conceived as fragile and exceedingly ephemeral creatures, who were barely recognized by the gods, yet were intelligent and possessed immoral souls.
The residence or place of Deiwos was called Dawsos, a mythical place located on a high mountain top situated between two rivers. This holy precinct was surrounded by a great sacred grove where in the center grew a huge apple tree that supported the Dome of Heaven. Together this description suggests the early western Balts may have believed this holy realm was situated within the Hercynian Forest, atop the Sudeten mountains between Danube and Vistula rivers. Nevertheless, the master and overseer of Dawsos was the Wind-god Wayos, who ensured the gate to this abode was guarded by Auštaros, the god of the north wind.
__Sauliā___________________________
Literally meaning the sun, Sauliā (SOW-lay) was viewed as a beautiful sky goddess who lived in a residence located far to the east. Each morning she drove a brilliant chariot made of fire pulled by the twin horse gods high into the sky. The horses were called the Aswiniai, of which the dark stead was Wakaros, and the light one; Lougos. As the sun set in the west the chariot transformed into a golden boat which quickly returned Sauliā across the sea to Dawsos. The boat master was the goddess Perkwūni, the sister and wife of Perkwūnas. Upon returning home Perkwūni bathed the exhusted Sauliā. Thereafter Sauliā sleeps in the crown of an enormous apple-tree with silver leaves, copper branches, and iron roots. Then Aušra who was also called Aušrinė, made ready for another day's journey by building a huge bondfire to warm her mother. The following morning rested and refreshed, the shining Sauliā repeated her daily race across the sky.
Sauliā was also the mother of a two generations of six female deities, the first of which included the earth goddess Zemē. Of these, three eventually came to live among the Lāuksnai and the other three would reside with humankind. Later Sauliā gave birth to a younger, or scond generation of six more goddesses. These included Aušra the morning star (morning Venus), and Wakaranė the evening star (evening Venus), as well as Indrai, Sėlia, Žiezdrė, and Waiwora; who personified the planets , Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Mercury, respectively. As an allusion to the principle lunar phases and millennial ages, she had three husbands; Deiwos, Per̃kū̂nos, and Mē̂nos. Mē̂nos, her youngest and erstwhile spouse actually was a moon god, who was often outfitted in palish-silver garb.
__Mē̂nos___________________________
Interestingly, Mē̂nos (may-NUS) the lunar god was conceived as a male deity, whereas other Indo-European inspired mythologies view the moon as a female entity. Mē̂nos was also important because days were measured from one dusk to another, and the Lugiones calendar was based on the cycles of the moon. As an opposite to the day and master of the night, Mē̂nos was in the most recent age of humankind, the husband of Sauliā, however she ended their union due to the moon god’s insistent infidelities. In fact, many of the stories about Mē̂nos center on his pursuit of Sauliā's celestial daughters. Of these the most popular concerns Mē̂nos' seduction of Aušra, in the age of the first spring, whereas Sauliā discovered the lustful act and dismembered the moon with a sword. Out of pitty Deinaina reassembled the moon, but the sun dissolved their union and thereafter Sauliā ruled the day and Mē̂nos' the night. Mē̂nos' was envisioned as a handsome young man dressed in palish-sliver attire riding a chariot pull by two black horses.
The Elemental Gods
The next or second generation of early Baltic deities represented a group of elemental gods. This group consisted of six male and female deities that represented the sky, earth, water, and fertility. The foremost included Perkwūnas who was a male sky god of thunder and storms. He was followed by Zemē, Pikulas, Jūra, Antrempus, and Patrempus. This second generation of gods and goddesses populated the second era which represented the Antarkerta; otherwise known as the 'Second,' or 'Age of the Gods.' Within this setting it was believed that the universe was divided into three distinct realms. These were known as Dangus, the heavens; Sirdazemē, middle-earth; and Pikla, or the underworld.
__Per̃kwū̂nas___________________________
Another important sky deity was the thunder and storm god known as Per̃kwū̂nas (pehr-KOO-nahs). However, Per̃kwū̂nas, meaning thunder, was often referred to as Diwirekos and Barsaûlos. He was actually considered both the son of Deiwos and the chief god himself; roughly analogous to the Greek Zdeús or Latin Diespiter (Iuppiter). Per̃kwū̂nas' name was derived from the ancient word that means 'Oak Tree,' and the Ursa Major constellation was known as Per̃kwū̂nas Wezimas or Per̃kwū̂nas' chariot. This god was also the father of Aušra, the morning star goddess, and the husband of Perkwūni his sister. He was conceptualized as a stern, bearded, and muscular man that crossed the sky riding a bright chariot pulled by swift fiery horses. His head was surrounded by a flaming wreath and he held lightning bolts in one hand and a heavy club in the other. Thus, as a streaming comet the thunder god regularly transcended the boundaries between the generation of celestial and elemental gods.
For both the divine and corporeal he served as the ultimate judge of right and wrong. When an negative event affected him personally, he was given to fits of rage, that often had unfortunate consequence for those found at fault. Nonetheless, given the laws that govern gods and men, Per̃kwū̂nas was honored and given heart-felt love. Beginning in the early spring, nine festivals devoted to Per̃kwū̂nas were celebrated throughout the course of the year. Per̃kwū̂nas' abode was called Dangus which was similar in design to Deiwos' mountain top retreat. The center of the thunder god's cult seems to have been focused on the Pajauta valley, near Vilnius.
__Zemē___________________________
As a daughter of Deiwos and Sauliā, Zemē (zhe-MAY) represented the elemental earth and consummate mother goddess. In one form or another, her name literally means 'the earth' in the Baltic languages, Persian, and Hindi. She also was called Mežamāte (Mother of Forests), Laukumāte (Mother of Fields), Upesmāte (Mother of Rivers), and Lopumāte (Mother of Livestock). She was one of the most beloved deities, as the earth was kissed in the morning and evening; and small offerings of food and drink were left at her informal shrines in thanks for the birth of a child or livestock. One of Zemē’s central stories concerns her abduction by Pikūlas, when she was a resident of Dangus and betrothed to Per̃kwū̂nas. Eventually Pikūlas was defeated and Per̃kwū̂nas recaptured Zemē, however soon thereafter he discovered the truth that the underworld god’s indiscretion was not in fact a crime. Rather it was a result of the earth goddess’ infidelities. Furious, Per̃kwū̂nas forced Zemē out of Dangus and banished her forever as a mother goddess to Sirdazemē (middle-earth).
__Pikūlas___________________________
Pikūlas (pi-KUO-lahs), meaning 'under ground,' was the wealthy master of the underworld and earth god also known as Wargos and Welinos. He was the god of cattle, magic and wealth roughly analogous to the Hindi Varuna, Persan Ahura, Greek Hades, Gaulish Orcus, and Etruscan Eita underworld deities. As the god of the dead Pikūlas was seen as an elder grey-haired man armed with a simple wooden staff. For the living, entry to his underworld domain was found near marshes, lakes, bogs, and other misty low-lying places. Humans went to these sites to prey for his aid, or in dire circumstance they often descend into Pekla and personally beseech Pikūlas. At certain times he might even offer to help humankind, as he was very keen to be invited to their weddings and funerals. His central stories seem to concern the abduction of women, such as the mother goddess Zemē and later Niole the daughter of Kormē̂. As punishment for taking Zemē, Per̃kwū̂nas banished Pikūlas from entering Dangus and sent him to the underworld to rule over Pikla as the lord of the dead.
__Jūra___________________________
Jū̂rā̂ (yoo-RA) was an important sea goddess whoes residence was Gûlow, a submerged abode, from where she ruled the waters of the world. She also was the goddess of the tranquil and bountiful sea, as well as all aquatic creatures and amber. Her central story concerns the rejection of the male sea god Antrempas as a suitor, and her radical discission to marry a mortal. The jealous and often vengeful Antrempas bitterly complained to the thunder god about this slight. When Per̃kwū̂nas learned that Antrempas had been thusly dishonored and humiliated, he stormed into a horrific rage; utterly destroying Jūra's new husband and wrecking her home. As further punishment and to magnify her shame, he chained Jūra to the seafloor. Then in perpetuity, he made Jūra pay a hefty wage in amber tears, kicked up by waves for the careless joy of humankind, each time Antrempas commanded the sea to storm.
__Antrempus___________________________
As a male consort for the fair Jūra, Antrempus (on-TRIM-posh) represented a deity that was continually eclipsed by his female counterpart. He was viewed as a stormy, jealous, vengeful, and often cruel sea god who always expected over compensation for a perceived wrong or anything taken from his realm. He was seen as a middle-aged man of great strength who carried a long fishing spear and rode a frothy chariot pulled by two foamy white horses. Antrempus' central story concerns his abduction of the amber goddess, who later became his wife. After seeing how beautifully resplendent she was the sea god decided to keep her as a wife. Imprisoned in the depths and unable to see her parents, she became increasingly more distort over time, so Antrempus finally relented and promised she would see her family once again. He scooped the amber goddess up in one arm and jumped aboard his waiting chariot which quickly ascended to the surface as a typhoon. As they break the waves her mother and father see their daughter marked by an amber necklace, in the grasp of the cruel sea god. As a remembrance the amber goddess tossed her grieving parents the necklace which breaks and scatters in the stormy waves. As Antrempus began to sink back into the surf, the amber goddess finally realized she was forever lost to the sea.
__Patrempus___________________________
Patrempus (pah-TRIM-posh) was known as a god of fertility, feast, and seasonal rebirth, as well as the brother of Per̃kwū̂nas and Pikūlos. He was provided the epithets Perkrubrius and Laukpatas, meaning the 'Lord of the Harvest.' Additionally, he was the god of cattle, crops, plenty, and serpents; whereby extension Patrempus was also associated with divination and medicine. Patrempus was envisioned as a young beardless man with a ample crown made of oak leafs. His earthly abode was a temple sanctuary known as the Ramowa, or 'place of serenity,' which was associated with a large sacred oak and surrounded by a grove. Although Patrempus was generally viewed as a great benefactor to mortals, on the other hand, he also demanded human sacrifice. As it was commonly believed that one who suffered an honorable dead was rewarded in the next life, these executions most often included those captured in battle or criminals. Through earthly servants Patrempus witnessed the distribution of the spoils of war, as one third was often promised as the price of victory. The remaining two thirds was heaped in a settlement's common area and each citizen took what they wanted, regardless of their status or rank.
As the god of the feast and plenty Patrempus played another important role in the common funerary ritual and the general economic nature of the state. I this, through ancient arts the body of the decease was preserved and the Sarmonis feast was held to honor Patrempus. If the dead was a commoner the feast lasted only days or weeks. But if they were noble, this rite could continued as long as six months. Thoughout this rite the Raudā, or songs of lamentation, were sung to lament, praised, and bid farewell so the dead would safely arrive in Pikūlas to be among parents, brothers, sisters, and other relatives. Yet with the final swine or sip of wine, the result was all the same, as everything the dead had owned, the living had consumed. Thereafter the body of the dead was placed upon a pyre and cremated.
The Triunic Gods
The third generation signified a set of gods and goddesses who had assumed the traits and attributes of at least three earlier deities. It seems that often these deities had in turn also incorporated some of the characteristics of even earlier gods, both male and female. The most important of these figures were Lugas, Kowas, Kormē̂, and Lamē̂. The third divine generation and era represented the Tirsakerta; the 'Third,' or 'Age of Heroes.' This period was viewed as a mythic time when the first generation of gods, while still visible to all, had all but withdrawn to the remoteness of their heavenly realm. Although a bit more accessible, as indeed the second generation of gods interjected themselves into situations by alternative means. However, overall they generally appeared somewhat removed from domestic concerns. In contrast, the third generation of gods, to include a host of lesser gods, was intimately involved in the daily machinations of humankind in the Age of Heroes, which as a concept roughly corresponded to the historic Late Bronze and Early Iron ages.
__Lugas___________________________
Lugas (LEWK-ahs) as a divine representative of the Lugiones confederation, symbolized a composite of many traditions, both foreign and domestic, intergraded into a single deity. It was claimed that Lugas was born a son of three fathers; Wurs, Sunis, and Pekutas, who each in turn had three fathers; while his mother was a Gigāntai, who were an ancient race of Titans. He was associated with the black birds, wolves, the horse, and paired snakes. Lugus was idealized as the bright slivery light of the moon and the giver and witness of the oaths that bind men to gods. In numerous tongues he was given the epithets; Ilgarānkās or 'Long Armed,' Ludaskunstās, meaning 'Master of all Arts,' and Luglukarmos, 'the bright one with the deft arm.' He was seen as a young man of strong-build dressed in a many-colored cloak and armed with a shield and a magical spear called Kwatestos. In his youth Lugas wondered the earth until he reached the abode of the Bûrwalkai, or household gods; who were Zemē's children and the last divine generation. However, they would not let him join, until he offered a skill that no other possessed. Lugas provided a long list, yet each was rejected as other gods already had these talents. But, Lugas inquired if there was any one god with all these skills combined, and with this he was allowed to become a member of the assembly.
Lugas’ central story concerns the war against the Gigāntai, who in those days had made the Bûrwalkai subservient, demanding a huge annual tribute. Lugas wondered why this situation was tolerated and when Siraplarānkās, the 'Sliver Armed' god and leader of the Bûrwalkai, saw his skill as a warrior, made him his war chief. Thereafter, the new war chief demanded the recovery of three magical artifacts as Wredigalis (payment for wrongful death), from the three murders, of his foremost father; Wurs. Yet, soon the Gigāntai champion killed Siraplarānkās in ambush, and Lugas armed with the magical artifacts, led the Bûrwalkai to avenge his death and claim their freedom. After killing the Gigāntai champion Lugas captured their leader, who begged for Išplakalûst; to be ransomed. Although the Bûrwalkai clamored for his death he was spared after agreeing to have Kormē̂ teach them the arts of husbandry of farming.
__Kowas___________________________
As the quintessential god of war, Kowas (KOH-vas) assumed many of the traits of three earlier deities. These included the thunder god Per̃kwū̂nas, the underworld god Pikūlas, and the fertility god Patrempus. He was also known by the epithets, Kauriraras, the 'War Bringer,' and Swetawitas, meaning the 'Lord of the World.' He was depicted as have four faces each looking in a different cardinal direction. Three of these represent the earlier gods of thunder, the underworld, and fertility subsumed within the fourth face of Kowas. While being well versed in the talents and traits of the earlier gods, he was considered to be most skilled at the bloody arts of war. Wine and ale from a great sliver horn were often offered to sway Kowas in the spring, along with large sweet honey cakes. Before any great undertaking it was common for animals and the lives of men to be sacrificed in his name. While one third of the spoils of war was typically given to Kowas as the price of victory, on rare occasion everything was offered to this god. He was conceived as a bearded powerfully built middle aged-man mounted on a snow-white horse, armed with a sword, shield, and a large drinking horn. It was believed that Kowas rode against the enemy at night and in the morning his sacred horse was covered in sweat. The priests dedicated to the war god would use this horse to divine the outcome of battle, a commercial enterprise, as well as the health and size of herds and harvests.
__Kormē̂___________________________
Kormē̂ (koor-MAY) the goddess of agriculture and may have embodied a triunic tradition that included Zemē (earth), Austia (bees), and Kupolė (spring). She also appears to have been similar to the Greek goddess Demeter. As the sister of Per̃kwū̂nas, Kormē̂'s central story concerns Pikūlos' abduction of her daughter Niole (nee-OH-lay). When the goddess discovered her daughter was missing, she panicked and went to Per̃kwū̂nas to ask if he had seen Niole. The thunder god told he had not seen her, but said she should look to the earth. Now in dread Kormē̂ went to Patrempus and asked him if he knew where her daughter was. The god of plenty told her no, yet said she should look to the earth. Thereafter, in great grief Kormē̂ wandered the earth searching while introducing humankind the arts husbandry of farming. Eventually, she found a boulder that marked the underworld's entry, on which Deiwos had inscribed Niole's sign. Kormē̂ descended to find that Pikūlos had made Niole his wife and as such could no long return to Sirdazemē (middle-earth). Yet is was possible for Kormē̂ to visit Niole for several months each year in Pekla during winter. After she returned to middle-earth in spring the welfare of humankind always improved.
__Lamē̂___________________________
Lamē̂ (lah-MEY) the goddess of destiny is part of another triunic tradition which was a distillation of Dalā (dah-LAY), Galtunē̂ (gahl-TOO-ney), and Māgila (may-GAY-lah). These deities represented the goddesses of fate, death, and medicine, respectively. In the context of a common Indo-European mythology, Lamē̂ as destiny, was conceived as a single ageless woman who embodied three discrete and fully manifested aspects. In this regard destiny was similar to the Nordic Norns or Greek Moira, however Lamtē̂ was also associated with darkness, light, foresight, childbirth, marriage, death, propagation, and domesticity. Thus, she was related to Laxmi Mata, the Hindu goddess of luck and wealth, as well. Lamē̂’s totem was the Gēgusa (cuckoo) bird and was seen as living in groves of the Lîpa (Lime) tree, where she had small stone altars upon which offerings were placed.
