>> Sarmation auxillaries, there was a unit stationed in Britain.
>
>I suspect I was thinking of something earlier. The name "Zenobia" comes
>to mind (female military leader, therefore I'm interested, but it's been
>years since I last read her up)
>
>> They were arguably the first
>> troops to use a couched lance depending on whether you accept the
>> evidence for stirrups or not. That's what I envisage Tarshite
>> cataphracts wearing and possibly Carmenian ones as well.
>
>One of the Arthurian theories, isn't it?
They've been dragged into one of those, yes. Sarmatian cavalry were definitely in Britain but that's a couple of hundred years before Arthur. Personally I doubt that the unit's traditions and equipment would have survived intact through that many generations and the fall of the empire. They aren't even a very practical unit for the type of battles Arthur was fighting being purely shock cavalry and requiring lots of support troops.
My suspicion is someone with little knowledge of the period has seen a drawing of the Sarmatian cavalry and gone "Oooh, knights" and added that to the "Arthur was a Roman theory".
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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