ROMAN CAVALRY TANGED IRON ARROWHEAD - Danube River Valley, North Central Bulgaria

EARLY ROMAN IRON AGE:  1900 - 1700 years ago

This tanged iron arrowhead was made for and used by the Roman army stationed in North Central Bulgaria along the Danube River.  It is a rare and important artifact of the Roman Period as this region was the northern-most boundary of the Empire during the 2nd century AD.  In the Balkans, Roman camps and fortresses along the Danube were constantly being challenged by opposing tribes and armies.  The river served as a natural barrier against attacks from the north.  Collected from a region that was once occupied by a Roman military camp and outpost, this arrowhead was utilized by Roman soldiers in one of the many violent and frequent battles that took place nearly two thousand years ago.

This early Roman iron tanged arrowhead design was intended for cavalry archers who employed shorter and lighter arrows than their stationary supporting-fire counterparts.  Excellent and solid condition with only minor erosion to a 5mm area of tip on one side, not noticeable when displayed as shown.  Otherwise superb and highly collectible.  NO RESTORATION, REPAIR OR MODERN DAMAGE.

NOTE: Unlike bronze and copper ancient artifacts that are stable with their protective ancient patinas, iron is UNSTABLE and must be properly conserved by a knowledgeable preparator.  Lack of proper treatment will cause the valuable specimen to continue to corrode as it is exposed to air.  Simply painting some type of coating over the surface is entirely insufficient.  Iron disintegrates and decomposes from the inside out so by the time the piece is seen to be structurally damaged, it is too late to salvage if it has not been properly conserved.  Unlike nearly every other dealer in iron weapons and artifacts, we personally conserve all our specimens in our own lab to ensure that every item we sell has been protected to last.

The Roman sagittarii or archers  were either formed out of auxiliary units or were trained members of the Legion.  Many Roman units of bowmen were originally recruited in the Middle East and in the Danubian provinces.  Trajan's column shows these troops using distinctive native clothing and equipment including conical helmets, chain mail, long tunics and powerful composite bows fashioned of laminate wood and horn.  

A diverse variety of arrowheads were employed.  Heavy tri-lobed projectile points were designed to penetrate armor with leaf-shaped points effective on "soft targets".  Throughout the Near East arrows were normally secured to their shafts with a tang rather than a socket as in western Europe.  In the "single use" situation of warfare, this method was just as effective and required less construction time and materials.  Arrow shafts were usually constructed out of wood but cane was sometimes employed.  Each archer carried an average of 30-40 arrows in their quiver.  In addition to full sized arrows, Roman archers would also fire small arrows or darts down a channel called a solinarion.  Such darts have about double the range of a full-sized arrow and are harder to see.  They were used as harassing fire against approaching formations.  While a dart would rarely cause fatal injury, striking a man or horse in the face or eye would be a serious discouragement and help to break up a formation.  Archers were sometimes employed as skirmishers or deployed behind lines of heavy infantry to provide covering fire.  The simultaneous storm of thousands of arrows raining down upon enemy troops must have been a nightmarish site!  The opening battle scene of the film 'Gladiator' reenacts to exactness the visual horror and deadly effect the Roman archers had against enemies of the Empire!

Much of the success of the Empire can be attributed to the protection afforded by its near invincible war machine, the Roman army.  Many tactics and weapons were first pioneered by this massive military force and just the thought of having to challenge this entity thwarted many a foreign enemy.  Those that were brave (or foolish) enough to go up against Rome's military were quickly made examples of to the rest of the world.  In the first two centuries AD, about 300,000 soldiers made up this force.  The technology and strength of the Roman military was the guardian of this great society for some 500 years.

A BARGAIN FOR A GENUINE EXAMPLE OF EARLY ROMAN CAVALRY WEAPONRY!

2.3" in length

SOLD     CBI001     INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX     Actual Item - One Only

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