While looking through D.B.M. Army Lists, the list for the Attalid Pergamene Army (263 BC - 129 BC) contains a reference to Trallian Slingers. Who are they and were did they come from?
Thank you for your response.
Quote from: Robert N. Plympton on April 16, 2013, 03:52:33 PM
While looking through D.B.M. Army Lists, the list for the Attalid Pergamene Army (263 BC - 129 BC) contains a reference to Trallian Slingers. Who are they and were did they come from?
Thank you for your response.
The classification is based on my discussion in
Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars.
Livy refers to "Trallians" among the Pergamene light infantry allied to Rome at the battle of Magnesia, and both Livy and Appian also refer to "Trallians" on the Seleucid side. Neither source says how they are armed. But the Pergamene light infantry consist of Cretans, Trallians, and Achaian peltasts; and when the Seleucid scythed chariots charge, "the Cretan archers, the slingers and javelin men" shoot them down. So if the Cretans are the archers, and the Achaian peltasts are the javelinmen, we have the Trallians left to provide the slingers. The Trallians on the Seleucid side are also unidentified as to armament, but are again brigaded with Cretans, suggesting the archer:slinger mix common in Hellenistic armies.
They are usually identified as coming from a Balkan tribe called "Trallians" who are variously identified as Thracian or Illyrian. But the Balkan "Trallians" are
Tralleis in the Greek sources, whereas the "Trallians" at Magnesia are
Trallianoi in Appian's Greek; a term which appears elsewhere denoting the inhabitants of the city of
Tralles on the Lydia-Karia border.
Thank you Duncan. I have your book, I will look for the reference you stated.
Robert N. Plympton