| The Draco, the Late Roman military standardBy Robert Vermaat |
| Origins: Sarmatians, Alans, Parthians and Persians:The draco Standard was originally developed by the cavalry peoples of the steppes, such as the Sarmatians and the Alans, but also by the Parthians and the Sassanid Persians. It may have been used primarily to determine the wind-direction for the horse archers. Arrian described it as a long sleeve, 'made by sewing pieces of dyed material together'. This sleeve/tube hung limp when the rider was at rest, but on the move it flew like a serpent and whistled in the wind. The hollow head, in the form of a toothed dragon, was formed from metal and the wind passing through it would extend the cloth tube tail attached to the neck of the head. The draco was also used by the Dacians (or their allies) and no less than 20 of these are shown on Trajan's Column. Other sources mention Parthian and Sassanid Persian dracos. Not all such standards had dragon heads. The one below on the left from Trajan's Column shows the tubular tail with streamers attached. The head looks more like a dog (with ears) than a dragon. The one beside it has a much more serpentine head, and has scalloped rings attached to the tail. Other standards had no heads at all, just the fabric tube, while some had heads looking like wolves or even fishes. These had protruding ears and fins. The images below show part of the Arch of Galerius with several dracos.
The Roman draco The Draco was adopted first into the Roman cavalry during the 2nd century AD, possibly with the introduction of Sarmatian cavalry into the Roman army. Arrian, who was writing c. 137 AD, described it as a Scythian (he most probably meant Sarmatian) invention which was adopted by Roman cavalry[2]. The Romans first began to use the draco in cavalry games, the so-called 'Hippica Gymnasia'. These were described by Arrian as glamorised versions of training exercises, performed in decorated armour. It is possible that the draco was introduced just because it was 'outlandish', foreign and glamourous. Points in the game were scored for strikes on the tail piece of the dracos carried by a team acting as 'targets', from dummy javelins thrown by another team of riders. Arrian recommended that the standard be colorful, adding to to the spectacle of cavalry parades. One should be given to each unit to maintain order in both displays and battle. The Roman cavalry adopted the draco probably during or after the Dacian wars, in which the equipment of the Roman cavalry was altere to withstand the charged of the lance-armed cavalry. These equipment changes included the adoption of the fully-armed cavalry (alae cataphractiorum) and the long lance. It would be logical to assume that this was the time when also the draco standard was introduced. The choice for the dragon/serpent as model is not so easy to explain, because the steppe cultures used other animal's heads and continued to do so. However, it has been assumed that it was because of the Thracian dominance in Roman cavalry that the latter adopted the serpent shape. These Thracian horsemen had a deity which resembled a 'flying' serpent with scales, teeth and an upstanding crest, which may well have been a draco or something similar. It is not documented when exactly the draco was adopted as a normal standard for all troop types. However, sources mention the draco being used with the infantry. The Historia Augusta mentions that the mother of Severus (193-211 AD) dreamt of a puple snake before his birth, something very alike what we later hear of the Imperial standard[3]. But since this source was probably compiled later, we can't be sure this has any bearing on a dating. We are on more solid ground with the entry of the reign of Gallienus (253-268 AD), when legionary troops are said to have paraded with a dracon amongst the standards of the legions[4] and the troops of Aurelianus (270-5 AD) also had draconarii amongst the standard-bearers[5]. This may lead us to conclude that the infantry began using dracos during the late 3rd c. On the Arch of Galerius, which was built before 311 AD to commemorate Galerius' war against Persia in 290 AD, several dracos can be seen to his left and right, carried by infantry as well as cavalry (see the image above, 2nd from right). We have no good idea about the general appearance of the draco. Some draco heads may have looked like a draco, but some seem to look more like wolves or dogs, or even of an ass (..).
The draco head was most probably constructed by first carving a wooden original, then beating a copper alloy sheet around it. This draco head was made of two halves, the bottom jaw being riveted against the top half. Adding a windsock may be a problem, because we have no clear idea how long it would be. However, trial and error will get you there, with of course different lengths and materials possible. I'd go for silk, which may be expensive, but it is light and gets the best result. Possibly, added hoops might keep the tail 'inflated', which can also be used to attach strips of cloth to create the 'streaming' effect of the flying beast described by Arrian (Ars. Tact. 35.3-4). The images below show a 2nd-3rd C. funeral stele from Chester, probably showing a Sarmatian draconarius.
