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Short description

These men are heavy Thureophoroi, and as proud citizens of Tomis are ready to defend their homes!

Description

Tomian Epilektoi are a heavier style of Thureophoroi, protected by the iconic thureos as well as Hellenistic muscle cuirasses and helmets. They are equipped with a short spear and one-handed xiphos sword, to suit a variety of close-quarter combat situations. They are best used as a heavier reserve to fill breaks in the defensive line or to exploit a flank when more effective shock units are unavailable.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The city of Tomis was founded in the 6th century BC and soon constituted an important emporion (trading post).Although the extent of its development prior to the 3rd century BC is difficult to determine, we know that the West Pontic cities, supported by Histria, tried to establish Tomis as the central emporion for trade in the Black Sea by 260 BC or the early 250s. This provoked Byzantion, which controlled the commerce between the Black and Mediterranean Seas, and its ally Herakleia Pontike. The conflict became part of the Second Syrian War (260-253 BC), with the Seleucids siding with the Pontic Pentapolis, Histria, Herakleia, and Byzantion, receiving the support of the Ptolemies (Nawotka, The Western Pontic Cities (1997), pp. 37-38). While the Seleucid campaigns in southern Thrace were highly successful, the Herakleiote, Byzantine, and Ptolemaic fleets defeated the Pontic forces in the North and thus prevented the establishment of a Tomian monopoly (cf. Russell, Byzantium and the Bosporus (2017), pp. 109-110). In spite of this setback, Tomis had become a polis soon after the Tomian War (Barbulescu & Buzoianu, Tomis: Historical and Archaeological Commentary (2012), pp. 121-123).

Tomis and the West Pontic region experienced a period marked by conflict and warfare in the 1st century BC, with Jerome (Chronicon, 177;2) claiming that the Roman Consul Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus captured several of the Pontic Pentapoleis in 71 BC, including Tomis, during the 3rd Mithridatic War against Mithridates VI. In the following 20 years, the Pontic cities along the Black Sea would be threatened by the raids into Illyria by the Getae under their king Burebista (Strabo, Geography. 7.3.11).

The Tomian Epilektoi were raised in Tomis somewhere between 100-50 BC in order to create a local defensive force that was lacking due to local conditions such as plague and illness, and potentially as a result of the aggression of the Dacians under Burebista (Syll. 731, l. 14). An inscription in the city tells us that the formation raised consisted of only 40 individuals. It was led by Apollous son of Nikeratos and Poseidonios son of Geron, who were chosen to lead the 40, likely in defending and patrolling the walls and outer reaches of the city. Given the cultural makeup of the region as well as the cities, mixing Hellenistic cultures with that of local Illyrian and migratory Galatian cultures, the Tomian Epilektoi are depicted in such a way as to represent this fusion. The unit is equipped with the thureos shield that was common in Greek militaries from the 5th century BC onwards, following the influence of the Galatians, and represents the trend of the increasing armour of Thureophoroi troops as seen in Polybius’ (5.53.8) work. The Eplektoi wear Hellenistic bronze and iron muscle cuirasses, complemented by plumed and colourful pilos and Thracian helmets to represent the elite or picked nature of the unit – notably the unit lacks greaves, as found in heavier Greek formations, most likely to retain the unit’s mobility and its function as a heavy reserve. Further outside influences can be seen in the Epilektoi’s adoption of a shorter spear than the 2-3 metre Greek dory, while still incorporating its sauroter (spear-foot).

Although Tomis would be conquered around the year 55 BC, as Mugnai (History & Uniforms 006GB (2016), p. 4) states, the Tomian Epilektoi represent an alternate history scenario in which the Pontic Pentapolis would have reformed the historical formation on a larger scale in order to counter the aggression faced during the 1st century BC. It is interesting to consider that the Tomian Epilektoi may have continued to exist under Roman rule. The West Pontic region held some autonomy in the form of the Western Pontic koinon (assembly), plausibly still maintaining a small citizen levy or defensive force (Nawotka, The ‘First Pontarch’ (1993), pp. 342-343).