Household, Twin, and Lesser Gods
Beyond the major deities associated with each of the three generations or divine ages were he lesser gods, which because of their vast number may seem overwhelming. However, they seem to represent three groups known as the Lāuksnai, Bûrwalkai, and Aswiniai. The Lāuksnai were the innumerable stars that fill the night sky; seen as the sons and daughters of the Sauliā. They were viewed as rather reserved, somewhat aloof, and far removed from caring about the trial and tribulations of humankind. Likewise the Aswiniai, or twin gods were seen in much the same context. However, the Bûrwalkai, or the household gods represented a group of deities that served to aid or acted as intermediates between humanity and the greater gods.
__Lāuksnai___________________________
The Lāuksnai (LAOWK-sa-naye) were the stars clearly visible in the night sky, otherwise known as the ‘Milky Way.’ In this respect, they were often called Pepeligrînsli, Gerwegrînsli, and Welegrînsli; the way of 'birds, cranes,' and the 'dead,' respectively. In fact, they were seen as the innumerable children of Sauliā who as tiny specks of light populated the heavens. The ancient leader of the stars was called Swastixos and from one horizon to the other, as hapless leaves blown from the scared oak, many were scattered indiscriminately across the sky. Others joined to form constellations that illustrated, celebrated, and honored the greater gods; such as Per̃kwū̂nas Wezimas or Per̃kwū̂nas' chariot and Lawos (the Lion), Leo. The brightest of the Lāuksnai were Sėimāna (the North Star), Polaris; Ažukas (Per̃kwū̂nas' Goat), Capella; Mērgā (the Maiden), Spica; and Skalanas (the Hound), Sirius. The Lāuksnai also included other deities known as Dawsokriwi, which were comets or the ‘Staff of Heaven,’ and Atvaras a minor god that represented meteors. The Lāuksnai were not directly worshiped as individuals, as a group they were honored and served an important role in that they provided a backdrop on which more significant deities performed thier annual rounds; marking the proper time to change pastures, sow, harvest, feast and celebrate the seasons.
__Aswiniai___________________________
Although one may offer a long list of twin-gods found throughout Indo-European cultural ideology, of special interest here is the twin gods known as the Aswiniai (ahsh-VI-niaye). The Asvieniai were at the same time virile young brothers and horse gods betrothed to the sun goddess Sauliā; one symbolized by white for sunrise named Lougos (LOWK-ohs), and the other sunset personified by darkness called Wakaros (va-KAY-rows). The similarity of the Asvienai in name and myth, to the Vedic Ashwini, indicates that its inclusion within Baltic cosmology is of great antiquity. Moreover, this myth is similar to the twin Latvian horse gods, which on a larger scale was actually an abstraction of solar seasons. In turn, these gods are roughly analogous to the Greek Dioscuri, the twin sons of Zeus; Kastor and Polydeukes who may be better known by their Latin names of Castor and Pollux.
__Bûrwalkai___________________________
The Bûrwalkai (buhra-VAL-kaye) were a set of lesser gods that watched over and protected the house and home, as well as related domestic activities. These included Dimstipatas (dim-STI-pah-tas) the 'protector' or 'lord of the farmstead,' and his consort was Dimste (DIM-stay). Other deities included Raugopatis (raow-KUH-pah-tas) the 'Lord of Beer,' Siraplarānkās (surah-PLA-rah-kahs) the 'Sliver Armed,' Glabawas (glah-BOW-ahs) god of threshing barn’s hearth, his sister Glabāni (glah-BAY-ney) goddess of the family hearth, and Nume (noo-MAY). Another was the all knowing Dalā (dah-LAY), meaning fate; the goddess of giving and taking of goods and property, childbirth, spinning, weaving, and sowing.
Heroes, Holymen, and Sacred Places
Another important religious group was composed of the mythic semi-divine heroes of the Late Bronze and Early Iron ages. Represented by interwoven oral traditions that abstractly recalled their exploits, during the EB2 time frame, some were venerated and viewed as intermediaries of both the gods and humanity. However, the true mediators between the divine and natural world on the one hand and humankind on the other were the holymen, both male and female. Recruited from the ranks of the nobility, these were priests and priestess well-schooled in the arts of song, verse, and the types of subtle persuasion that win the heart and mind. In fact, within the bounds of tradition and society, they were the practitioners and architects of religious ideology; of which, the relevance to mankind was explained by ritual and the sacred place.
Heroes
__Klokīsplēsos___________________________
Based on folklore, Klokīsplēsos (klo-KISS-pleh-sohs) represents a semi-divine hero similar to the Greek Heracles and Germanic Beowulf. His mother was Moška, the Bear goddess, from who he possessed bear-like ears, which were seen as the source of his great strengthand. As a youth, unarmed he killed a bear by ripping its jaws apart with his hands. Later in life he fought a series of battles against enemy hosts, giants, monsters, gods, and goddesses; befriends other heroes, and in due course visited the underworld and Pekla, the abode of Pikūlos. After returning to Sirdazemē (middle-earth) he married Lamtē̂, the goddess of foresight and fate. Nonetheless, despite having fate on his side, his many victories, and efforts to overcome numerous tests and trials, due to pride he was eventually tricked, disfigured, defeated, and utterly destroyed. Finally, because his tribe was unable to recover the hero's body for proper buria, in great shame he was deigned an afterlife.
__Sowius___________________________
Traditions tell that while hunting in the forest the hero Sowius (soh-VI-osh) killed a wild boar, due to his great skill and strength. On this beast he and his nine sons soon feasted, however the boar had been divine. Upon learning of this transgression Per̃kwū̂nas resolved to destroy the hero and all of his sons. Yet, Sowius managed to convince Per̃kwū̂nas to spare his sons, but in turn he would serve Pikūlas the lord of the dead, as the Wredigalis for killing the boar. Although angry about the terms of the agreement, he nonetheless descended until through the ninth gate of Pikla, followed by his three eldest sons, where Pikūlas prepared a place for him among the Weles, or spirits of the dead. On the first night Sowius told his first son to bury him in the ground, but after waking in the morning he complained that reptiles and worms bite him all night. On the second night he told his second son to bury him in a tree trunk. Yet there all that night he was bitten and stung by insects. Therefore, on the third night he asked his oldest son to thrown him into a fire. In the morning Sowius rejoiced that he had slept so sweetly. Thereafter his sons returned to Sirdazemē, as he remained in Pikla to help prepare the dead for burial and lead them to the underworld.
__Kalwelas___________________________
Kalwelas (KAHL-veh-lahs) seems to have been a son of Pikūlas and a mortal mother who has been all but lost to history. This is based on his moniker, which includes the Old Prussian kaltun- (to beat or incuse) and -veles (another term for the underworld); thus meaning 'Hell's Hammer.' It was a general belief that the first smith was Kalwelas who had emerged from Pikla as the semi-divine hero that taught humankind the arts of mining and metallurgy. His central story relates that after living among humans for a time, for dipping too close to the southern horizon, his father Pikūlas imprisoned Sauliā within a huge edifice of solid ice. With the warmth of the sun greatly diminished the earth slowly began to grow colder each day. Finally Kalwelas offered his enormous hammer, which was used, and the goddess was soon released. Somehow, Kalwelas' hammer was carelessly tossed and as a fiery ball of metal it fell to earth. However, through the course of this story Sauliā's fiery cart appears to have been lost. So finally, Kalwelas quickly set to work building Sauliā another divine chariot, from the remains of his magic hammer, which was soon finished and tossed back into the heavens. Thereafter, Sauliā returned to daily race across the sky unencumbered and all was right in the world.
Holymen
__Prawidai, Burtamitā, and Waidila ___________________________
The Prawidai represent individuals that were skilled in the arts of prophecy, divination, and magic. They were not Drûwoi, in that they typically were not members of the nobility. However, they were seen as important intermediates between common folk and the divine or natural world. In this respect the Prawidai, meaning 'foresight,' were in fact freelance prophets that divulged specific aspects of the near future to those that offered the proper gift. They preformed this service by way of the Burtamitā and Waidila. The Burtomitā, literally meaning ‘lot casting,’ represents an art where a collection of Rowan Wood twigs were tossed onto a large white cloth several times. Thereafter the diviner would interpret what could be recognized as randomly made runic symbols. The Waidila, meaning 'magic,' was a method whereby spells, potions, brews, and tonics were used by a diviner to induce the telling of the future.
__Drûwoi___________________________
The Drewoi signified an informal office wherein individuals of the lesser nobility, both male and female, served as minor priests or shaman that were schooled in the arts of persuasion, medicine, and foresight. Upon direction they physically established and maintained the shrines, altars, holy groves, temples, and preformed all the domestic activities associated with religious pursuits. On a more personal level, because of their perceived relationship with the gods, the Drewoi were also the caretakers of the spiritual and psychological wellbeing of the general population. In the military realm the Drewoi also served as standard bearers and were identified by a large Rowan Wood staff.
__Kriwai___________________________
The most senor Drewoi of great knowledge and held in high esteem often served as the high priest or priestess of a particular cult. They were known as Kriwai and were identified by the symbol of office; a tall Rowan Wood staff with a misshapen head. The Kriwai garnered somewhat more authority than the common Drewoi, as far as the founding and maintenance of shrines, altars, holy groves, and temples. These high priests often distributed or administered the proceeds of successful wars or commercial enterprises donated to the state. Finally, largely as a matter of prestige and influence, a Kriwas typically accompanied elder noblmen that were members of the cult they represented.
https://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1091/lugionessite3.jpg
Temple Complex
Sacred Places
__Shrines and Altars___________________________
In this context the Swintuwa (Shrine or Scrinium) is a sacred or holy place, which was dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, or a similar figure, at which they were venerated or worshipped. Shrines typically included idols, relics, or similar objects associated with the venerated figure. A shrine at which votive offerings were made can also be called an Aukuras. By definition an Aukuras (Altar or Altare) is any structure upon which a sacrifice or votive offering are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, but they can be located in temples or other sacred places where religious ritual takes place.
__Holy Groves___________________________
The Indo-European concept of the sacred or holy grove as a symbol of constitutional authority and national identity is a relatively common feature found throughout Europe to include the Baltic region. In Courland for example the local nobility preserved pre-Christian traditions associated with three such religious sites well into the 16th century. These and many others have been documented in local folklore, place names, historic records, and maps. For example an interesting description of rituals practised at one such holy grove in Courland was written by Reinhold Lubenau, a traveler that visited the area at Christmas in 1586. Of special interest to our review is that these holy groves were called ‘Elka’ or ‘Alkas.’ In fact, the Old Lithuanian words elkas and alká literally mean the 'holy grove.' The similarity between these Baltic expressions and Tacitus’ use of ‘Alcis,’ as the name of the religious site he described, can by no means, be entirely coincidental.
__Temples___________________________
Early pre-Roman period temples appear to be represented by the sanctuary recently identified at Sławsko Wielkie, in the Kuiavia region of modern Poland. This complex was centered around a small temple; a rectangular building with a floor of compacted and fired clay, while the roof was supported by a colonnade of wooden posts. At the center of this structure was a cylindrical-shaped altar. The burials of sacrificial animals (of dog, goat, sheep and pig), stones of specific shape, pottery discs, and an isolated pit containing a human sacrifice were scattered around the temple. The entire area constituted a sacred precinct (Swints or Sacrum), which was fenced off from the general surroundings (Paprestas or Profanum). Four temples of this kind, probably used in succession, were found at the Sławsko Wielkie settlement. The origin of this type of temple complex may have been the Hellenistic world, via the Celts. Nonetheless, they appeared in the Kuiavia region during the second century BC and seem to represent what was called a Ramowa, in the late Medieval period.
https://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4355/barbdivider.png
Brave Brave Sir Robin
12-25-2010, 06:38
Its a wonderful Christmas gift!:2thumbsup::2thumbsup:
Amazing that so much information about the Lugiones could be found and brought together. All very interesting material and I am impressed to say the least. Now with the Lugii and Boii, Central Europe will be a lot more interesting.
On a side note, I all take it that their banner is one of the first Occultus banners which was shown but given up on by the community?
stratigos vasilios
12-25-2010, 08:43
Have a Merry EB Christmas indeed!!! I would have never guessed this faction, but it is a perfect fit for the map! Great work EB team, my hat off to you. Amazing work :thumbsup:
EDIT: Is this the right one (https://img156.imageshack.us/f/29019665.png/)?
Khazar_Dahvos
12-25-2010, 09:45
wow that was alot of information on a region that i thought was fairly unknown at that point in history!!! Spectacular job on the presentation of the preview!!!!!
WOW If i ever make a paper on this, may i use this in my source index XD ?
MAAAAAANNN this does make my decision what to play first more complicated :( tho with the lack of pics it's probable that the lugians win, as I wanna see their stuff^^
QuintusSertorius
12-25-2010, 12:56
So the Sweboz/Suebi now have some competition in Germania? That should change the dynamics there for the better.
On a side note, I all take it that their banner is one of the first Occultus banners which was shown but given up on by the community?
Correct.
Mediolanicus
12-25-2010, 18:47
Fantastic work on putting together this faction and this amazing preview. I thank you cmacq and the EB team!
darius_d
12-25-2010, 18:59
Amazing level of detail. I love this language map, it's worth more than 1000 words. Great preview.
Oh grea!!!!! awesome as always.. Thx for the Christmass gif!!!
fightermedic
12-25-2010, 19:34
now that one is rather unexpected
never heard of those guys before
well let's have some read then!
funny sidenote: i received Tacitus' Germania as a christmas gift yesterday
Thank you very much. I knew it would be worth checking on Christmas Day!
Not my favourite area of the map and it never will be but a cracking level of detail! Really enjoyed it and from a game play perspective I think it is a great faction.
Will this faction be surrounded by the uber rebels from EB1? (sorry if this is answered in the preview but family matters make my time limited today)
Peace be with you. Unless you are playing EB which would make it a dull game.
Andy1984
12-26-2010, 00:44
An amazing job the team once more performed. Many thanks.
Bloody amazin' Christmas gift. Brilliant work, team.
Never expected this faction, never expected so many informations about them...
The EB team still kicks asses ^^
darn....that was a thorough preview.
pretty units too. :party:
WinsingtonIII
12-26-2010, 07:44
WOW! That may be the most extensive faction preview yet! Great work as usual, and amazing job finding so much information on an area that is poorly documented!
Nightbringer
12-26-2010, 09:23
That is a truly enormous amount of information!
You guys should seriously put all the faction previews and other descriptions together and make a history book. This stuff is just fantastic!
Cadwalader
12-26-2010, 10:45
Woah! I was always interested knowing more about that part of the world. Excellent choice and thank you for this amazing preview!
Captain Jazzy
12-26-2010, 12:43
Lovley Christmas present, just need to read it all. Brilliant work as always guys, keep it up. :)
A great read indeed, thank you. I was hoping for, but not expecting, a faction in that area. Even thought my hope was satisfied with the inclution of the Boii. Now, this is just fantastic! :)
Amazing! Just amazing EB Team!
Thank you for this preview!
Could you post here (or in a PM) the exact sources, please? I can't read long paragraphs on computer screen, but printed papers and documents are OK (I study archeology, so i have acces to many libraries).
Thank you!
Paltmull
12-26-2010, 18:33
Nice Christmas gift! Crazy amount of information :O The Lugiones will surely make an interesting addition gameplaywise.
Arthur, king of the Britons
12-26-2010, 19:35
Amazing work indeed.
References
Andrzejowski, J.
Nadkole 2. A Cemetery of the Przeworsk Culture in Eastern Poland. Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica 5, Kraków, 1998.
Antanaitis-Jacobs, I., M. Richards, L. Daugnora, R. Jankauskas, and N. Ogrinc
Diet in Early Lithuanian Prehistory and the New Stable Isotope Evidence. Arch. Baltca 12, 2009 pp. 12-30.
Barford, P.
Environmental Celts in Central Europe and beyond. Arch. Polona 29, 1991 pp. 79-98.
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Between the Slavs, Balts and Germans: ethnic problems in the archaeology and history of Podlasie. Arch. Polona 29, 1991 pp. 123-160.
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Conceptualizing early Germanic Political Structure: a review of the use of the concept of Gefolgschaft. Images of the Past. Studies on ancient societies in northwestern Europe, Roymans, N. and F. Theuws editors, Amsterdam, 1991, 91-129.
