Roman bow stele
Apologies for posting in the wrong category but activity on the forum is very low and I hope to reach more people this way.
This is a roman stele of an archer of Cohors II Cyrrhestarum sagittariorum, or the second cohort of archers from Cyrrhus in northern Syria. The stele was found in a roman military camp in Dalmatia, where the cohort was garrisoned during the 1st century AD. It is currently in Archaeological museum in Zadar, Croatia.
Depictions of bows in this area and from the same period are mostly representations of goddess Diana carrying a typical Cupid-shaped bow. This stele, however, shows a whip ended bow with a setback handle. It reminds me of short Plains bows of North America, but the shape of those is usually explained by it's use on horseback. This, on the other hand, is almost certainly a kind of bow used by infantry auxillia. If such bows were indeed short and perhaps only sinew reinforced it would be no wonder that Romans in general had no appreciation of archery (yet they went through the trouble to bring a company of Syrians across the Mediterranean). But they could also be longer, like the egyptian deflexed bows that I believe are much older.
What interest me the most is whether there are representations or finds of such bows in Syria during roman times, or perhaps this is a local type of bow that was conveniently put on the stele by the artist?
I'm also puzzled with the possible reason this design would be used in a military context when classicaly shaped composites were supposedly well known by this time?
This is a roman stele of an archer of Cohors II Cyrrhestarum sagittariorum, or the second cohort of archers from Cyrrhus in northern Syria. The stele was found in a roman military camp in Dalmatia, where the cohort was garrisoned during the 1st century AD. It is currently in Archaeological museum in Zadar, Croatia.
Depictions of bows in this area and from the same period are mostly representations of goddess Diana carrying a typical Cupid-shaped bow. This stele, however, shows a whip ended bow with a setback handle. It reminds me of short Plains bows of North America, but the shape of those is usually explained by it's use on horseback. This, on the other hand, is almost certainly a kind of bow used by infantry auxillia. If such bows were indeed short and perhaps only sinew reinforced it would be no wonder that Romans in general had no appreciation of archery (yet they went through the trouble to bring a company of Syrians across the Mediterranean). But they could also be longer, like the egyptian deflexed bows that I believe are much older.
What interest me the most is whether there are representations or finds of such bows in Syria during roman times, or perhaps this is a local type of bow that was conveniently put on the stele by the artist?
I'm also puzzled with the possible reason this design would be used in a military context when classicaly shaped composites were supposedly well known by this time?
Just one thought: The Roman warrior/auxiliary rests in peace in his tomb, the same counts for a symbolized reflexed (unstrung/open) bow telling us the man was an archer, rather than maybe showing a "real" bow of that period/time and region. Both Rest In Peace - open hands - open bow?
The "opposite" way the bow looks like one from the Egyptian (Angular) or ...
R
The "opposite" way the bow looks like one from the Egyptian (Angular) or ...
R
The bow appears to me to be similar to the "pre-Scythian" bow that had the setback handle but not the radically recurved tips of the Scythian. It looks, in fact, like a stylized drawing of a bow with a setback handle.
There really aren't any "classic shaped composites" -- there were a number of similar solutions to creating a powerful bow using wood, horn and sinew. If anything, the bow depicted shows a "classically shaped" (we would say 'generic' today) composite bow.
Sad to say, it's 2017 and Syria is a flaming mess of war; any archaeological finds, museums, or information that was in that country may never be seen again.
There really aren't any "classic shaped composites" -- there were a number of similar solutions to creating a powerful bow using wood, horn and sinew. If anything, the bow depicted shows a "classically shaped" (we would say 'generic' today) composite bow.
Sad to say, it's 2017 and Syria is a flaming mess of war; any archaeological finds, museums, or information that was in that country may never be seen again.
Is it possible that the bow is simply unstrung?