The Niederbieber draco
The Roman draco developed into a real dragon, without ears but with scales and a crest. The only fully preserved draco was found in the Limes fortress of Niederbieber in Germany, which dates to the 3rd century. This copper alloy object was discovered near the SW edge of the vicus (civilian settlement) outside the fort. It can best be described as a scaled monster's head, measuring 30x12x12 cm, and with some probability is the head of a cohort's draco.It is formed by the joining of two embossed sheets, the gilded upper one overlapping the lower tinned one, both attached by 5 rivets on each side. At the base of the neck the sheets form a circular flange, riveted together by 2 more rivets. Overlapping scales cover the head and neck, while a series of ridges covers the upper jaw from the nostrils to the eyes, which face sideways. The open mouth shows triangular teeth, but no fangs or canines. A crenellated crest is attached to the top of the head. Two holes of similar size are pierced through both the throat and the skull behind the crest. No doubt a staff or the shaft of a spear would pass through here. Two axial slits, 2 cm long, pierce the botom of the lower jaw, probably to attach a lost mechanism that would have produced the hissing effect.
The late 4th c. author Vegetius also mentions the draco as a common standard. He seems to have been confused about the difference between the old standards and the new dragons though, as he wrote that apparently standard- and draco-bearers differ[6], but also that the standardbearers 'are now named dragonbearers[7], that both are present in a camp[8], but also that each cohort has a draco[9]. if correct it would mean the first overall standard for the cohort (where before none had existed between the legionary aquila and the signa of the centuries). the draco may have foreshadowed the later common practise in the 3rd century to permanently detach cohortes from their parent legions. By 357 AD, the Emperors Constantius and Julian (who was crowned by a draconarius[10]) had personal dracos sewn from a purple material. Ammianus Marcellinus writes of flags as well as draco being purple[11] and mentions them making a hissing sound in the wind[12]. The Emperor's personal draco standards made them identifyable in the heat of battle and may therefore have been mainly a tactital instrument rather than a personal adornment. Julian's draco at the battle of Argentorate (357) was important in his attempt to regain control of the battle[13]. The early 5th/c. author Zosimus also mentions Julian being extremely cross when one was lost to the enemy during the Persian campaign[14] . By the fifth century, as may be deduced from inscriptions from Perge and Prusias/�sk�b�, Turkey, as well as a poem by Prudentius, there was a rank called magister draconum. This officer was the superior of the draconarii in a unit, ranking immediately below the tribune. However, we don't know if he directed the draconarii in battle, or may just have been the head of the standard bearers' club or scholae. The magister draconum probably replaced the optio signiferorum, whose function unfortunately is equally vague. Other ranks are less clear: from Cagliari/Sardinia we know an optio draconarius, while the bearcus draconarius seems to have been an unusually high-ranking draconarius. Prudentius also tells us that Late Roman draconarii wore golden torcs as reward for their valor in battle. However, we learn from Ammianus that the torc may have been a badge of office, so possibly standard bearers were selected from those who had earlier received such torcs, marking them for an elite. The East Roman or 'Byzantine' draconarius Around the mid-6th century, the historian Johannes Lydos mentioned the draconarius (drakonarioi-drakontophoroi) in a list of ranks and functions[15]. Justinian also mentioned a corps of 10 draconarii in his edict of 534, issued to Belisarius in North Africa[16]. The military manual called the Strategikon of the emperor Maurikios (582-602 AD) shows that draconarii were probably still around in the early 7th. century. However, it is not clear whether the draconarius mentioned there [17] was already anachronistic or if he still had a proper military function - there was a scholae draconariorum, a non-military office staff of 10 clercs attached to a civilian praefectus praetorio. After the 6th century, the draconarius disappeared from the Byzantine army.
