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The Thracians 700 BC – AD 46
Christopher Webber, illustrated by Angus McBride
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The Thracians were a group of tribes occupying the eastern Balkans between northern Greece and modern Rumania. This book is in the normal Osprey format with a historical outline, followed by detailed sections on costume, weapons, the Thracian army and tactics. It is well illustrated with photographs and drawings, and has eight colour plates by Angus McBride.
The historical outline covers the Thracians from their migration into this region until the emperor annexed Thrace as a Roman province in AD 46. It covers their involvement in the Persian Wars, the founding of the Odrysaian kingdom, their relations with the Greek and Macedonian states and the developing Hellenistic world. The later part of the period details how the Thracians came under increasing pressure from the expanding Roman state, finally ending in annexation as a province of the Empire.
The costume and weapons section show how the dress of the Thracians gradually changed from traditional styles to those influenced by their contacts with the Greek world and with the Celts. Christopher Webber draws on a wide range of sources including archaeological finds of armour, weapons and horse furniture, Attic red-figure pottery, the Persian carved stone friezes from Persepolis, literary sources ranging from the Iliad to Plutarch, and the wonderful tomb paintings from Kazanluk in Bulgaria which provide information on clothing colours. There are diagrams showing a selection of shield decorations and the elaborate geometric embroidery of the characteristic Thracian cloak.
In the section on the army, he discusses army strengths and composition. Thracian forces were built around the peltast, a light-armed infantrymen, supported by cavalry and skirmishing infantry. The peltast was so called for the crescent-shaped shield they carried named the pelta. Armies normally fielded ten to twenty thousand men, though the region as a whole could provide much larger forces. The lowland tribes’ armies had a higher proportion of cavalry, up to a third, while the mountain tribes were largely infantry.
There are the usual eight colour plates, in this case by Angus McBride in his highly detailed style. Five are devoted to the appearance of Thracian troops in the fifth century BC, two to the late Hellenistic period illustrating Thracians in 171 BC, and one to the first century AD. The plates cover the appearance of all types of Thracian warriors, cavalry, peltasts and light troops and will be of great use to wargamers seeking to paint Thracian figures.
This book provides an excellent overview of Thracian history, dress and equipment and will be invaluable to the wargamer wishing to raise a Thracian force whether it be a contingent of mercenaries or an entire tribal army. For those wishing to learn more, there is a short bibliography, while Christopher Webber has a website devoted to the Thracians at http://www.the-thracians.com.
Steve Sykes
Men-at-Arms 360
Osprey Books
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