Bemmann, J. and H. Voß
Anmerkungen Zur Körpergrabsitte In Den Regionen Zwischen Rhein Und Oder Vom 1. Bis Zur Mitte Des 5. Jahrhunderts N. Chr. Körpergräber des 1.–3. Jahrhunderts in der Römischen Welt. Internationales Kolloquium Frankfurt am Main, 2004; Faber, A., P. Fasold, M. Struck, and M. Witteyer editors, Schr. Arch. Mus. Frankfurt 21-2007, pp. 153–183.
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Un village appartenant à la civilisation de Przeworsk en Pologne Centrale (Wólka Łasiecka, district de Łowicz). Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 245-256.
Berggren, J. and A. Jones
Ptolemy's Geography By Ptolemy. Princeton University Press, 2001.
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Ancient centre of iron metallurgy in the region of Góry Świętokrzyskie (Świętokrzyskie Mountains). Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 221-234.
Bliujienè, A. and D. Butkus
Armed Men and their Riding Horses as a Reflection of Warriors Hierarchy in Western Lithuania during the Roman Iron Age. In Weapons, Weaponry and Man, edited by Bliujiene A. - Klaipeda; Arch. Baltca 8, 2007 pp. 95-116.
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New Fortified settlements of Lusatian Culture in Great Poland and Kujawy in the light of research carried out in the years 1945-1960. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 165-180.
Cabalska, M.
Hillfort and defence settlement of Lusatian Culture in Maszkowice, voivodship of Nowy Sącz: An attempt at a model reconstruction of social and cultural relations. Arch. Polona 29, 1977 pp. 107-136.
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Age-related changes of social status. An attempt at reconstruction based on the Przeworsk Culture cemeteries with anthropological determinants. Arch. Polona 28, 1990 pp. 123-148.
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Recent Research on the Early Iron Age in the Territory to the East of the Lower Vistula. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 181 – 188.
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Kalisz and its neighbourhood in the Roman Period. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 235-244.
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Bemerkungen zur Entstehung der Przeworsk-Kultur. ArchPZ 63, 1988a, pp. 53.
Wczesne fazy kultury przeworskiej. Chronologia, zasięg-powiązania, Warszawa 1988b.
Z problematyki wczesnych faz kultury przeworskiej. Arch. Polski, 34-2, 1989 (1990), pp. 369-390.
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Kamieńczyk: Ein Gräberfeld der Przeworsk-Kultur in Ostmasowien. MAB 3, Kraków 1997.
Daugnora, L, and A. Girininkas.
Neolithic and Bronze Age mixed farming and stock breeding in the traditional Baltic culture-area. Arch. Baltca 1, 1995 pp. 43-51.
Stock Breeding in the Baltic Culture Area. Arch. Baltca 3, 1998 pp. 223-234.
Domański, G.
Settlement complex from a late La Tène and Roman period at Luboszyce, Lubsko district. Arch. Polona 12, 1970 pp. 321-334.
Gedl, M.
Untersuchungen des Siedlungskomplexes der Lausitzer Kultur in Kietrz, Kreis Głubczyce. Arch. Polona 12, 1970 pp. 271-296.
Gimbutas, M.
The Balts. London, New York: Thames & Hudson, Gabriella 1963.
Girdwoyń, A.
Celtic glass bracelets from excavations in Poland. A technological study. Arch. Polona 25-26, 1987 pp. 199-208.
Girininkas, A.
The Narva Culture and the origin of the Baltic culture. The Indo-Europeanization of Northern Europe (Guides to Historical Issues) (Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph Series 17) K. Jones-Bley and M. Huld editors, Washington, 1996, pp 42–47.
Godłowski, K.
Die Chronologie der jüngeren und späten Kaiserzeit in den Gebieten südlich der Sudeten und Karpaten. Probleme der relativen und absoluten Chronologie ab Latenezeit bis zum Mittelalter. Materialien des III. Internationalen Symposiums: Grundprobleme der fruhgeschichtlichen Entwicklung im nordlichen Mitteldonaugebiet edited by K. Godłowski and R. Madyda-Legutk, Kraków, 1992.
The Remarks on the development of Przeworsk culture settlement in Upper Silesia. Arch. Polona 8, 1965 pp. 37-66.
Ein Gräberfeld aus der späten Kaiserzeit in Opatów, Kreis Kłobuck. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 295-305.
'Superiores Barbari' und die Markomannenkriege im Lichte der archäologischen Quellen. Slov. Arch. 32,2, 1984, pp. 327.
Die Przeworsk-Kultur. In: Beiträge zum Verständnis der Germania des Tacitus. Teil II. Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, 195 (Göttingen 1992) pp. 9.
Hensel, W.
Ancient abodes of the Slavs (1st to 6th cents AD). Arch. Polona 29, 1991 pp. 99-108.
Hachmann, R.
Die Chronologie der jüngeren vorrömischen Eisenzeit. Studien zum Stand der Forschung im nördlichen Mitteleuropa und in Skandinavien, BRGK 41, 1960.
Les Slaves. Ethnogenèse et topogenèse - prolégomènes. Arch. Polona 28, 1990 pp. 7-22.
The Vistula in prehistoric times. Arch. Polona 25-26, 1987 pp. 7-39.
Hines, J.
Language and culture in an archaeological perspective. Arch. Polona 34, 1996 pp. 183-197.
Herodotus and G. Rawlinson
The Histories. Digireads.com Publishing, 2009.
Kietlińska A.
Le cimetière des tombes à cloche à Transbór, district Mińsk Mazowiecki. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 199-207.
Kobyliński, Z.
Polish-German archaeological research in Bavaria and Saxony 1992-2002. Arch. Polona 40, 2005 pp. 95-110.
Kolobov, A., A. Melnitchuk, and N. Kulyabina
The Roman Military Phalera from the Perm Urals. Arch. Vest. 52, 2001 pp. 351-357.
https://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4355/barbdivider.png
References
Kontny, B.
Horse and its Use in the Przeworsk Culture in the Light of the Archaeological Evidence. Arch. Baltica 11, 2008 pp. 92-114.
The war as seen by an archaeologist. Reconstruction of barbarian weapons and fighting techniques in the Roman Period based on the analysis of graves containing weapons: The case of the Przeworsk Culture. In The Enemies of Rome, Proceedings of the 15th International Roman Military Equipment Conference edited by L. Kocsis, Budapest, 2005(a).
Time of war or well being? Changes in weapon sets in the Przeworsk Culture burials from the late stage of phase B2. Europa Barbarica. Ćwierć wieku Archeologii w Masłomęczu, P. Łuczkiewicz et al. editors, Lublin, 2005(b), pp 215-232.
Kostrzewski J.
La problème du séjour des Germains sur les terres de Pologne. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 7-44.
Кулаков B.
Интерпретация “курганных” погребений эстиев I-III вв. н.э. Балто-славянские исследования 1998-1999. 14, Москва, 2000.
Кушнер, П.
Этническое прошлое Юго-Восточной Прибалтики: Этнические территории и этнические границы. Труды Института этнографии, Новая серия, 5-25, 1951.
Laime, S.
The Sacred Groves of Central Courland in Diachronic Aspect. Paper persented at the Holy Groves Around the Baltic Sea International Seminar, 2007.
Levi, A. and M. Levi
Nadkole Itineraria picta.Contributo allo studio della Tabula Peutingeriana (Rome: Bretschneider) 1967.
Лошенков, M.
Поселение Культуры Штрихованной Керамики На Юге Беларуси. Lietuvos Archeologija 21, 2001 pp 159–171.
Loskotová, Z.
Das Waffenbrandgrab der Przeworsk-Kultur aus Stěbořice. Arch. Slovenská 58-1, 2010 pp. 53-79.
Łuka, L.
New materials on the origins of the Pomeranian Culture in Eastern Pomerania. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 189-198.
Mierow, C.
Jordanes: The Origin and Deeds of the Goths. Princeton University Press, 1908.
Niewęgłowski, A.
Recherches sur la période de La Tène III et sur la période romaine en Mazovie méridionale. Arch. Polona 8, 1965 pp. 149-161.
Nowakowski, W.
Horse Burials in Roman Period Cemeteries of the Bogaczewo Culture. Arch. Baltica 11, 2008 pp. 115-129.
Oblomski, A., O. Petrauskas, and R. Terpilovski
Environmental reasons of migrations of the south-eastern Europe population in the 1st-5th centuries AD. Arch. Polona 37, 1999 pp. 71-86.
Okulicz, Ł.
Settlement and culture structures in the East Baltic zone of the Bronze and Early Iron Age. Arch. Polona 29, 1977 pp. 37-62.
Okulicz, Ł. and J. Okulicz
The La Tène and the Roman Periods in Northern Masovia and in the Southern Mazurian area in the light of new discoveries. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 286-294.
Olsen, B. and Z. Kobyliński
Ethnicity in anthropological and archaeological research: a Norwegian-Polish perspective. Arch. Polona 29, 1991 pp. 5-27.
Parpola, A. and C. Carpelan
The Cultural Counterparts to Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Uralic and Proto-Aryan Matching the Dispersal and Contact Patterns in the Linguistic and Archaeological Record. In The Indo-Aryan controversy: evidence and inference in Indian history, Bryant, E. and L. Patton editors, Psychology Press, 2005, pp. 107-141.
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The achievements of research carried out in Poland on the history of early technology of iron. Arch. Polona 12, 1970 pp. 187-216.
Pliny (the Elder), P. Holland, and Wernerian Club
Pliny's Natural history. In thirty-seven books, Volumes 1-3. Printed for the Club by G. Barclay, the University of California, 1848.
Potocki, J.
Le La colonisation celtique en Petite-Pologne à la lumière des fouilles de 1945-1960. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 208-220.
Przewoźna, K.
Research on the late La Tène and Roman Period in East Pomerania. Arch. Polona 8, 1965 pp. 162-176.
Pyrgała, J.
Settlement microregion between the Vistula and the Lower Wkra in the La Tène and Roman period. Arch. Polona 12, 1970 pp. 335-350.
Rauhut D.
Settlements and cemeteries at Złota, district Sandomierz, voivodship of Kielce. Arch. Polona 4, 1962 pp. 152-164.
Remys, E.
General distinguishing features of various Indo-European languages and their relationship to Lithuanian. Indogermanische Forschungen edited by W. Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 112, 2007.
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Simniškytė, A.
Roman Period Metal Half-moon Shaped Pendants with Knobs in the Eastern Baltic Region. Arch. Baltca 5, 2002 pp 95-122.
Skvortsov, K.
Burials of Riders and Horses Dated to the Roman Iron Age and Great Migration Period in Aleika-3 (Former Jaugehnen), Cemetery on the Sambian Peninsula. Arch. Baltica 11, 2008 pp. 130-148.
Speidel, M.
Ancient Germanic Warriors. Warrior Styles from Trajan's Column to Islandic Sagas. London, 2004.
Stankus, J.
Geležies Gamybos Lietuvoje Apžvalga. Lietuvos Archeologija 21, 2001 pp 171-182.
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Vasks, A.
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https://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4355/barbdivider.png
Skullheadhq
12-27-2010, 11:18
Nice, a Prussian faction!
fightermedic
12-27-2010, 13:18
omg that list of sources is longer than some previews from other mods^^
Absolutely stunning preview. The sheer amount of research and the attention to detail... I'm left speechless just by looking at the 'Reference' list. Brilliant work!
WinsingtonIII
12-27-2010, 17:23
The office of Rikos offers the chance for the leader of the Lugiones faction to adopt the culture of host province which they occupy.
Just noticed this.... does this mean that if you have a character that has been named Rikos, you can capture let's say a Western Greek culture settlement and then have the choice to convert the culture of your faction from "Barbarian" to Western Greek?
Or am I completely off here?
Germania and Britannia are two of my favorite starting positions!
fightermedic
12-27-2010, 21:03
Just noticed this.... does this mean that if you have a character that has been named Rikos, you can capture let's say a Western Greek culture settlement and then have the choice to convert the culture of your faction from "Barbarian" to Western Greek?
Or am I completely off here?
i'd guess that rather means that a Rikos will be able to govern a foreign city more effective while other generals might see themselfs troubled if they try to govern such a settlement
beware this is wild speculation from my side
The office of Rikos offers the chance for the leader of the Lugiones faction to adopt the culture of host province which they occupy.
Just noticed this.... does this mean that if you have a character that has been named Rikos, you can capture let's say a Western Greek culture settlement and then have the choice to convert the culture of your faction from "Barbarian" to Western Greek?
Or am I completely off here?
This refers to one of the big differences between EB and EB2. This also will set this faction apart from many others. However, I not sure if I’m at liberty to discuss this further? What I can say is, this difference will completely change the dynamics of the game for all of the European barbarian factions. I can also tell you that if all the conditions are realized and by chance a Lugiones leader is given the attribute in question, it doesn’t actually mean that this faction will mimic the western Greeks, eastern Greeks, or Romans. One may want to look more towards what happen when the late Roman period Franks or Goths took control of previous Roman or Greek territories. Again, I wish could tell you more, but it would indeed spoil a very great surprise.
What I haven’t shown here is the Lugiones faction after this shift or change. This is largely because as a major game feature it has not been revealed yet, and although there are later examples, it is of course not historic for this period. Without the release of this feature I don’t want to confuse anyone more than necessary. Yet in parting;
‘Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble, something wicked cool, will soon this way come.'
Khazar_Dahvos
12-28-2010, 00:04
damnation!!!! Makes me wish that tomorrow was the day the gaza campaign comes out!!!!!!!!!!!!
moonburn
12-28-2010, 01:02
took me 1 entire day to read it all now can you fix the images ? i was only able to see the map of the 4 core regions and if the lugiones start with those 4 core regions and the game engine continues to move north i suspect the swebii are in for a troublesome time
one thing i did enjoyed reading was that it will be a dificult faction to muster massive armies there are probably going to be massive problems and rpg elements before a lugione noble can amass a proper army (much in the way as the romans will be limited by their consul recruiting habilities) wich should make it a very fun campaign to play for those of us who like to micromanage family members and their ascension to power
The images work fine for me, if your talking about the other units not having images it's because there are none, we haven't made them yet.
The Lugiones faction starts with one core area, which one will need to work hard to get control of and even harder to keep. The other three represent the basic ethnic region. But you're on the right track about the other stuff.
Great christmas present......my thanks to the team
Kuningaz
12-28-2010, 14:34
Wow, this is just AMAZING
This refers to one of the big differences between EB and EB2. This also will set this faction apart from many others. However, I not sure if I’m at liberty to discuss this further? What I can say is, this difference will completely change the dynamics of the game for all of the European barbarian factions. I can also tell you that if all the conditions are realized and by chance a Lugiones leader is given the attribute in question, it doesn’t actually mean that this faction will mimic the western Greeks, eastern Greeks, or Romans. One may want to look more towards what happen when the late Roman period Franks or Goths took control of previous Roman or Greek territories. Again, I wish could tell you more, but it would indeed spoil a very great surprise.
Are you talking about the new use of the religions system? Because I remember reading something about a 'city state religion' in the Gaza preview :book:
So my guess is that the Lugiones FMs can convert to another 'religion', thus greatly reducing unrest in their region?:juggle2:
Btw, when I guessed the region/people of the elite medium spearmen unit some time ago, a team member said there wouldn't be a Lugian faction...
How very, very mean of you :laugh4:
Are you talking about the new use of the religions system? Because I remember reading something about a 'city state religion' in the Gaza preview :book:
So my guess is that the Lugiones FMs can convert to another 'religion', thus greatly reducing unrest in their region?:juggle2:
Btw, when I guessed the region/people of the elite medium spearmen unit some time ago, a team member said there wouldn't be a Lugian faction...
How very, very mean of you :laugh4:
No, not religion. However, I'm often very mean.
Thank you very much, cmacq!
I'm reading!
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus
12-28-2010, 16:32
That language map makes for some very interesting questions, which I'm sure you know a great deal more about than I do. Early Brythonnic seems to have a very strong presence in the Cimbric peninsula. As I understand it, Brythonnic and Belgae are closely related (if not the same)... was there, then, a shared culture in the Cimbric peninsula the 'Nordwest' region and the British Isles (at least the South and West)? The 'Celtic' /'German' question with regards to the Cimric migration and even the Sweboz seems to become ever more muddled - at least from what I can understand of it.
Oh, and brilliant choice of faction...and wonderful preview. The few hints of gameplay additions (over and above EB) make me want this now.
EDIT: East of the British Isles, not West...
WinsingtonIII
12-28-2010, 16:56
What I haven’t shown here is the Lugiones faction after this shift or change. This is largely because as a major game feature it has not been revealed yet, and although there are later examples, it is of course not historic for this period. Without the release of this feature I don’t want to confuse anyone more than necessary. Yet in parting;
‘Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble, something wicked cool, will soon this way come.'
