Taxeis Triballoi?

[Crassus Creed]

Hi this is my first post on the forum.

I was just curious about a particular unit the Taxeis Triballoi. They are my favourite infantry unit and I was just wondering what ancient sources mentioned them? I would like to learn more about them (and about Trace in general) so any help would be appreciated.

[Deathwatch050]

Hey Crassus, welcome to the forum!

From what I can dig up, the Triballi were a Thraikian tribe which occupied parts of Bulgaria and quite a bit of Serbia. There are accounts of a Greek legend of a nymph of the Triballi, but apart from that, I can't really find anything about the unit in particular.

Remember that "Taxeis", if I'm not mistaken, means "Infantry" or "Line Troops" or something similar. So Taxeis Triballoi basically means "Infantry of the Triballi". I imagine the unit "Taxeis Triballoi" are a representation of how their infantry were historically supposed to look, and probably based on the equipment of not only them but other tribes as well. The Thureos shield was in common usage at the time and so were leather ptyerges and greaves. The Thracian helmet was also quite common, according to archaological digs, IIRC. The longsword is a bit peculiar, but apparently (according to the unit description) it's Skythian, which is entirely possible. I think the tribes of the Balkans imported quite a few things from the Skythians.

I'm not the highest authority on this, maybe the EB team can tell you more, or a historian.

Cheers!

-Deathwatch

[Ca Putt]

afaik taxeis means (combat-)unit/regiment(no specific size but rather the general term), pezoi means infantry, apart from that I agree with Deathwatch050 (even with his last "paragraph"(not cheers or his name ;) )

[Ludens]

Re: the meaning of taxeis

Hellenic military nomenclature is very messy. The meaning of terms is very fluid and doesn't always relate to the word's root. Taxis could be translated as formation, and was used to indicate a military subdivision. In Athens, taxis were the largest subdivision of the army, counted about 700 men and commanded by an elected taxiarchos. Taxis are AFAIK not used when describing the Spartan army, although Herodotes mentions a taxiarchos being in charge of a specific Logos (which would later number 600 men). This may have been an exceptional circumstance, though, and the organization of the Spartan army is a confusing issue as well.