Dracos continued in use in the Caucasus and Georgia, while in the West the Franks under Charlemagne may have adopted them again. This may show continuity, or else Charlemagne's attempts to eminate the Roman Army. We have a miniature from the late 9th-c. Psalterium Aureum (MS St. Gall. Stift-Bib. 22, fol. 140, illustrating Psalm 59), which shows a draco in a formation of heavy cavalry. We also see it used at the battle of Hastings in 1066 AD, where it is carried by Harold Godwinson's retainer at the moment of his death. The next image is from a 14th-century manuscript of L'Histoire de Merlin by Robert de Boron, now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. It shows King Arthur in combat, brandishing what can only be a Medieval representation of a Late Roman draco. This is not supposed to reflect 14th-c. battle standards, but rather a fanciful idea of ancient use. The last image shows the flag of modern Wales, in Welsh called Y Draig Goch (The Red Dragon). This red dragon, as the tale goes, would go back to the myth of the red and white dragons fighting on Vortigern's fort at Dinas Emrys in Gwynedd, Wales. These dragons, though, are thought by some to represent the draco of the Late Roman army. The Dragon of Wessex, like the Red Dragon of Wales, may indeed represent some form of continuity. However, it could also show Francish influence in England and Wales during the early Middle Ages, as well as an antiquity-related Romanticism which has nothing to do with reality any more. |  Fectio's reconstruction of what such a fabric draco may have looked like.  The reconstruction from Marcus Junkelmann.  A draco for the Carnuntum Archaeological Park.  Another shot of the Carnuntum draco.  A draco from Joe Piela.  The reconstruction by Michael Simkins.  Another shot of the reconstruction by Michael Simkins.  A reconstruction by Cezary Wysczinski.  The Britannia draco.  Close-up of the Votadini draco.  The Foederati draco, reconstructed by Toni Feldon.  The Timetrotter draco, also by Toni Feldon.  The Time Team draco, made by Tim Blades.  The Comitatus draco, also by Stefan Jaroschinski.  The Fectio draco.  The Fectio draco, made by Stefan Jaroschinski.  Fectio's draco.  Jeroen with the Fectio draco.  Another draco by Stefan Jaroschinski. |
 The Psalterium Aureum, showing a draco in the Francish army, c. 883. |  The Bayeux Tapestry, showing the 'Dragon of Wessex' at the battle of Hastings, 1066. |  King Arthur in combat, brandishing a draco. From L'Histoire de Merlin by Robert de Boron (14th C.). |  The Welsh flag, still seen by many as going right back to King Arthur and possibly even Roman times. |
- How to make a draco by Ros Ereira
- How to make a draco's head by Tim Blades
- How to make a draco's noise by Peter Taylor
Notes
| tunc illatae illae vestes, quas in Templo Solis videmus, consertae gemmis, tunc Persici dracones et tiarae, tunc genus purpurae, quod postea nec ulla genus detulit nec Romanus orbis vidit. | Then were brought in those garments, encrusted with jewels, which we now see in the Temple of the Sun, then, too, the Persian dragon-flags and head-dresses, and a species of purple such as of nation ever afterward offered or the Roman world beheld. |
| ... S�meios de diakerimenoi epelaunousin, ou tois Rhoomaikos monon alla kai tois Skythikois, tou poikilooteran te kai hama phoberooteran gignesthai t�n elasi. Ta Skythika de s�meia estin epi kontoon en m�kei xymmetrooi drakontes apaiooroumenoi. Poiountai de xyrraptoi ek rhakoon bebammenoon, tas te kephalas kai to sooma pan este epi tas ouras eikasmenoi ophesin, hoos phoberootata hoion te eikasth�nai. Kai ta sophismata tauta atremountoon men toon hippoon ouden pleon � rhak� an idois pepoikilmena es to katoo apokremamena, elaunomenoon de empneomena exonkountai, hooste hoos malista tois th�riois epeoikenai, kai ti kai episyrizein pros t�n agan kin�sin hypo t�i pno�i biaiai dierchomen�i. | '... They attack separated by standards, not only the Roman but the Scythian ones as well, so the charge becomes more colourful and fearsome at the same time. The Scythian standards are snakes of equal length held up on top of spearshafts. They are made of coloured pieces of cloth sewn together, the heads and their entire body up to the tail resembling serpents, so in order that they appear thus more frightening. And when the horses are not trembling from them the multicoloured bodies can be seen hanging down, however when charging they fill with air through the wind so they are most like the beasts and even hiss when a strong wind flows through much movement.' |
| ..mater eius pridie quam pareret somniavit se purpureum dracunculum parere, .. | The night before he was born his mother dreamed that she brought forth a purple snake, .. |
| Hastae auratae altrinsecus quingenae, vexilla centena praeter ea, quae collegiorum erant, dracones et signa templorum omniumque legionum ibant. | On each side of him were borne five hundred gilded spears and one hundred banners, besides those which belonged to the corporations, and the flags of auxiliaries and the statues from the sanctuaries and the standards of all the legions. |
| Templum sane Solis, quod apud Palmyram aquiliferi legionis tertiae cum vexilliferis et draconario et cornicinibus atque liticinibus diripuerunt, ad eam formam volo, quae fuit, reddi. | Now as to the Temple of the Sun at Palmyra, which has been pillaged by the eagle-bearers of the Third Legion, along with the standard-bearers, the dragonbearer, and the buglers and trumpeters, I wish there is restored to the condition in which it formerly was. |
| ... Quid ipsi draconarii atque signiferi, qui sinistra manu hastas gubernant, in proelio facient, quorum et capita nuda constant et pectora? ... | ... What are the dragonbearers and standardbearers, which hold spears in their left hand, to do in battle, whose heads and breasts are naked ? ...' |