Hmmmm...... well, after capturing Carthage, the Vandals did utilize the large Roman fleet that had been left there against the Romans, so perhaps under certain conditions the Lugii will be able to keep the existing military infrastructure of a province and recruit some units they normally would not be able to recruit?
Or maybe culture refers to govermental and social structures, so they could keep and utilize the government building (although I don't fully remember how government works in EB2) or cultural buidlings they normally would not be able to use.
That language map makes for some very interesting questions, which I'm sure you know a great deal more about than I do. Early Brythonnic seems to have a very strong presence in the Cimbric peninsula. As I understand it, Brythonnic and Belgae are closely related (if not the same)... was there, then, a shared culture in the Cimbric peninsula the 'Nordwest' region and the British Isles (at least the South and West)?
This falls a bit outside the current preview, but I can tell you it will be fully addressed.
The 'Celtic' /'German' question with regards to the Cimbric migration and even the Sweboz seems to become ever more muddled - at least from what I can understand of it.
This will be fully addressed, as well.
More shields
https://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae292/abdeldinar/shieldsofficer.jpg
stratigos vasilios
12-29-2010, 07:23
They look great! Good job eb team!
Example of a Lugiones settlement
https://img843.imageshack.us/img843/7989/swabianhouse1.png
anubis88
12-29-2010, 13:38
Ha, i was almost sure about this one :clown: ... Great preview guys!
Heres another view of a Lugiones settlement.
https://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5262/lugionessite.jpg
Second Century BC Lugiones Farmstead with a Urnfield, Sacred Grove, and Temple Complex.
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus
12-30-2010, 02:12
This falls a bit outside the current preview, but I can tell you it will be fully addressed.
Yes, I thought it might be a little 'rude' to intrude upon this (stunning) preview, but I had to ask... that it is to be fully addressed....the more I hear about EB2 the more I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the references.... the amount of historical research you guys are sharing with us, by means of this mod and the previews etc., is just phenomenal. I don't think I would be alone (by any means) in saying that your work on this is mucho mucho appreciated. I raise a glass to you all (yeah, its a little early yet, but I'm not back to work till the 4th soo...)
This will be fully addressed, as well.[/QUOTE]
One more.
https://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6729/lugionessite2.jpg
Temple Complex
artaxerxes
12-31-2010, 15:26
beautiful :)
With regard to cmacq's settlement images. Are they internal to EB or are they from somewhere else. Because graphically they are something new to EB.
Are the buildings definitely organized on the periphery of settlement spaces in the archaeology? With religious sites occupying a more central position in their own sites?
Or is this apparent organization simply because of how the artist lay it out?
With regard to cmacq's settlement images. Are they internal to EB or are they from somewhere else. Because graphically they are something new to EB.
Are the buildings definitely organized on the periphery of settlement spaces in the archaeology? With religious sites occupying a more central position in their own sites?
Or is this apparent organization simply because of how the artist lay it out?
Not internal to EB2 yet. We hope to have some done for the game at some point. In German the pithouse habitation structures are called 'Grubenhaus.' As described in the text their settlements were small with the spacing between loci much greater. I placed them closer to show the general relationship between the different loci types. Nonetheless, of the few religious sites identified thus far they may be placed between several framsteads/residential loci.
Imperator Invictus
01-01-2011, 18:04
the Carpians or Bastarnae were much more interesting than the Lugiones
:embarassed:
the Carpians or Bastarnae were much more interesting than the Lugiones
:embarassed:
For EB2 the Bastarnae are initially considered an early aspect of the Lugiones confederation. In turn, the Carpi are considered an Thracian element included within the Bastarnae once they're established in Moldova.
stratigos vasilios
01-02-2011, 02:49
Is that your way of confirming the Bastarnae as a faction in EBII?
I think what cmacq was saying is that the Bastarnae, at the EB's start date, were still part of the Lugiones and didn't settle yet near the Carpathians...
stratigos vasilios
01-02-2011, 15:38
Yeah I figured as much, here's hoping that they are in though!
Atraphoenix
01-02-2011, 18:39
splendid...
Looks awesome, can't wait. You guys need anything?; soda, hot towel, anything to ensure soon release?
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join EB2 to things like this...
https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3282/figure22d.png
Toutāginoi command team
to put in the game
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join the EB2 team to do things like this...
This will provide an idea of the level of research that went into each unit
https://img9.imageshack.us/img9/4173/tautginas2.png
Early Toutāginoi unit
https://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5518/tautginas1.pnghttp://www.stephane-lagrange.com/images/forums/EB/German_Warrior_IstBC(Etape2).jpg
Late Toutāginoi unit
https://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3428/figure22c.png
https://img713.imageshack.us/img713/6256/lugionesspears.png
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join the EB2 team to finish stuff like this...
Moldoi
https://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9286/figure29a.png
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join EB2 to finish things like this...
Early Koroi
https://img208.imageshack.us/img208/425/figure28a.png
Late Koroi
https://img124.imageshack.us/img124/4226/figure7b.png
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join EB2 to finish things like this...
Nokwlentoi
https://img820.imageshack.us/img820/986/figure12.png
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join EB2 to finish things like this...
Late General
https://img801.imageshack.us/img801/91/figure13.png
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join the EB2 team to finish the faces of the Lugiones...
https://img13.imageshack.us/img13/541/lugifaces.png
Mithridates VI Eupator
01-03-2011, 00:53
And to do 3D/texture work for all the other factions as well...
We're looking for a few good 3D/texture artists to join EB2 to things like this...
https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3282/figure22d.png
Toutāginoi command team
to put in the game
As far as I know Alin and I already made the officer and the standard bearer was almost done.
As far as I know Alin and I already made the officer and the standard bearer was almost done.
It was done in fact.~:)
Maybe some little touches...
stratigos vasilios
01-03-2011, 11:19
Hey Alin! Haven't seen you posting in awhile, good to see you! I tried to follow a link Bobbin put up at the twcenter which directed you to the art of skinning/modelling but by the time I learn it EBIII will be under construction...
As far as I know Alin and I already made the officer and the standard bearer was almost done.
Just don’t have anything for display, an action figure per se.
Mediolanicus
01-03-2011, 13:15
I just thought I'd bring this post to cmacq's attention:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=8712879#post8712879
I just thought I'd bring this post to cmacq's attention:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=8712879#post8712879
I wondered how long it would take before someone saw that. Apparently, I disagree. For good reason, this is in part, why it took so long to finish the Lugiones faction, and why is been presented in such detail.
Mediolanicus
01-03-2011, 13:42
By all means, if you find the time for it, elaborate on that. I am interested!
This will all be addressed in great detail in upcoming releases.
Anyone who has a skill and wants to join the EB II team, please go here...
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?93339-The-EB-II-Help-Required-Thread&p=2053225545#post2053225545
Olaf The Great
01-04-2011, 00:24
So this faction is basically badass Poland? (Yes I know, but still)
No not really, but what do you know about the 'whys' and 'wherefores' of the Bellum Germanicum.' Better known overall as the
'Marcomannic Wars' they took place between AD 162 and 180 and were roughly coeval with the Antonine Plague. Between the plague and war about 7-8 million people died on both sides. Of these around five million died just of the plague in Roman territory alone. This also marks the first time a barbarian army had entered Italy since the Crimbri migration. Some had said that the Roman army and economy never fully recovered from this war. The point is that the Romans were fighting against Both Swabian and Lugian tribes. However we now know that the better armed and largest number were coming from southern Poland. A huge iron mining area and weapon industry had developed there. In fact within 350 years the area around Krakow had literally turned into what could be called the 'Arsenal of Free-Germania.' Although the 'Marcomannic Wars' are beyond the scope of the EB2 time frame the process had start in the late La Tene period. It seems that the only thing lacking was leadership.
Julianus
01-04-2011, 04:13
Impressive...to say the least.
Fluvius Camillus
01-05-2011, 01:17
Hmmmm...... well, after capturing Carthage, the Vandals did utilize the large Roman fleet that had been left there against the Romans, so perhaps under certain conditions the Lugii will be able to keep the existing military infrastructure of a province and recruit some units they normally would not be able to recruit?
Or maybe culture refers to govermental and social structures, so they could keep and utilize the government building (although I don't fully remember how government works in EB2) or cultural buidlings they normally would not be able to use.
If I follow correctly, I think they will be using the Apache script? For those who don't know about MIITW Kingdoms, the Apache tribes were able to take over enemy technology after defeating them, thus, creating Apachean musketeers, Apachean Cavalry and eventually Apachean musket cavalry!
This might be modified to make the Lugiones adapt to several foes, in the forms of better quality armour or weapons.
Or I am completely wrong here, anyway, this preview contains an ENORMOUS amount of information, I might read up with more time but I just have to tell you that I am amazed on how much you can bring together about a people on that region at that time.
Best wishes everybody.
~Fluvius
Right,
much of the information is in what might be called Grey Literature. Its just pulling it all together, being able to read the different languages, and understanding what it all means technically. It's not so much that the general public doesn't have access to this information, rather they don't know what to look for, or if they do, where to find it. There is also a literal ton of disinformation that is of course, very easy to get ahold of. I would like everyone to know that most of the 100 references I've posted for the Lugiones Preview are avaible online.
Well personally I eat my hat for having said such things in the past as "There won't be a Baltic faction". *cough* Belgae *cough*, excuse me.
Lovely work!
A good overview of the 'Marcomannic Wars' can be found below.
Grane, T.
The Roman Empire and Southern Scandinavia: a Northern Connection. Ph.D.-dissertation at the SAXO-Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2007.
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus
01-06-2011, 01:45
Right,
much of the information is in what might be called Grey Literature. Its just pulling it all together, being able to read the different languages, and understanding what it all means technically. It's not so much that the general public doesn't have access to this information, rather they don't know what to look for, or if they do, where to find it. There is also a literal ton of disinformation that is of course, very easy to get ahold of. I would like everyone to know that most of the 100 references I've posted for the Lugiones Preview are avaible online.
And I would like to thank you, and the EB team, for taking the time to put that information together; the depth of the historical research is stunning, and is as much a part of the experience as any other gameplay aspect.
From what I can gather , from the previews so far, the 'flavour' of each campaign will be differentiated somewhat more than was the case with EB (a reflection on the capabilities of the R:TW framework, rather than the EB team I hasten to add). Am I right in thinking, for example, that holding together a confederation such as the Lugiones will be no easy task. When playing such as an Aedui or Arverni campaign, it always ends up bothering me that the only real way of doing so was to emulate the Romans - sure one can roleplay, but its not the same thing being challenged by a game as deliberately sabotaging your own campaign...
Well personally I eat my hat for having said such things in the past as "There won't be a Baltic faction". *cough* Belgae *cough*, excuse me.
Lovely work!
Yeah....*cough* Belgae *cough* was sort of what I was getting at when I asked about the language map....and that great swathe of early Brythonnic.... but the answer seemed to hint at some possibly important changes to the Seboz faction as well. I'll keep looking forward to the previews..., which I think are as much a part of the game now as the game itself will be.
Out of curiosity, what evidence is there for Brythonic languages being spoken in Denmark?
Out of curiosity, what evidence is there for Brythonic languages being spoken in Denmark?
Normally, I would not address this issue yet. This is because it may or may not directly apply to one or more potential factions. However, as the answer relates to several factions that have already been previewed, I feel we might explore this subject to a limited extent. To address this subject we must ask several neutral questions and look at the nature of the evidence.
1) First off is there a tradition that Brythonic was used in Denmark in the pRIA? Of course lacking a written tradition that extends into the 2nd or 1st millennium BC this type of evidence would be found only in place names. There is the claim that P-Celt place names are totally absent throughout Denmark, yet on the most causal of inspections this claim appears spurious. For example we have the pre-Iutonish name for Danmark, the ‘Cimbres Peninsula.’ Next, there are the tribal names Teutones and Ambrones. The counter agrument here is that unless the Romans and Greek support a Germanic or an early Deutsch affiliation they were ignorant, biased, or just plain stupid. Then a number of contorted contrivances are typically produced to explain what the Classical author should have, would have, could have wrote, if only they were as far removed from the subject in question as are modern linguists. Although often overlooked the only problem with this counter agrement is that each of these tribal names appear in both Gaulish-Celt or Noric-Celt as deity and personal name elements. For example:
Tribal names - Celtic deities
a) Cimbres - Cimbri-anus
b) Teutones - Teut-ates
c) Ambrones - Ambi-sagrus
d) Atuatuci - NA
Tribal names - Peronal names
a) Cimbres - Camba-ules
b) Teutones - Teut/Tout-issicnos, Teut/Tout-issgnos, Teuto-matos, Teuto-malios, Teuto-bodunos, Teut/Tout-ios,
c) Ambrones - Ambio-rix, Ambi-catos
d) Atuatuci - Atectori
Tribal names - Tribal names
a) Cimbres - Gambrives - Sicambres
These are Gaulish and not Brythonic forms, yet I believe the examples above demonstrate a type of P-Celt and clearly not an early form of common Germanic. By the way while it is evident that at least three types of P-Celtic had historically manifested by 1200 BC, there is also a question how much the early form of Common Germanic had differentiated by 300 BC. Here the differentiation of early Common Germanic would be from a northern variant of P-Celt and a pre-Satem form of western Baltic.
One might find a cogent with the Cimbri in the Old Prussia
Prus/Brus meaning 'countrymen, brother.'
Kaimeni, Kaims, kaimas, kaimenë meaning 'herd' or 'flock.'
Kaimîns meaning 'neighbour woman.'
Kaimînsku meaning 'neighbour.'
kaimîns meaning 'neighbour man.'
kaims meaning 'village.'
Thus in Celtic its Cimbres and western Baltic Kaimbrus.
One might find a cogent with the Teutes in the Old Prussia
Tout meanig the 'tribe' or 'nation.'
Ains meaning 'of.'
Thus in Celtic its Tout/Teutes or Toutones and western Baltic Toutos or Toutains.
Returning to place names we have Himmerland which is of course a Germanification of Cimbron or 'land of the Cimbres.' Apparently the tribal god of the Cimbres was called Cimbrianus. We also have Thythæ which is 'Toutaeon/Teutaeon' or 'land of the Teutes.' Their national god was Teutates. Finally there is Imbræ which may be Ambron 'land of the Ambres.'
1) Lyngsmose - Bog/shallow lake of Lugos - a Cimbric fortified settlement.
2) Borremose - Bog/shallow lake of Boiro (cattle) - a Cimbric fortified settlement.
3) Gundestrup - settlement of the Gutus (priestly voice) - settlement near an important Cimbric ritual site.
4) Gislum - Geslon (1/1000 typical Gaulish fiefdom or holding) - traditional district in Himmerland.
5) Rinum - Rinon (Celt land sold) - traditional district in Himmerland.
6) Hornum - Cornnon (Celtic Carn- horn, possibly assoicated with the Cernonnos) - traditional district in Himmerland.
7) Hellyum - Halleon (Celtic Hall/Hell- salt, possibly Saltland) - traditional district in Himmerland.
8) Hornøg - Cornog (Celtic Carn- horn, og/oug cold or nude; bear-horn) - traditional district in Himmerland.
9) Lyungæ Nørræ - North Lugon (Celtic Lugus, Lugon - land of Lugus. Also Old Prussian Lauks. Both assoicated with deities and legal land ownership) - traditional district in Omungær.
10) Lyungæ Syndæ - South Lugon (Celtic Lugus, Lugon - land of Lugus. Also Old Prussian Lauks. Both assoicated with deities, legal land ownership, and field systems) - traditional district in Omungær.
11) Hallæ - Hallon (Celtic Hall/Hell- salt, possibly Saltland) - traditional district in Omungær.
12) Hallæ - Hallon (Celtic Hall/Hell- salt, possibly Saltland) - traditional district in Abosysæl.
13) Flæskium - Pleskeon (Old Prussian Pleske- breast-piece/plate, harness) - traditional district in Himmerland.
14) Horns - Cornnon (Celtic Carn- horn, possibly assoicated with the Cernonnos) - traditional district in Vændle. This district includes Skagen, thus I think Horns refers to Pliny's 'Cronium' or 'cape of the Cimbres.' [see K-gruppe]
15) Vændle Vindlon (Celtic meaning 'white land') Wandrains (Old Prussian Wandrai meaning One who Migrates.') - a traditional district. [see K-gruppe]
16) Vinæbiærg - Settlement of the Vindles (Celtic meaning 'white ones' or western Baltic 'wandrai.') - traditional district in Vændle. [see K-gruppe]
17) Burlun - Land of the Bures (Lugian tribe) - traditional district in Vændle. [see K-gruppe]
18) Kyærræ - Land of the kursis (Old Prussian term for a male member of the eastern Baltic Curon tribe) - traditional district in Vændle. [see K-gruppe]
19) Slætæ - Sladeton (Celtic 'land of the Slayer/Striker') - traditional district in Himmerland.
