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Thread: Indo-European :wub:posts

  1. #1

    Default Indo-European :wub:posts

    Scythian post


    There was the entire Scythia culture/region/people, all of which shared the same name, who lived in most of modern-day Russia. Then this was loosely categorized into Saka in the east, and Sarmatia in the west, although during the Achaemenid Empire’s zenith, everyone called the nomads in the North “Scythians.” Only when the Seleucids came to power did the phrase “Saka” become popularized among contemporaries to describe the marauding eastern Scythians. Then in the west, the Scythians were known as the Sarmatians, which were easily defined into a multitude of different tribes by ancient Greek authors such as the Saii, Siraces, Iwzag, etc. The Sakans were just clumped into one big “Saka” horde. I don’t even know if the Sakans themselves called themselves “Sakans.” It might’ve been a name given to them by “civilized” people, like how Columbus straight up dubbed the Native Americans “Indians.” Unlike the Native Americans, however, the Sakans might have actual biological immunity to all known diseases, and thus responded to their civilized neighbor’s incompetent naming by plundering and destabilizing their empires for centuries. Back to the west, some Sarmatians tribes were recorded as having waged a brutal war, bordering on genocide, against ANOTHER separate, distinct Scythian group, which was known as… Scythians. I’m not kidding, they were known as just the “Scythians” by the Greeks and used to inhabit the area around the Crimean Peninsula. This Scythian subgroup cannot be further subdivided like the Sarmatians. It’s like this Scythian subgroup are indivisible quarks and the Sarmatians are protons, but this Scythian subgroup does not combine in triplets to form Sarmatians - ok, let’s just end this tangent. The Scythians (the subgroup) were pushed out by the Scythians (the western ones, but excluding the subgroup) into modern-day Romania, where they established a small kingdom called… Scythia.
    Last edited by Shoebopp; March 02, 2022 at 09:49 AM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Indo-European :wub:posts

    Arachosian post

    The region around modern-day Afghanistan changed hands what must’ve been 100 times over the course of just a few centuries. You’d think the name “Graveyard of Empires” still applied in ancient times, but that’s completely false, because the Afghanistan region would COMPLETELY RUIN nations that tried to control it before they even became a KINGDOM.
    Iranians. Persians. Baktrians. Seleucids. Greco-Baktrians. Indo-Greeks. Indians. Sakans. Kushans. Tocharians. That was just over the span of 300 years. Notice how you’ve literally only heard of like 2 of them? Yeah. They’re also not exactly in chronological order, because the Afghanistan region kept on being passed around like a blunt between crackheads, sometimes back to the same person.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Indo-European :wub:posts

    Peltast post

    During the Classical Greek period, Peltast referred to the Thracians' iconic skirmisher style. The Greeks hated this Thracian skirmishing style almost as much they hated Persians


    Once the Greeks adapted to this skirmishing style by the early Antiquity period, Peltast referred to Greek infantry who fought with a pelte shield and javelins. The whole concept of tossing javelins at slow, clumsy hoplite phalanxes apparently broke the metagame so much that even Greeks started fielding respectable numbers of troops fighting in this way.


    Peltast referred to literally all mercenaries in general by the Wars of the Diadochi period. There had to be one point where a military officer told the recruiter to enlist Peltasts as in “specialized soldiers who throw javelins and counter enemy light troops” and the recruiter shows up later with a bunch of heavily armored Hoplites.


    In the Antigonid army of the late 200s BC, there was an elite corps of the Macedonian Phalanx who fought with large shields and pikes in tightly packed formations. So, basically like Phalangites, except these elite troops were called… Peltasts


    On a slightly unrelated note, there was another elite unit called Hypaspists who fought as mobile hoplites during Alexander’s campaign. In the later periods, they were last mentioned as being ordered to burn/evacuate official Antigonid papers so as to not let them fall into the hands of the subjugating Romans.


    In 21st century modern English there is the word “pelt”, or to throw many of one thing at a victim. Like you’re throwing at them javelins or ambiguous terminology
    Last edited by Shoebopp; March 02, 2022 at 09:53 AM.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Indo-European :wub:posts

    Caucasian post

    Albania (Caucasian kingdom, not the Balkan country), Georgia (Caucasian kingdom, not the American state), and Iberia (Caucasian kingdom, not the ancient name of the Spanish Peninsula) existed right next to each other in the Caucasus Mountains at one point. I don’t know who to blame more - the modern-day peoples who later on assigned the names of completely unrelated regions to other regions on the other side of the planet, or the ancient peoples for not foreseeing the future and naming their homelands conveniently for our modern selves.

  5. #5
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Indo-European :wub:posts

    I'm wondering what you're aiming for - worldbuilding, historical research or something else. I like the detail that 'peltast' eventually meant 'mercenary', so when a military officer ordered the recruitment of peltasts, he was surprised by who turned up.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Indo-European :wub:posts

    Quote Originally Posted by Alwyn View Post
    I'm wondering what you're aiming for - worldbuilding, historical research or something else. I like the detail that 'peltast' eventually meant 'mercenary', so when a military officer ordered the recruitment of peltasts, he was surprised by who turned up.
    It's history written in a way that highlights its strangeness. It's accurate to the best of my knowledge

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