| ... Signiferi qui signa portant, quos nunc draconarios vocant. ... | '... Standardbearers who carry the standards, whom they now call dragonbearers. ...' |
| ... Porta autem, quae appelatur praetoria, aut orientem spectare debet aut illum locum, qui ad hostes respicit, aut, si iter agitur, illam partem debet adtendere, ad quam est profecturus exercitus, intra quam primae centuriae, hoc est cohortes, papiliones tendunt et dracones et signa constitutum. ... | '... The gate though, which is called the commander's, must either face east or to that spot, which faces towards the enemies, or, if a march is conducted, must be directed to that part, towards which the army is to march out, at the inside of which the first centuries, that is cohorts, set up tents and dragons and standards are pitched. ...' |
| ...Dracones etiam per singulas cohortes a draconariis feruntur ad proelium ... | 'Dragons, one each for the individual cohorts, are carried into battle by dragonbearers.' |
| Eoque adfirmante primis auspiciis non congruere aptari muliebri mundo, equi phalerae quaerebantur, uti coronatus speciem saltem obscuram superioris praetenderet potestatis sed cum id quoque turpe esse adseveraret, Maurus nomine quidam, postea comes, qui rem male gessit apud Succorum angustias, Petulantium tunc hastatus, abstractum sibi torquem, quo ut draconarius utebatur, capiti Iuliani inposuit confidenter, qui trusus ad necessitatem extremam iamque periculum praesens vitare non posse advertens, si reniti perseverasset, quinos omnibus aureos argentique singula pondo, promisit. | 'But since he insisted that at the time of his first auspices it was not fitting for him to wear a woman's adornment, they looked about for a horse's trapping, so that being crowned with it he might display at least some obscure token of a loftier station. But when he declared that this also was shameful, a man called Maurus, afterwards a count and defeated at the pass of Succi, but then a standard-bearer of the Petulantes, took off the neck-chain which he wore as carrier of the dragon and boldly placed it on Julian's head. He, driven to the extremity of compulsion, and perceiving that he could not avoid imminent danger if he persisted in his resistance, promised each man five gold pieces and a pound of silver.' |
| ... nihil tutum ex praesentibus ratus in consilia cogebatur extrema et sensim cum principiorum verticibus secretius conlocutus isdemque magnitudine promissae mercedis accensis, cultu purpureo a draconum et vexillorum insignibus ad tempus abstracto ad culmen imperiale surrexit. | '... So Silvanus, seeing no safety under present conditions, was driven to extreme measures, and having gradually spoken more boldly with the chief officers, he aroused them by the greatness of the reward he promised; then as a temporary expedient he tore the purple decorations from the dragon standards and vexilla of the cohorts and the companies, and so mounted to the imperial dignity' |
| ... purpureis subtegminibus texti circumdedere dracones hastarum aureis gemmatisque summitatibus inligati, hiatu vasto perflabiles et ideo velut ira perciti sibilantes caudarumque volumina relinquentes in ventum. | '... the dragons, sewn from purple covers and placed on the gilded and jewel-studded tips of spears, letting wind through an enormous opening and in that way hissing as if they had been aroused in anger and the bodies of their tails flowing in the wind.' |
| Quo agnito per purpureum signum draconis, summitati hastae longioris aptatum velut senectutis pendentis exuvias, stetit unius turmae tribunus et pallore timoreque perculsus ad aciem integrandam recurrit. | 'On recognising him by the purple ensign of a dragon, fitted to the top of a very long lance and spreading out like the slough of a serpent, the tribune of one of the squadrons stopped, and pale and struck with fear rode back to renew the battle.' |
| Meanwhile Surenas, advancing with a large army from a town in Assyria, surprised the reconnoitring party in advance of the army, killed one of the three tribunes and some of his men, and put the remainder to flight, carrying off a military ensign which was in the form of a dragon, such as the Romans usually carry in war. The emperor on learning this was much displeased, and in his anger attacked the forces of Surenas, compelled all to fly that could escape, retook the ensign which the enemy had carried off, and coming immediately to the city where Surenas had surprised the party, stormed, took, and burnt it. As the commander of the party, preferring his own safety to the valour and honour of a Roman, had left his standard in the enemy's hands, he deprived him of his girdle, regarding him as a mean and worthless person, together with all who had accompanied him in his flight |
 |
| In schola draconariorum hominibus decem annonae xi capita xs solidi xcvii. ita: primo annonae ii pro annona solidos v, capitus is pro capitu solidos iiii, fiunt solidi xvi. reliquis hominibus novem ad annonam i pro annona solidos v et ad capitum i pro capitu solidos iiii, fiunt solidi lxxxi. |
'To the ten men in the corps of standard bearers (draconariorum): to the first, five solidi for an annona, and 1 1/2 capitus, 4 solidi for an annona, making 16 solidi; to the remaining nine men, 1 annona each, 5 solidi for an annona, and 1 capitus each, 4 solidi for each capitus, making 81 solidi.'
|
[17] Maurikios, Strategikon, 12.7:
| 'There should be drill masters, standard bearers or draconarii, trumpeters, armorers, weapon makers, bowmakers, arrow makers, and the rest according to regulations.' |
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