20) Vændlefolk - Vindle People (Celtic 'white') - traditional district in Harthe.
21) Ambrum - Ambron (Celtic land of the Ambres, from the tribal Ambrones) - traditional district in Utland.
There are without doubt more examples, however I and appearently no one else has actualy looked for them. I'm jut going to stop at 24.
There are several other things to address on this 1st question, but I just don't have time right now. While this doesn't prove anything, it does suggest that the Romans and Greeks (in texts) on the one hand and the Danes (in place names) on the other, were recording the same linguistic forms, and these were very similar to a type of P-Celtic or wetern Baltic. It also suggests that these place names were embeded in Celtic ritual and linguistic tradition. This agrument bypasses all of the counters such as the Romans and Greeks were using Celtic middlemen, or they were too ignorant, biased, or just plain stupid to undertand correctly.
OK returning, we have the place name Morimarusa used for the Baltic Sea. Morimarusa appears to be a form of P-Celt meaning 'Dead' or 'Slugish Sea.' Next we have the place name used for the far nothern tip of Juteland or Skagen. Pliny tells us it was known as Cronium. There is the Celtic word crund meaning round or curved, and we have the Old Prussian krantas meaning coast or bank (waterside).
Then there is the Ingaevones thing.
ziegenpeter
01-07-2011, 09:54
I hadnt got the time to read the whole preview yet, so if the answer to my question is in it, please don't slaughter me.
What language did these fellas speak? I only know that due to some childish nationalistic issues there was a debate (especially prior to the 2nd WW) whether they "were" celtic, germanic or proto-slavic.
I hadnt got the time to read the whole preview yet, so if the answer to my question is in it, please don't slaughter me.
What language did these fellas speak? I only know that due to some childish nationalistic issues there was a debate (especially prior to the 2nd WW) whether they "were" celtic, germanic or proto-slavic.
A pre-Satem form of early western Baltic.
A pre-Satem form of early western Baltic.
Very impressive work cmacq. You are bringing a lot of academic rigour and completeness to the mod which makes it only shine harder.
Out of curiosity, what evidence is there for Brythonic languages being spoken in Denmark?
2) Is there any evidence that Brythonic was used in Denmark for personal names in the pRIA? The answer is that there are only three known personal names known from this period. These belonged to the kings of the Cimbri or Teutones and are:
a) Boiorix
b) Gaesorix
c) Lugius
All three of these were clearly Celtic and not Germanic names. The counter is that the Romans and Greeks were using Celtic middlemen, or they were too ignorant, biased, or just plain stupid to understand correctly. Again there is the opinion that the only time evidence provided by Classical authors is acceptable is when it supports a Germanic affiliation.
Out of curiosity, what evidence is there for Brythonic languages being spoken in Denmark?
3) Is there any evidence how people from the Cimbres tribe pronounced their tribal name? Actually, yes there is. This consists of several burial monument found in the Main river area of modern Germany, built for Cimbri warriors who had served as officers in the Roman army. Here they are:
1)
MERCVRIO
CIMBRIO [†]
†]AN[†
I[†]C[†]ITV[†
Mercurio
Cimbrio [†]
[†]
2)
IN H D D
MERCVR CIMBRIANO
MANSVETINIVS SE[†
COH I SEQ RAURIC
SIGIL MERCUR POSUIT
APRONIAN ET BRADUA COS
In Honorem Domus Divinæ
Mercurio Cimbriano
Mansuetinius Se[†
Centurio Cohortis I Sequanorum et Rauricorum
Sigillum Mercuri Posuit (?)
Aproniano et Bradua Consulibus
3)
IN H D D
MERCVRIO
CIMBRIANO
FELIX
LEG PRÆPOSI
TUS N EXPL SEI
OPENS POS
DVOBVS ASPRIS
COS
In Honorem Domus Divinæ
Mercurio
Cimbriano
Felix (?)
Centurio Legionis Præposi-
tus Numeri Esploratorum Sei
Opensium Posuit
Duobus Aspris (?)
Consulibus
4)
In Honorem Domus Divinæ
Deo Mercurio
Cimbriano
Aedem
Cum Signo Tettius Perpetuius
Carus Votum Soluit Liben
Laetum Merito
It seems as if Cimbres warriors had no problems with the way the Romans wrote or pronounced their tribal name. There is much more, for example the local and regional culture, but this is as far as I'm going right now. For me, collectively the evidence is overwhelming. But apparently, not everyone agrees with me.
ziegenpeter
01-09-2011, 22:37
A pre-Satem form of early western Baltic.
Ok, what is a pre-Satem language? A language that would later evolve in a Satem language? Or did you mean a Satem language that (or whos "neighbours") would later evolve into the Baltic languages?
Thank you.
PS: I have to admit that I consulted Wikipedia on this subject and, there Baltic languages arent event mentioned...
Hoooooray for the eb team!
Some of this is useful, and some is just plain wrong.
http://www.vaidilute.com/books/gimbutas/gimbutas-03.html
http://www.vaidilute.com/books/gimbutas/gimbutas-04.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centum-Satem_isogloss
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Prussian_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samogitian_dialect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curonian_language
3) Is there any evidence how people from the Cimbres tribe pronounced their tribal name? Actually, yes there is. This consists of several burial monument found in the Main river area of modern Germany, built for Cimbri warriors who had served as officers in the Roman army. Here they are:
1)
MERCVRIO
CIMBRIO [†]
†]AN[†
I[†]C[†]ITV[†
Mercurio
Cimbrio [†]
[†]
2)
IN H D D
MERCVR CIMBRIANO
MANSVETINIVS SE[†
COH I SEQ RAURIC
SIGIL MERCUR POSUIT
APRONIAN ET BRADUA COS
In Honorem Domus Divinæ
Mercurio Cimbriano
Mansuetinius Se[†
Centurio Cohortis I Sequanorum et Rauricorum
Sigillum Mercuri Posuit (?)
Aproniano et Bradua Consulibus
3)
IN H D D
MERCVRIO
CIMBRIANO
FELIX
LEG PRÆPOSI
TUS N EXPL SEI
OPENS POS
DVOBVS ASPRIS
COS
In Honorem Domus Divinæ
Mercurio
Cimbriano
Felix (?)
Centurio Legionis Præposi-
tus Numeri Esploratorum Sei
Opensium Posuit
Duobus Aspris (?)
Consulibus
4)
In Honorem Domus Divinæ
Deo Mercurio
Cimbriano
Aedem
Cum Signo Tettius Perpetuius
Carus Votum Soluit Liben
Laetum Merito
It seems as if Cimbres warriors had no problems with the way the Romans wrote or pronounced their tribal name. There is much more, for example the local and regional culture, but this is as far as I'm going right now. For me, collectively the evidence is overwhelming. But apparently, not everyone agrees with me.
Sorry to play devil's advocate here, by the way the linguistic evidence is quite convincing from what you have said, but does the material culture of Denmark during this time period support the notion of a Brythonic population? ie are artefacts of this period decorated in a La Tene style?
Veyr interesting thoughts cmacq, thanks.
Sorry to play devil's advocate here, by the way the linguistic evidence is quite convincing from what you have said, but does the material culture of Denmark during this time period support the notion of a Brythonic population? ie are artefacts of this period decorated in a La Tene style?
Yes, but because Latene was the only show in town, this by itself means little. As far as the material culture mainland Denmark in the pRIA, is part of a well-documented complex that includes the Netherlands and northwest Germany. This region was indeed integrated into the lateen interaction sphere however due to the nature of the overall settlement system the oppidia were absent. Well, there may have been one oppidum. The thing is I don’t know much about the nature of the Belgae culture in Latene C and D, so I don’t know if it was also part of the same complex.
reposting for context
https://img192.imageshack.us/img192/9239/eb2a244rt111.png
In 'Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1,' edited by John T. Koch 2007, there is a good discussion of pre-Germanic North Sea Celtic as being a form of Brythonic.
Mediolanicus
01-15-2011, 00:47
And some more comments about the language map: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=8783816#post8783816
Populus Romanus
01-15-2011, 01:17
Wow, this is a really impressive preview! That is a lot of information you have dug up about this faction, which one would think would be hard to find.
And some more comments about the language map: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=8783816#post8783816
Thanks for posting this. I would like to let everyone know that constructive criticism is welcomed and in fact is indeed encouraged. The reason is we have attempted to make the EB2 reconstructions current, inclusive, and somewhat cutting edge. If one thinks there are issues that have been overlooked or are incorrectly presented herein, please let us know. If a change or addition is warranted, after a process of consideration and evaluation, it may or may not be implemented.
Svensk Viking on TWCF
At 300 BC the early Saami speaking peoples were living in far northern Scandinavia and parts of Finland.
There have never been Saami speakers in modern day geatland.
The Saami in Oppland settled there much later,
Here I've used Sami only in a general sense. This is largely due to the scale and scope of the game, as well as the overall significance of the ethnos in question.
about the Sami in southern Norway see
Pallantides on TWCF
There also lived Saami people in areas like Oppland, Hedmark and Buskerud in south Norway.
Saami in Valdres 1000 years ago:
http://www.oppland.no/Fag-og-tjenester/Kulturarv/Aktuelt-kulturvern/Samer-i-Valdres-for-1000-ar-siden---gammetufter-funnet/
In Hol, Buskerud:
http://hegegjerde.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/arkeologisk-unders%C3%B8kelse-av-mulige-samiske-tufter/
From Heimskringla:
25. One winter king Harald went to stay in Uppland and arranged a Yule-celebration for himself on the farm Tofte. On Christmas Eve, as the king sat at table, Svaasi came to the doorway. He sent a word to the king to come out to see him, but the king became annoyed over the message, and the same messenger brought the king’s anger back to Svaasi. But Svaasi asked undisturbed that they should bring the message once again, and said that he was the finn (sami), who the king had allowed to raise a lodge on the other side of the hill.
The king went outside and promised to visit him, and went over the hill to his lodge. Some of his men told him to go, while others advised him not to go.
At his arrival, Svaasi’s beautiful daughter, Snöfrid, stood up, and filled a bowl to the rim with mead, but the king grabbed it all: the bowl as well as her hands, and straight away he felt a heat burning like fire in his body, and straight away he wanted to sleep with her that very same night.
But Svaasi said that he would not give his blessing unless they became legally engaged. Then the king engaged Snöfrid and received her and loved her so madly that he did not care about his kingdom, nor how a king is supposed to behave.
They had four sons: Sigurd Rise, Halvdan Hálegg, Gudröd Ljome and Rognvald Rettilbeine.
Then Snöfrid died, but she did not change hue at all. She looked just as healthy as when she was alive. The king constantly watched over her, hoping that she would wake up eventually.
In this way three winters went by. The king mourned Snöfrid’s death, while the entire country worried about the king’s mental health. But finally Torleiv Spake arrived to heal him, and he did so by first addressing the king:
”It is no wonder, my king, that you mourn such a beautiful and noble woman, and that you honour her on down and silk, like she asked you to. But your noble gesture, and her honour, is diminished by letting her lie on the same bedding for too long, and it would be a good idea to move her and change her beddings.”
But as soon as they moved her from the bed, a disgusting smell spread from her body. They hastened to build a fire to burn her – but in the meantime her entire body turned blue, and worms, reptiles, frogs and amphibians and all sorts of nasty serpents came out of her.
In this manner she sank into ashes, but Harald rose again from his insanity and came to his senses. And he rejoiced with his men and they with him, and the kingdom flourished again.
Source: Snorri Sturlason's Heimskringla.
Thanks Pallantides
about the Sami in southern Sweden please see the Finnaithae as the Finn-Haiþoz or Heath Finns of the 4th and 5th century AD as those who inhabited historic Finnveden. As a side note the Finnaithae were not the Finni-mitissimi (peaceful-Finns of southern Norway) or the Screrefennae who were the Scride-finnas or Snowshoe Finns/Lapps of northern Scandinavia to be found just above Uppland. One might also suggest a sizable non-Germanic/proto-Norse population within the greater Uppland region due to the duelality of the Suehans/Sweans and the Suetidi/Sweþeans. Contrary to popular opinion, while clearly the Sweans and Sweþeans became the Swedes, they did not start out as Swedes nor did they start out as the same ethnos. Rather, I suggest the Sweans were once a Sami people while the Sweþeans were Indo-Europeans that became early Germanics who later along with the Sweans merged to became one of several elements that became the early Norse, called the Swedes.
Nonetheless in the final analysis, one must conclude that before the arrival of the first Atlantic Round-house Neolithics from the west and later the first Indo-Europeans from the southeast, all of northern Scandinavia (both Norway and Sweden) was once occupied by the Sami peoples.
As far as the proto-Slavs, in truth I really don’t think they differentiated from the eastern Balts by 300 BC. So having them on the map at all, is just me trying to delay some bloody grief, which I know full well, is on-the-way. The archaeology doesn’t support an early Slavic expression in the southern Ukraine. In fact it seems early common Slavic developed around B1 or B2, along a narrow zone on the fringe between the eastern Baltic, early Karelian, and western Scytho-Sarmatian populations. In other words, while Balto-protoSlavic is a total fiction, the use of eastern Balto-protoSlavic is clearly not.
I know there are gaps, but hope this info. is helpful.
Normally, I would not address this issue yet. This is because it may or may not directly apply to one or more potential factions.
I find this quite interesting. Perhaps there will be more factions revealed in this area of the map. At the very least it suggests that the EB team has considered more factions. Whether anyone else will make it in may still be being debated perhaps?
This part of the world is going to end up like anatolia soon. I distinctly remember someone having a screenshot of asia minor with 7 factions present onscreen at once. Fun times ahead.
Also, finally had a chance to read right through the preview at my own pace some 3 weeks after it was released. Truly interesting. Especially the way you have managed to bring together some of your sources to make a faction out of very little solid information. I also like your follow-up comments cmaq in this thread. You have really made this corner of the world more interesting to me. My thanks.
Great Gods of the Underworld!
Excellent thorough work as usual, EB team. As an enthusiast layman of the ancient world, I find your packaging of historical and archaeological information to be beyond value. I do have a question, which I have been trying unsuccessfully to find out for myself. If one of you all could enlighten me, I would appreciate it greatly.
What are the sources for ancient German religion? It seems like you all have been able to go way beyond Tacitus in getting into their religious framework.
This preview was a bit rushed so I think some of of you miss some more eye candy to spice it up a little more so I made some quick renders of screenshots. Can a moderator update the main post with these.
The Early Toutāginoi:
http://files.turbosquid.com/Preview/Content_2009_10_10__20_02_14/p1.jpg198403b6-0b41-486b-b2c7-0c80e4d16745Larger.jpg
http://files.turbosquid.com/Preview/Content_2010_12_05__04_37_27/p4.jpg1fcfcfe5-7c84-412b-8166-1b3a0c761aceLarger.jpg
http://files.turbosquid.com/Preview/Content_2010_12_05__04_29_30/p3.jpg6af1fa89-1809-481f-9935-f9566e5a32fbLarger.jpg
Screenshots:
https://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6945/kingdoms201101272155200.th.jpg (https://img513.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272155200.jpg/)https://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3485/kingdoms201101272155430.th.jpg (https://img204.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272155430.jpg/)https://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9352/kingdoms201101272155598.th.jpg (https://img820.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272155598.jpg/)https://img716.imageshack.us/img716/7330/kingdoms201101272156540.th.jpg (https://img716.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272156540.jpg/)https://img338.imageshack.us/img338/8499/kingdoms201101272157003.th.jpg (https://img338.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272157003.jpg/)
The Late Toutāginoi:
https://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6913/93074339.jpg (https://img560.imageshack.us/i/93074339.jpg/)
https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/1871/84052397.jpg (https://img413.imageshack.us/i/84052397.jpg/)
https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2248/91672991.jpg (https://img256.imageshack.us/i/91672991.jpg/)
Screenshots:
https://j.imagehost.org/t/0641/tL1.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0641/tL1) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0880/tL2.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0880/tL2) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0175/tL3.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0175/tL3) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0577/tL4.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0577/tL4) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0473/tL5.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0473/tL5)
The bearers and officers:
https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6161/34999656.jpg (https://img413.imageshack.us/i/34999656.jpg/)
https://img814.imageshack.us/img814/5324/19745537.jpg (https://img814.imageshack.us/i/19745537.jpg/)
https://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8237/69127012.jpg (https://img263.imageshack.us/i/69127012.jpg/)
Screenshots:
https://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6945/kingdoms201101272155200.th.jpg (https://img513.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272155200.jpg/)https://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3485/kingdoms201101272155430.th.jpg (https://img204.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272155430.jpg/)https://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9352/kingdoms201101272155598.th.jpg (https://img820.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272155598.jpg/)https://img716.imageshack.us/img716/7330/kingdoms201101272156540.th.jpg (https://img716.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272156540.jpg/)https://img338.imageshack.us/img338/8499/kingdoms201101272157003.th.jpg (https://img338.imageshack.us/i/kingdoms201101272157003.jpg/)
The Late Toutāginoi:
https://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6913/93074339.jpg (https://img560.imageshack.us/i/93074339.jpg/)
https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/1871/84052397.jpg (https://img413.imageshack.us/i/84052397.jpg/)
https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2248/91672991.jpg (https://img256.imageshack.us/i/91672991.jpg/)
Screenshots:
https://j.imagehost.org/t/0641/tL1.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0641/tL1) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0880/tL2.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0880/tL2) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0175/tL3.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0175/tL3) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0577/tL4.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0577/tL4) https://j.imagehost.org/t/0473/tL5.jpg (https://j.imagehost.org/view/0473/tL5)
The bearers and officers:
https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6161/34999656.jpg (https://img413.imageshack.us/i/34999656.jpg/)
https://img814.imageshack.us/img814/5324/19745537.jpg (https://img814.imageshack.us/i/19745537.jpg/)
https://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8237/69127012.jpg (https://img263.imageshack.us/i/69127012.jpg/)
BerkeleyBoi
01-28-2011, 00:06
Wow, thanks for the awesome screen shots!
Horatius Flaccus
01-28-2011, 02:29
Wow, great Tux!
stratigos vasilios
01-28-2011, 04:28
As per usual, great work EB team.
Alin, judging by your dp at the twcenter is that you in the middle :laugh4:
https://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6913/93074339.jpg
Also I'm not sure if it's my poor internet, but is anyone else seeing the the late Toutāginoi image appear twice as well as the bearers?
Haha no, I just liked the fierce look the head ended up with. I won't appear in any Eb2 unit.
Weird, the pics are of the same resolution and same quality setting.
Faces of the Lugiones Confederation
https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8909/face3u.pnghttps://img651.imageshack.us/img651/381/face2i.pnghttps://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1678/face1e.png
stratigos vasilios
01-28-2011, 12:40
Now which one is cmacq... I kid I kid! I'll stop doing that I promise.
In all seriousness they look very good, very highly detailed and lifelike. Great job :thumbsup:
Conqueror
01-28-2011, 15:24
https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8909/face3u.pnghttps://img651.imageshack.us/img651/381/face2i.pnghttps://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1678/face1e.png
These guys got some badass beards (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadassBeard) on em :disguise:
antisocialmunky
01-28-2011, 15:27
Really Cool faces except the guy on the right has mismatched eyebrows. :)
fightermedic
01-28-2011, 16:07
VERY scary
my poor greeks will shiver by the sights of those monsters
What's funny, that I found some similarities with unit names and Russian language. For example "moldoy" which is youth warrior of lugones sounds like "molodoy" in Russian, which is practically the same thing. Amazing.
Well it seems that Slavic eventually developed along the eastern seam of woodland and steppe between the eastern Balts and the western Skytho-Sarmats. I do understand that there are those who want this to have occurred elsewhere, however the preponderance of the evidence will not support this theory. I’m glade there are those who can appreciate the level of research and attention to detail that is going into all of EB2. It has often by no means, been an easy task.
Populus Romanus
02-03-2011, 01:07
And we are thankful for it!:)
Montymoor
02-03-2011, 13:42
Oh my god, It's amazing how similar the language is to modern day latvian. :O
antisocialmunky
02-04-2011, 01:12
Well it seems that Slavic eventually developed along the eastern seam of woodland and steppe between the eastern Balts and the western Skytho-Sarmats. I do understand that there are those who want this to have occurred elsewhere, however the preponderance of the evidence will not support this theory. I’m glade there are those who can appreciate the level of research and attention to detail that is going into all of EB2. It has often by no means, been an easy task.
How would one go about citing a mod for a video game in a scholarly fashion?
Populus Romanus
02-04-2011, 01:42
Oh my god, It's amazing how similar the language is to modern day latvian. :O
Hello Montymoor! Welcome to the .Org! ~:wave:
Ha ha! I think you could site the sources that the Europa Barbarorum II team cited in Europa Barbarorum II-but you'll probably have to wait a few years.
How would one go about citing a mod for a video game in a scholarly fashion?
Does this have to do with the development of early Slavic?
antisocialmunky
02-04-2011, 03:00
No it is kinda OT, but I'm just curious how one would go about citing something from EB? By all means, ignore me and go on with your early slavic conversation.
Ok, it seems I misstook your use of the Russian 'D.'
Yet this may help to get you going in the right direction
Hinge, George
in The Cauldron of Ariantas, ed. by Bilde, P.G., J.M. Højte & V.F. Stolba, Aarhus 2003, pp 55-74.
Scythian and Spartan Analogies in Herodotos’ Representation Rites of Initiation and Kinship Groups
Introduction
This article will focus on certain parallels between the descriptions of Scythians and Spartans in Herodotos. Even though there are fundamental differences between the two ethnic groups’ ways of life (nomadism vs. sedentarianism), and they occupy divergent positions in relation to the writers themselves (Barbarian vs. Hellenic), they are both representatives of the other. They are situated more or less in the same position in the scheme of classical ethnography, and certain attitudes considered typical of unspoiled man are attributed indiscriminately to both. Furthermore, Dorian culture allegedly kept certain “primitive” (i.e., “tribal”) features in its social organisation that may be related to similar elements in Scythian culture.
To some extent, the Spartans and the Scythians occupy parallel positions in the narrative of Herodotos, too. Both are attacked by the Persian army and both walk victorious off the battlefield. When Dareios demands “earth and water” from the Scythians, they send him enigmatic gifts, a bird, a mouse and a frog as some sort of riddle (Hdt. 4.131-2). Faced with the same claim, the Spartans throw the envoys into a well, and tell them to take their “earth and water” from there (Hdt. 7.133). In fact, the Scythians offer an alliance to the Spartans against Dareios; unfortunately, King Kleomenes spends too much time with the Scythians, so he becomes accustomed to drinking unmixed wine and eventually loses his mind! (Hdt. 6.84)
Referring to the only wonder to see in Scythia, the colossal cauldron at Exampaios (the exact location of which is disputed) erected by the otherwise unknown king Ariantas, Herodotos immediately compares it to another cauldron erected by the Spartan Pausanias at the very mouth of the Black Sea (Hdt. 4.81). In addition to the geographical symmetry, the two cauldrons being at opposite ends of the same sea, it also demonstrates the excesses of the king – Ariantes’ excess being six times larger than that of Pausanias (who, it is true, was not truly a king). Yet another example of autocratic manners is the royal burials, which Herodotos depicts similarly in both cultures (Hdt. 4.71-75 and 6.58-60).
However, the two cultures are normally not directly compared. Thus, in the case of the Spartan burials, Herodotos’ explicit point of comparison is not the Scythians but rather the Asiatic barbarians such as the Egyptians and Persians (νόμος δὲ τοῖσι Λακεδαιμονίοισι κατὰ τῶν βασιλέων τοὺς θανάτους ἐστὶ ὡυτὸς καὶ τοῖσι βαρβάροισι τοῖσι ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ). On two occasions, Herodotos has the two cultures meet each other: Anacharsis says that the Lakedaimonians are the only Greeks who speak reasonably – an obvious pun on the Lakonian brachylogy; yet Herodotos himself doubts the authenticity of this apophthegm (Hdt. 4.77). The other occasion is, as we have seen, when the Scythian envoys cause the madness of King Kleomenes by teaching him their uninhibited drinking habits (Hdt. 6.84). One might consider this story, ascribed by Herodotos to the Scythians themselves, a parallel to the story about the Scythian King Skyles, who, in the eyes of the Scythians, goes mad consorting with the Olbians in Dionysiac rituals. Wine leads to the insanity and dethronement of the ruler in both cases. On the other hand, these analogies are, after all, superficial and should not be pushed too far.
The Scythian Myth of Origin
More exciting is the fact that Spartan institutions and traditions may also elucidate Herodotos’ Scythian version of the myth of origin (Hdt. 4.5-7). We hear about three brothers – Lipoxais, Arpoxais und Kolaxais – the sons of Targitaos, himself the son of Zeus and the river Borysthenes. One day, some golden objects fell from the sky: “a plough and a yoke, a battle-axe and a cup” (ἄροτρόν τε καὶ ζυγόν καὶ σάγαριν καὶ φιάλην). The older brothers could not touch the objects, but the youngest brother succeeded in grabbing the golden gifts and as a result was announced king of the Scythians. The oldest brother, Lipoxais, became the forefather of the Auchatai, the middle brother, Arpoxais, the forefather of the Katiaroi and the Traspies, and the youngest brother, Kolaxais, the forefather of the kings, which were called Paralatai. However, the territory was too large and was therefore divided into three parts, which Kolaxais distributed to his three sons.
Georges Dumézil, who had a keen interest in Scythian and Ossetic cultures, tried of course to analyse this myth according to his celebrated model of the three functions. Even if one does not accept this model as a comprehensive key to all Indo-European ideology in the mother culture(s) and in the single cultures, it is hard not to accept its presence in our case. Hence, he relates the golden cup to the first function of the priest, the golden battle-axe to the second function of the warrior, and, finally, the golden plough and the golden yoke, which are really one thing, to the third function of the provider (similar gifts are presented by the Central Asiatic Scythians in Quintus Curtius 7.8.18-19 jugum boum et aratrum, sagitta, hasta, patera).
The names Auchatai, Katiaroi, Traspies and Paralatai do not appear again in Herodotos, and they are almost never mentioned in later ethnographical literature. There is thus good reason to doubt that they were living ethnonyms in the age of Herodotos. Nevertheless, Holzer identifies them with the Skythai geōrgoi (“Farmer Scythians”), the Skythai nomads (“Nomad Scythians”), and the Skythai basilēioi (“King Scythians”) mentioned in the geographical excursus (Hdt. 4.17-20). They correspond perfectly to Dumézil’s tripartite scheme. However, as Dumézil has pointed out, the genē of the myths cannot be geographically distinct groups since all tribes had of course providers and warriors among them, and the regional division is moreover covered by the second triad represented by the sons of Kolaxais, which would otherwise be superfluous. At the time of the Persian invasion, Herodotos speaks about three Scythian realms under the kings Skopasis, Idanthyrsos and Taxakis (Hdt. 4.120). Apparently, one of the kings, probably the one who seized the largest realm, was considered the Great King of the Scythians. Nothing supports that these three kingdoms are identical with the three economically different kinds of Scythians.
Grantovskij has suggested, also on the basis of Dumézil’s system, that the Katiaroi/Traspies, the Auchatai and the Paralatai were social classes with qualities corresponding to the three functions – i.e., commoners, priests and warriors respectively. This is confirmed, he says, by Lucian, Scythes 1, where it is said of Anacharsis that he does not belong to the royal family (τοῦ βασιλείου γένου) or the ones who wear felt caps (τῶν πιλοφορικῶν), but to the common people called eight-footed (οἱ ὀκτάποδες) because they possessed only one carriage and two oxen. It may however be disputed whether the felt cap is a sign of the priest, as it seems to be a common garment of the Scythian warriors. Dumézil argues that the Auchatai, the Katiaroi, the Traspies and the Paralatai cannot be social classes, either, since the Scythians did not have a specialised priest caste like the Indian Brahmans. The transsexual diviners called Enarees (Hdt. 1.105.4, 4.67.2) or Anarieis (Hipp., Aer. 22.1) are not a separate class, but isolated gifted individuals. Instead, Herodotos’ genē are human types existing everywhere, an ideal model that has nothing to do with real Scythian society. There was certainly a social diversity in Scythian society, which could be and probably was conceived in the framework of the tripartite structure. The question is, however, if proper castes existed.
The scholarly literature has suggested quite different etymologies for the names of the three brothers – Arpoxais, Lipoxais and Kolaxais – and the corresponding four groups: Auchatai, Katiaroi, Traspies, Paralatai. The first names are obviously compounds with the Iranian noun kšaya (“ruler”), but the first parts of the words are less evident. The roles ascribed by different scholars to these three ancestors and their descendants differ according to the etymology chosen. Of course, from a methodological point of view it is rather problematic to suggest etymologies for words that do not have an established denotation, and even more problematic if these etymologies are exploited as an argument for defining the denotation of the word in question. If one accepts the tripartite structure as a valid model in our case, the range of denotations is of course limited to three – i.e., provider ~ warrior ~ priest. The key person is Kolaxais, as he becomes the ruler of the others and eventually the ancestor of three Scythian royal dynasties, so it is necessary to find an etymology in accordance with this particular role.
Dumézil argues that the Scythian kings belonged to the first function, that of religion (not to the second one, as Grantovskij assumes). Thus, Aristotle ascribes the effeminacy disease of the Enarees to the Scythian kings (Arist., Eth.Nic. 7.8, 1150b). The name of the group to which the royal families belonged, Paralatai, seems to be related to Iranian Paraδāta, which in the Avesta is a constant epithet of Haošiiaŋha, the mythic founder of the Iranian kingdom and the destroyer of demons and sorcerers, and hence, in Dumézil’s analysis, representative of the first function. Auchatai is (in spite of the unusual g ~ ch alternation) connected with Avestic aogah- “force” (i.e., “the strong ones”), and identified with the second function of the warrior. Accordingly, the Katiaroi and the Traspies, both descendants of Lipoxais, must represent the third function; Dumézil derives Katiaroi from *Gau-čahrya (“with cow-meadows”) or *Hu-čahrya (“with good meadows”) (Avest. čaŋra ), and Traspies is presumably connected with the Avestic horse god Drvāspā.
Askold I. Ivantchik maintains in a recent article that Kolaxais and the Paralatai represent the second function of the warrior, whereas Arpoxais and the Auchatai represent the priests, and Lipoxais and the Katiaroi and Traspies the providers. This partition of the roles is supported by a more adequate linguistic and mythological analysis of the names transmitted in Herodotos: Ivantchik rejects the idea that Haošiiaŋha Paraδāta should be a representative of the priest caste; in Avestic mythology he is described as the prototypical warrior. Auchatai belongs to vahu- (“good”), a word regularly connected with the function of the priest in the Iranian tradition. As for Katiaroi and Traspies, Ivantchik accepts the etymologies of Dumézil. Furthermore, the ancestors of the groups have names corresponding with their assumed functions: Kola- = *hwarya- (“sun”) (Scythian *xola- with the regular development ry > l), Arpo- = *āpra > *ārpa (“water”) (Ossetic arf) and Lipo- = *ripa (“mountain”) (Greek Rhipai, Vedic [Rgveda 3.5.5] Ripa). The first equation is very convincing, as in the Avestic tradition, the ancestor of the warriors is called Hvar.čiθra- / Xuršēδčihr, a compound with the very same *hwarya- (“sun”), as in Kolaxais. Thus the three groups are connected to three different cosmic levels, just like the three families in the Ossetic Nart Epic: at the bottom, the Boratæ, who were rich with cattle; in the middle, the intelligent Alægatæ, and at the top, the brave and strong Æxsærtægkatæ.
Initiation
The gold items, which symbolise the three functions, are in the hands of the Scythian kings and are displayed at a festival once a year (Hdt. 4.7). It is furthermore stated that “whoever sleeps with the gold in the open during the festival, will not, according to the Scythians, live through the year, and he is given all the land he is able to ride around himself in one day”.
I suggest that the ritual described here is part of the initiation rites into the world of male adults – to be exact, the so-called rite of marginality or liminality, which is characterised by a perilous isolation outside of society itself and a suspension of ordinary societal values. The rite of liminality is frequently described in death metaphors – indeed, the initiand is often thought of as dead himself. The ritual of spending the night with the religious objects may be a solemn staging (or circumscription?) of the youth’s life in the bush.
This interpretation is not as farfetched as it may seem. It is no coincidence that in a passage describing Cretan institutions Ephoros introduces gifts almost identical to those playing a central role in the ritual described above, namely a warrior dress, an ox and a drinking cup, which are given to the young man by his lover during a festival celebrating the youth’s admission into adulthood (FGrHist 70 F 149 ap. Strabon, Geogr. 10.4.21 στολὴν πολεμικὴν καὶ βοῦν καὶ ποτήριον). As Bernhard Sergent points out, the three functions are present here, too: the war equipment represents the second function (= the battle-axe), the ox the third function (= the plough and yoke) and the cup the first function (= the phiale). These gifts are presented to the youth at the festival celebrating his inclusion into the ranks of the adult men. In several respects Sparta’s social structure, especially the education of children – the so-called agōgē – resembled that of Crete (the tradition reflects this idea in the myth about Lycurgos importing his Spartan laws from Crete). Even though we have no record of a similar ritual in the case of Sparta, Sergent suggests that the Hellenistic poet Lykophron provides testimony of the same gifts being given in Sparta, inasmuch as he states that on his return from Troy, Menelaos came through Iapyge, where he dedicated a shield, Helene’s shoe and a crater to Athena Skylatria (Alex. 852-855 Ταμάσσιον κρατῆρα καὶ βοάγριον καὶ τὰς δάμαρτος ἀσκέρας εὐμαρίδας). Iapyge lies in the vicinity of the Spartan colony of Taras, and Menelaos and Helene are themselves Spartan heroes. At any rate, the Dumézilian objects are in my opinion a symbol of the initiation into the clubs of adult men, and thus their presence in both Scythian myth and ritual is a key to the interpretation.
Later, in the Scythian logos (Hdt. 4.64-65), Herodotos writes that the young Scythian drinks the blood of the first man he slays. Every year there is a festival that only those men who have killed an enemy already are allowed to attend; we are told that it is very shameful for an adult not to have killed anyone yet (cf. also Arist. 7, 1324b). This account resembles the Spartan Krypteia, i.e., the liminal phase of the boys’ initiation, a year during which the youths had to live isolated from society itself in the chora, sleeping on the bare ground, stealing their food and killing innocent helots. The festival in question is different from the one described at the beginning of book 4. The first one is in the hands of the local chieftains (Hdt. 4.65 ὁ νομάρχης ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἑωυτοῦ νομῷ), whereas the latter is arranged by the kings (Hdt. 4.7 οἱ βασιλέες ἐς τὰ μάλιστα καὶ θυσίῃσι μεγάλῃσι ἱλασκόμενοι μετέρχονται ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος). I would suggest that the common festival marks the rite of marginality, whereas the local festival marks the rite of aggregation and is therefore only for those who have accomplished the liminal ordeal.
In Sparta, three festivals representing the rite of separation, the rite of liminality and the rite of aggregation, respectively, celebrate the boys’ rite of passage. The Hyakinthia mark the separation from community: the aetiological myth is the tragic death of Apollon’s young favourite, Hyakinthos. The Gymnopaidia mark civilisation turned upside down, with naked dances in the summer heat and sphairomachia, a combination of football and boxing. Finally, the inclusion into the polis is celebrated by the Karneia, which unlike the two first pan-Spartan festivals are celebrated separately in nine so-called tents, each with three phratriai (Ath. 4, 414e-f), most likely one from each phyle. Just as the Spartan initiation ruled admission into the community, or rather secret society, of male Spartiats, which was conceived, it seems, in terms of kinship (phyle) and expressed in common meals reserved (and obligatory) for adult male citizens, so the Scythian initiation was obviously connected with the membership of the genē described in the myth of origin and celebrated once a year at a local drinking festival.
The Doric Myth of Origin
Gregory Nagy has drawn the attention to the fact that the Dorian phylai fit perfectly into Dumézil’s scheme of the three functions. In the Dymanes he recognises the first function of the priest, in the Hylleis the second function of the warrior, and in the Pamphyloi the third function of the provider. The Dorian royal families are correspondingly derived from the eponymous hero Hyllos (cf. Hdt. 6.52, 7.204, 8.31). Furthermore, an inscription from Kos connects the Hylleis with Herakles’ sanctuary, the Dymanes with the Anaxilea (“the sovereign’s sanctuary”) and the Pamphyloi with Demeter’s sanctuary (ICos 140). It is interesting to note that the choral lyric of Alkman (Sparta, 7th century BC) mentions only the Dymanes of these three phylai. Hence, the Dymanes may have had a special connection to the Spartan cult, which supports the idea that the phyle did in fact embody the first function. Alkman’s famous Partheneion (fr. 1) seems to have been performed by Hylleis girls, one of whom is called Agido (literally, “from the (royal) House of Agis”), and the choir describes itself as cousins. However, this does not disturb the overall notion that the Dymanes played a special role in Spartan cult.
In this connection, it is interesting that the Dorian myth of origin also corresponds in many respects with the Scythian myth in Herodotos: Aigimios, the son of the eponymous forefather Doros, begot two sons, Dymas and Pamphylos, and adopted a third one, Hyllos; they are the ancestors of three phylai, just as the genē Auchatai, Katiaroi, Traspies and Paralatai originate from Targitaos’ sons, Arpoxais, Lipoxais and Kolaxais. Furthermore, both in the Dorian and the Scythian version, the royal power was allotted to the youngest / adopted son. Finally, Hyllos’ great-grandchild had three sons: they divided the kingdom among themselves and were the founders of the royal houses of Argos, Messene and Sparta. The genealogies of the Dorians and the Scythians match astonishingly well: in both we have two rows of three brothers, the first of which procreates a social division, whereas the second row leads to a regional division (Tab. 2 + 3).
The two discrepancies are easily accounted for: I. Hyllos is described as Herakles’ biological son to legitimise the Dorian kings’ claim to the Peloponnese (“the return of the Heraklids”). II. Two generations are inserted between Hyllos and the three kings to account for the traditional time span between the pre-Trojan era of Herakles and the Dorian immigration.
The Spartan phylai and the Scythian genē are envisaged within Dumézil’s tripartite structure. However, this does not mean that all Pamphyloi or Katiaroi / Traspies were necessarily producers, that all Hylleis or Paralatai were warriors, or that all Dymanes or Auchatai were priests. All social roles were in principle present in all phylai / genē. Yet, the three phylai / genē were after all co-dependent, and they represent jointly the whole ideological spectrum. This being said, certain privileges tended to be allotted to certain phylai / genē. It is neither a regional nor an economical division, but a kinship division cutting across all distinctions.
The Dumézilian model has been criticised for the fact that the triad is a universal division. Given that man tends to divide the world into three, the tripartite structure is not necessarily of Indo-European origin. This objection touches only the naive version of Dumézilianism. Only the triad that organises the same three functions of the priest, the warrior and the provider in a closed and mutually co-dependent system can be called a real tripartite structure. The figure three is of course not sufficient in itself. Thus, the simple geographical division into three kingdoms is not a Dumézilian triad, as it occurs in virtually all human mythologies. Noah begets three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, who divide the earth among themselves – after all, Genesis is not a likely repository for Indo-European ideology. Thus, the fact that both the Scythians and the Dorians have settled in three kingdoms, and that this triad is projected by mythology back to three brothers, does not prove that the mythologies are interdependent. On the other hand, it cannot be accidental that this obviously common human geographical triad has been subjected to a Dumézilan tripartite structure in both mythologies.
Eduard Norden points to the extensively corresponding myths of origin of the Scythians and Germans in Herodotos and Tacitus, respectively. In Tacitus, too, there is both a native version that speaks about an obscure progenitor and three brothers and a foreign version that departs from Herakles. In the Tacitean narrative, however, there is only one – geographical – triad of brothers: the ancestors of Ingaevones, Hermiones and Istaevones, the three tribal leagues. It is not my purpose here to decide whether Tacitus depends ultimately on Herodotos, perhaps through intermediary informants like Poseidonios. At any rate, Tacitus’ myths have no Dumézilian features in them.
In the Iranian Pehlevi tradition (in Ayātkār i Jāmāspīk), Frētōn (Ferīdūn) has three sons who represent the three functions: Salm gets wealth, Tōz courage and Ērič law and religion. They are allotted three parts of the world too: Salm possesses Rome (= the Byzantine Empire), Tōz Central Asia and Ērič Iran and India. The two levels, the functional and geographical divisions, are combined, and the geographical division is not within the tribe, but embraces the whole world. In this respect, it is more similar (on a larger scale) to the Pontic Greek version of the myth of origin, according to which Herakles begot three sons, Agathyrsos, Gelonos and Skythes, the forefathers of the Agathyrsoi, the Gelones and the Scythians, respectively (Hdt. 4.10).
The wide range of parallels between the Scythian and the Dorian myths of origin does show that the explanatory strategy of source criticism is inadequate, and that we are not only dealing with a literary convention of the ethnography of the barbarians, but also in part with a common Indo-European heritage in all the described nations and in part with a basic ideology to which the ethnography of the Greeks and Romans ultimately adheres. The question is where the heritage stops and the ideology begins, which is of course difficult to determine, as the ideology has arisen on the basis of the heritage.
Ideology
Are the Scythian genē therefore some sort of phylai as well? In the chapter in question, rather than using the word ethnos, Herodotos uses the word genos, i.e., a stock and not a people. However, according to the etymology of the word genos, it designates any group that claims a common origin (syngeneia), and according to context it may mean family, phyle or people. A social class, on the other hand, would hardly be called genos. The Scythian and Doric phylai may be a common inheritance, but the question is whether we are allowed to project the three functionally distinct phylai back to Indo-European times. However, Dénis Roussel argues in a rather influential book that the Doric phylai were not some old tribal relict surviving in the historical societies, but an innovation of the Classical polis.
Thus, the possibility exists that the intimate correspondence between the Spartan and the Scythian institutions is due to the Greeks describing those customs. Herodotos and his Greek informants (we do not know if Herodotos had any opportunity to interview native Scythians, but if he did, he certainly did it in Greek, and then the discourse remained Greek anyway) would necessarily express the Scythian culture within the framework of Greek ideology. So, they may have unconsciously interpolated both the embedded genealogy and the familiar phyle / genos system of the Greek polis into their description of Scythian society and mythology.
Within Greek culture itself, Sparta represented in the eyes of classical observers a more simple cultural level than Athens and Ionia (which were originally non-Greek according to Hdt. 1.56). Her cruel tribal customs and underdeveloped polis structure made her a natural scheme for the construction of the primitive other in Athenian and Ionic ideology. Furthermore, the Spartan agōgē seemed to have adopted a nomadic stereotypy. The back-to-basics phase of Spartan initiation, Krypteia, conforms to the sedentary agriculturalists’ stereotype of nomadic life. The Byzantine lexicographer Photios (s.v. συνέφηβος) states that the Eleans call the ephebes ‘Scythians’, and it is well known that the Athenian guards, who were probably young citizens, were dressed as and called Scythians. After the Krypteia, the best of the young Spartan men were chosen for the corps of the Three Hundred, the so-called Hippeis (Hdt. 1.67.5, 8.124.3), which were elected by three hippagretai (Xen., Lac. 4.3), probably according to phylai. Thus, like the Scythian elite, the best of the Spartan youth consisted of horse warriors.
This ideology worked both ways. As a people the Scythians were themselves pictured as ephebes, too. Just as the Spartan agōgē preserves certain “tribal” elements, which were conceived of as similar to the Scythian way of life, so Scythian society was in a sense depicted as a full-scale rite of liminality. The whole space of Scythia is described as marginal, and, accordingly, the inhabitants live a non-urbanised, non-settled, non-agricultural life in which ordinary values are turned upside down.
Herodotos’ tale about the origin of the Sauromatians (Hdt. 4.110-116) is interesting in this context: The Greeks took some Amazons prisoner at Thermodon and sailed away with them. But the Amazons killed their new masters and landed on Kremnoi at the Sea of Azov, where they ran into a herd of grazing horses, on which they rode away. At first the Scythians thought they were young men, but gradually they realised the Amazons were women, and so they sent a group of young men out to them on the steppes. They lived the same life nearby each other, became accustomed to each other and eventually paired off. The Scythians proposed going home to their parents and property, but the Amazons did not think they would be able to live with the Scythian women, who were doing women’s work at the carriages and did not hunt, so instead the men fetched their property, and they all left to live beyond the Tanais.
The Spartan women were notorious for their unrestricted life (which according to Aristotle (Pol. 2, 1269b-1270a), was the very cause of Sparta’s final decline). Normally Herodotos does not speak much about Greek women – who lived secluded from the public – but the Spartan women are often described as strong and independent individuals in line with the eastern women – e.g., Eurysthenes’ and Prokles’ mother Argeia (6.52), the Spartan wives of the Minyans (4.145-6), Anaxandrides’ wife (5.39-41), Kleomenes’ daughter Gorgo (5.51, 7.205, 7.239) and Demaretos’ mother (6.61-63, 6.67). It is typical that Herodotos only speaks about intellectually and erotically independent women in connection with royal (or tyrant) houses. In other words, it is an unspoken premise in Herodotos (and a spoken one in Aristotle) that autocratic societies are also gynecocratic.
In reality, it is true that the Spartan women did not enjoy political independence, and their place was at the hearth just like the Athenian or, for that matter, the Scythian women. However, the agōgē of the young girls was characterised by a liberty that was unparalleled in classical Athens. In the girls’ rites of passage there was of course a period of liminality, too, in which values were turned upside down, and the young girls dedicated themselves to athletics, public choirs and amorous liaisons. This phase is connected with the cult of Artemis, whose sanctuaries are not infrequently located on the border of Lakonia: in Limnai (at the frontier with Messenia), Karyai (at the frontier with Arkadia) and Epidauros Limera (on the east coast). Herodotos’ story about the young Scythian men’s encounter with the Amazons has a lot in common with the mythology, which supports the rite of passage of the young Spartan girls (young men raping dancing girls), and the goddess protecting this rite of passage, Artemis, is the prototype of all Amazons
According to Herodotos (Hdt. 4.8-10), the Pontic Greeks traced the Scythians back to Herakles, who, having come accidentally to the Black Sea region, met a sex-hungry monster, with whom he begot three sons: Agathyrsos, Gelonos and Skythes. The royal power was allotted to the youngest brother (once more), whereas the two older brothers had to leave the country. In Hartog’s mind, the derivation of the Scythians from Herakles is rather problematic, because it suggests a congeniality of Greeks and Scythians that is in conflict with the otherness demanded by the narrative. He takes refuge in the ambiguous nature of Herakles (he is wild and unrestrained) and considers it – paradoxically, I might add – hellenocentric to derive foreign races from a Greek ancestor. Yet, both the Pontic Greeks and Scythians accept this genealogy.
Interestingly, in Herodotos, three nations (or their royal houses) are traced back to the hero Herakles: the Scythians, the Lydians (Hdt. 1.7) and the Dorians (Hdt. 6.52, 7.204, 7.31). Being the ideal representative of the function of the warrior, Herakles is of course a natural founder of the royal houses of the warlike Scythians and Spartans. Yet Herakles also moves in the liminal sphere. The twelve labours are an enlargement of the ordeals that the initiand goes through and they are located on the desolate margin of civilisation. The Pontic Greek version of the myth of origin explicitly takes one of Herakles’ labours as its point of departure: the theft of the Geryonic oxen; Herakles follows a route on the edge of the world, along the river Okeanos, and he sleeps on the ground.
Herodotos states that the lineage of the Heraklids stemming from Herakles and a slave girl ruled Sardeis successively for twenty-two generations, or 550 years, until being overthrown by Kroisos’ ancestor Gyges. There exists a tradition that also derives the Mermnads, to which Kroisos belongs, from Herakles – what is more, from his liaison with Queen Omphale (Apollod., Bibl. 2.7.8). This is of course an attempt to make the Mermnad dynasty even more legitimate than its Heraklid predecessor (the tradition is therefore probably older than the fall of Kroisos). The significance of Herakles in the political discourse of Lydia is perhaps a mythical expression of the intimate contacts between Lydia and Sparta in the 7th century BC. The Cimmerian presence on the Lydian scene in the 7th century is also rather puzzling in this context..
Herodotos does not say what Herakles was doing in Lydia. After having stolen the Delphic tripod, Hermes sold him as a slave to the Lydian queen Omphale, who dressed him as a woman and kept him as her sex slave (Apollod., Bibl. 2.6.3), just like the monster in the Pontic Greek myth. Cross-dressing, slavery and sexual abuse are commonplaces in the rite of liminality. (So the transsexual Enarees are yet another example of Scythia’s liminal character.) In all probability, Herodotos was familiar with this myth, as it is alluded to not only in Trachinians (vv. 248-253) by his friend Sophokles (staged c. 435 BC), but also in Aischylos’ Agamemnon (vv. 1040-1) from c. 458 BC. The same tragedy tells the story about the end of Herakles’ earthly life, when he instructs his son Hyllos – the ancestor of the Dorian royal houses! – to burn him on a pyre so as to make him an immortal god, the ultimate initiation, of which all previous labours and troubles are nothing but the preparatory liminal phase.
On the other hand, the two myths of origin are contrasted in Herodotos. The Pontic Greek version, which pictures a full-scale liminal Scythia dominated by the warrior function alone, is an expression of Greek ideology, whereas the Scythian version is more balanced, as rather than presenting liminality as a condition, it only presents it as a ritual, and it includes all three functions.
Tribal Rites
The fact that Herodotos’ description of Scythian culture fits into the scheme of Greek ideology does not rule out the fact that its basic lines are true, i.e., have a real existence in Scythian culture outside of Greek discourse. The Scythians were after all nomads (and the Sarmatian women were occasionally horse warriors). Even if Herodotos and his informants are influenced by Greek ideology in their conception of Scythian myths and customs, I am convinced that they try to tell what they believe to be the truth.
Roussel is definitely on firm ground when criticising the tradition that sees in the phylai initially autonomous and ethnically heterogeneous tribes that immigrated together into southern Greece and eventually merged into one Doric nation. However, this does not mean that one has to exclude any reconstruction of a previous stage in which the three phylai had another function. In fairness, Roussel ought to explain why the Dorian poleis choose exactly those three phylai out of the blue. Roussel’s followers argue that before the 8th century BC, there was no overall feeling of unity that would enable the establishment of identical institutions such as the phylai, and the small-scale Doric-speaking communities could support only rather primitive societal structures in their proto-home and even after migrating into the Peloponnese ca. 1100-1000 BC. However, this does not rule out the possibility that they had a complex ideology of kinship relations (to appreciate the invalidity of that argument, one just has to consider the Australian Aboriginals, whose intricate kinship patterns rule all social interactions). As a matter of fact, the notion of a face-to-face society may in fact support the existence of kinship groups in earlier times already.
Peter Funke uses the concept of “segmentary society” to account for the development of the Dorian phylai. A segmentary society is characterised by equality among its disparate units. Even though it lacks a central authority, it shows a high level of integration and solidarity, which is thought to warrant the independence of each unit. The Dark Ages were indeed segmentary, as is reflected in the innumerable kings and peoples mentioned in Homer’s narrative. The concept of the phyle (or better its pre-polis predecessor) is a natural measure against the anarchy of a world without a centralised government. In Classical times, Sparta was of course a polis, but it is noteworthy that the city was not yet synoecised properly and had no city wall; it still consisted of five distinct villages (Thuc. 1.10). If we are allowed to believe the testimony of Plato (Leg. 6, 778d-779a) and the stylised apophthegms (Ps.-Plut., Apophth.Lac. 210e, 212e, 215d, 217d, 221e, 228e; Gnomologium Vaticanum 69), the Spartans considered it womanish to hide behind city walls. Apparently, they adhered to (and were described in the terms of) an ideology of nomadism.
It is intelligible that people organised themselves in co-dependent kinship groups in a period when the state structure was still rather weak. As Nagy points out, it is not the phylai themselves that are old tribes: while in Classical times they were subdivisions of the polis that regulated the political rights and obligations of the citizen, in prehistoric times they were subdivisions of the tribe that ensured a stability between its individual members and legitimised rights to land and obligations for the common good of the tribe.
The Scythians may have been organised in pretty much the same way. After all, the concepts of kinship and descent generally play an important role in nomadic societies. As their peculiar economy is characterised by an inherent mobility and constant instability, rights to pasture and social and military obligations are distributed within the kinship system. A popular word in this context is ‘clan’, which, however, is not always defined particularly well. It is also occasionally used to designate the genē of Herodotos’ myth of origin. A ‘clan’ may be defined as a group that claims descent from a common, usually mythical (and most likely fictitious) ancestor. The kinship groups are in other words natural substitutes for the organised and centralised state, and they become even more important when the society is expanding and migrating, which was the case for both the Scythians and the early Dorians.
The phylai are comparable to the political parties of modern society in the sense that they distribute the power of the individuals in the framework of ideology (whether it is tripartite or orientated along a left-right axis). In principle, they also transgress social and geographical borders. The essential difference is of course that modern political parties are not (or are not supposed to be) hereditary, but that is more a matter of different phrasing. The tribal concept of shared blood is without doubt a social construct (like the political programmes of modern parties). When new individuals or communities are admitted into the tribal society, a lineage is constructed (or re-constructed in the eyes of the constructers themselves), which attribute to them the appropriate position in the common order. The Greeks deriving the Scythians from Herakles is a beautiful example of this strategy.
The tripartite structure may be considered fundamentally incompatible with nomadic life, and the plough fallen from heaven may seem a bit out of place for a people whose existence depends on cattle. Yet pastoral nomadism is in general intimately connected both economically and ideologically with neighbouring sedentary agriculturalists. As a matter of fact, specialised nomadism seems to have arisen as a response to organised agriculture, and the two economies have contributed to the each other’s gradual development. If we are to trust the testimony of the classical authors (Hdt. 4.17-20, Hippoc., Aer. 20.1), a minority of the Scythians did in fact practice agriculture – for instance, the tribes in the forest steppe zone. No matter what their original ethnic status, they were obviously considered part of the Scythian world in the 5th century BC, and the agricultural way of life also had a place in Scythian ideology, even if it was held in low esteem.
Conclusion
The genē of Herodotos’ Scythian myth of origin are neither tribes nor castes – the two most popular suggestions made by the scholars – but rather kinship groups like the Dorian phylai, i.e., a subdivision of the people that traverses both the regional and social axes. The adult male population forms undisclosed societies, confirmed, it is thought, by old ties of blood and conceived in terms of the tripartite ideology. Admission to them is ruled by a ritualised initiation cycle, including, as is the rule both in modern ethnographic parallels and in the Spartan agōgē, a period of liminality, during which the youth live a savage life in the bush and are expected to murder their first man. Herodotos describes two festivals that celebrate this phase of liminality and the subsequent inclusion into the ranks of the adult males, respectively.
The ritual and mythological analogies between Scythian and Spartan culture are not due to an interpolation of Greek categories into a Scythian context. To some extent, they are the result of the formulation of Scythian customs and beliefs in a Greek discourse. Being a Greek and writing in Greek for a Greek audience, Herodotos could not help Hellenising the people he described. Furthermore, the Scythians may very well have adopted elements of Greek discourse into their own ideology. The Greeks and the Scythians constructed their identities in direct response to each other. The role of Herakles is one example, and the tales of Anacharsis and Skyles illustrate the Scythian response (or rather the Greek conception of it) to their encounter with Greek civilisation, which eventually leads to the construction of a nomadic identity sharing certain elements with the Spartan culture that was the natural representative of “Old Greece” in the 5th century discourse. The convergent representations of the Spartan and Scythian myths and rites point to similar ideological constructions both externally, in relation to the average Greek observer, and internally, in the societal structure reflected by the ancient historians and the mythological traditions. The tribal stereotypy is a consequence of the Scythians and Spartans occupying similar roles as the typical, and topical, contrast to the normal urbanised settled life of the mainstream Greek, but at the same time, it is also a real parallelism originating in the Scythians’ and Greeks’ common heritage and in the Scythian nomads’ and the prehistoric Dorians’ comparable ways of life.
I have accepted the framework of Dumézil’s tripartite structure for both the Scythian and the Spartan mythologies and rituals. I must however emphasise that this does not mean that we are necessarily dealing with a common heritage, in the sense that the Indo-European proto-culture had three phylai, the admission to which was organised in terms of the three functions. On the other hand, I do not adhere to the agnostic school, which prohibits any attempt to reconstruct an Indo-European ideology. The common origin of the Indo-European languages is an undeniable fact, and language is not only about vocabulary and grammar, but also about formulating the world. In the Indo-European grammar of thought, the tripartite structure was but a brick, which eventually led to analogous structures in similar daughter cultures. The Greeks and the Scythians have inherited and developed an analogous mythic-ideological grammar. The Scythian myths and rites in the Histories of Herodotos originate from Scythian sources, but the actual realisation of the single myth has been formulated on the basis of the syntax of Greek mythology.
This might help as well.
If I Must Explain
It'll ruin the story....
of why the more I come to understand, I increasingly like even less, those who tell us, they make a living by studying the Indo-European. We've the Latin Deus, the Celtic Deus, Baltic Dewos, Thracian Diaos, and the Greek Theos all of which are the words for god. With even more in common, least we forget the Latvian Dievs, Lithuanian Dievas, and Old Prussian Deiws; and so it goes on and on.
However, the Slavic God is Bog which is actually more or less the same as the Vedic head-god known as Bhaga-van. For the Slavs one may assume the Bog god was relatively recent, most-likely a Skythic thing. Thus, I really don't know why some linguists still insist that Bog came from Godin because this is the Old Norse Odin, 'who was hanged by the neck,' until dead. Yes, Odin is where we get the English word God, yet another kenning, or the knowing of the cryptic word-code we call Germanic. Therein God literally means 'he who pours, rushes,' or simply 'juts forth.'
Nonetheless, Bog really isn't a word for God, as its used for great 'fortune' and 'wealth,' like the Persian deity of prosperity called Baga. Meanwhile, the more ancient Vedic word for god, like the Latin 'Deus' is of course 'Deva.' Although indeed they adopted Baga, even the Persians retained the Daevas. However, they reduced this holy-personage to a miserable set of plague- and disease-giving demons that endlessly battle Zoroastrian gods. As some rightly point out the late Vedic and Zoroastrian god-sets were related and similar. So I assumed prior to the Skyths or Sarmats, Dewos could be found in Slavic somewhere, via the ancient Balts? I looked for days without any trace or sign in this particular wood pile. So thought among these once scattered peoples, that ancient Indo-European word, would indeed remain incognito. But finally, I might have found something, that of course doesn't conform to the etymology the linguists provide.
As I understand Dewo- represents an elemental deity, of the primeval sun or sky I looked at the Slavic word for day which is Doba. Indeed not so bad a fit and it may reflect from where this term derived. Yet, Doba is still not good enough. I also remembered Zoroastrian cosmology whereby the elemental Daevas was transformed from the most high-God to a set of minor demons. Thus, I sought out Dewo- in Greek and found δαίμων (pronounce THA-monos). Herein, its clear the Hellenic word for a demonic, like the Avestan, in fact comes from the common root of Dewo-, with the meaning of both turned back upon their heads. In the Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Macedonian this word is демон (pronounced DEH-mon), while in Czech and Polish its either demon or diabel.
This takes us full circle back to the Greek διάβολος (THEH-avolos), or 'to cast words,' said to be the very name of 'the Devil' which in Polish is a word used for all demonic beings. At first glance I though that the Slavic was taken from the Greek church, but then realized the Poles use the same term. Thus, in Russian its дьявол which is pronounced DEH-avel. I think overall, this may suggest the words Demon and Devil were once derived from the same word for God which was Dewos. The point is, that it seems in both Classical Greek and proto-Slavic, there are deeply embeded elements of Indo-Iranian cosmology. Herein, before the late Bronze Age, the Dewos God was replaced by Bog and somehow reduced to a demon. For the Classical Greeks this expression was far less pronounced than that later utilized by the proto-Slavs. However, by extension this concept may creep throughout much of western thought, as the once divine ’fallen Angle' and 'holy light-bearer’ turned Devil, by God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt5MWH9FnAA&feature=more_related
Aaaah' thanka...
thank'ya vera mush!
Don't get me wrong, I don't mock but only seek to inspire, t’s time to rise-up and write-down, a new verse for this Bloody Old Song? Pleased to meet you, Hope you guess my name, But what's puzzling you, Is the nature of my game.
@cmacq
One corection in Macedonian it is also Демон, the word Демонот is one of the definite forms of Демон(the other two being Демонов and Демонон).
kaptainplanet
03-31-2011, 14:38
My friend, you wrote:
I think overall, this may suggest the words Demon and Devil were once derived from the same word for God which was Dewos
This is wrong, for Daimon, I do not know the etymology, obviously it comes from the same common roots you mentioned, but for Diavolos, it is the one who corrupts, dia-vallo, it is easy to understand if you are Greek, but hard to explain in English exaclty the etymology...
Anyway, the point is that these 2 words definitily do not share the same root. Plus, in all the languages in the world that use a word similar to Diavolos, it is from Greek that they took it.
My friend, you wrote:
I think overall, this may suggest the words Demon and Devil were once derived from the same word for God which was Dewos
This is wrong, for Daimon, I do not know the etymology, obviously it comes from the same common roots you mentioned, but for Diavolos, it is the one who corrupts, dia-vallo, it is easy to understand if you are Greek, but hard to explain in English exaclty the etymology...
Anyway, the point is that these 2 words definitily do not share the same root. Plus, in all the languages in the world that use a word similar to Diavolos, it is from Greek that they took it.
I'm sorry but the point of my light-hearted write was to suggest the Greek form was end-line rather than at the start. Herein the very ancient Indo-European sky/light chief-god, often known as the light-bringer, is cast down in Indo-Iranian cosmology to become a lesser demon used to contrast the virtue of the new high-god. This is the basis of pre-Islamic Indo-Iranian cosmology and a very strong theme that runs throughout Western religious thought. Thus, if the ‘Chief God-turned-Lesser Demon’ concept is without doubt Indo-Iranian, how can one insist the word originated with the Greek, particularly since this language group itself was directly derived from a very strong Indo-Iranian linguistic substratum?
As I wrote above; 'I increasingly like even less, those who tell us, they make a living by studying the Indo-European.'
Hey Alin! Haven't seen you posting in awhile, good to see you! I tried to follow a link Bobbin put up at the twcenter which directed you to the art of skinning/modelling but by the time I learn it EBIII will be under construction...
Late response as I've just seen it...
Yeah, I'm more of a lurker in the public forums but I do read it from time to time and see if I can answer or participate in any way. Since I'm mostly busy on the private forums with unit making and so on.
Don't know what link though...
stratigos vasilios
05-09-2011, 11:41
Late response as I've just seen it...
Yeah, I'm more of a lurker in the public forums but I do read it from time to time and see if I can answer or participate in any way. Since I'm mostly busy on the private forums with unit making and so on.
Don't know what link though...
Yeah he had put a link in a thread awhile back to someone who wanted to learn how to skin and model, something I jumped on! Alas, it's going to take me a long time to learn.
Phalanx300
05-11-2011, 18:26
So I gues the Lugii will have that Harii(Now Arrai) territory with those black dyed Germanic ghost-warriors.
stratigos vasilios
06-23-2011, 05:52
Not sure how silly this question is... Did the Lugiones later in time become the Vandals that sacked Rome?
Thats a very good question, and I'm not at all sure how to answer it, correctly.
Also how about the Goths? Are they related to the Lugiones?
Not sure how silly this question is... Did the Lugiones later in time become the Vandals that sacked Rome?
The Vandali were a test as to the West Baltic nature of the Lugiones. The question has been, were the Vandali and Vistulic Veneti or Wenetai one in the same. For a number of reasons the conclusion I've come to is that the Veneti/Wenetai was a term used to represent Baltic speakers and the Vandal/Wandeloz/Winndaloz were initially a tribal confederation centered on the Vandel district in Uppland, Sweden.
There is a passage from Origo Gentis Langobardorvm that tells us when the Langobards were called the Winniloz they lived in Sweden and there were vassels of the Vandals.
Origo Gentis Langobardorvm: Chapter 1
Est insula qui dicitur Scadanan, quod interpretatur excidia, in partibus aquilonis, ubi multae gentes habitant; inter quos erat gens parva quae Winnilis vocabatur. Et erat cum eis mulier nomine Gambara, habebatque duos filios, nomen uni Ybor et nomen alteri Agio; ipsi cum matre sua nomine Gambara principatum tenebant super Winniles. Moverunt se ergo duces Wandalorum, id est Ambri et Assi, cum exercitu suo, et dicebant ad Winniles: " Aut solvite nobis tributa, aut praeparate vos ad pugnam et pugnate nobiscum".
Render
In that island known as Scandia, whose desolation is said, in part to be due to Norðoz, where many nations dwell, and amongst these was a petty tribe called the Winniloz. And, there together with a women named Gambar, lived two sons, one called Evor and the other Aigo; with their mother Gambar they held fast the Winniloz over which they ruled. Therefore, provoked by the leaders of the Vandaloz, Ambrico and Azzo who sought to subjugate saying to the Winniloz; ‘thus give us tribute or prepare for war and battle.’
There is another passage from Beowulf that mentions a famous mid 6th century AD Swedish king called Ottar Vendilkraka (Storm-crow as a kenning linked to Odin meaning one who brings war and death). Vandal may have come from Winndaloz or 'people of Stormer,' the latter yet another kenning for Odin. As Origo Gentis Langobardorvm tells us the Vandal's chief god was Odin. Nonetheless, elements of the Vandalic confederation, which initially included the Siloz and Hasðoz/Haððoz, migrated from Uppland to Pomerania west of the Goths. Here as the western variation of the Wielbark culture they replaced the west Baltic Oksywie culture. In the process the Vandals became strongly influenced by the west Baltic Przeworsk culture and the Lugiones confederation. From Pomerania the Vandal main body shifted over time south and later east. However, meanwhile another large seaborne element established themselves in northern Jutland as the K group, and from there some moved to Norway, Frisia, and England.
Also how about the Goths? Are they related to the Lugiones?
no the Goths were not directly related to the Lugiones.
stratigos vasilios
07-13-2011, 03:31
Thank you cmacq. The things you learn on the EB forums! :thumbsup:
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