Armed Forces of Ancient Russia

Kyiv simple combatant X century

Unfortunately, a modern resident of Russia imagines medieval Europe much better than Russia of the same period. This is because almost all the main ideas about the past are formed by mass culture. And now we have it imported. As a result, "Russian fantasy" differs from "non-Russian" often only by interspersing "national color" in the form of Baba Yaga or the Nightingale the Robber.

And by the way, epics should be taken more seriously. They contain a lot of interesting and reliable information about how and with what Russian soldiers fought. For example, fairy-tale heroes - Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich - are real historical figures. Although, their adventures, of course, are slightly embellished by popular rumor.

In the characteristically unpredictable Russian history, there is, perhaps, only one moment that does not cause any doubts. One way or another, but in the 9th century the Russian state arose, and its history began. What was Russia in the era of Oleg, Igor and Svyatoslav?
In the 9th-10th centuries, feudal relations in Russia were just beginning to take shape. The peasants (except for a small number of captured slaves) retained their freedom, and their obligations to the state were limited to a modest quitrent.
Tribute in furs (which the prince had to collect personally, going around the property) did not provide funds for the maintenance of a large squad. The main force of the Russian armies remained the militias of the peasants, who were obliged to go on a campaign at the first princely word.

However, one could hardly speak of duty here. Rather, it was the prince who was obliged to regularly lead his subjects in raids on their neighbors ... In violent raids! So what to do? In the early Middle Ages, robbery was the most profitable, though somewhat one-sided, form of barter.
Ordinary warriors went on a campaign with spears and “huge”, “hard to bear”, according to the definition of the Byzantines, shields. A small ax served both for combat and for the construction of plows.
In addition, each fighter certainly had a bow. Hunting in Russia in those days was still a very necessary trade for survival. The princely combatants, of course, had chain mail, swords and battle axes. But there were only a few hundred such warriors.
Due to the need to cover long distances, walking in Russia was not popular. The infantry rode on short horses, and even more often - along the rivers on plows. Therefore, in Russia, the foot army was often called the "ship's army"

Izhora simple warrior (X-XI centuries)

If the main force of the army was the cavalry, then the campaign was usually postponed to winter time. The army moved on the ice of the rivers, turned by frost from natural obstacles (there were no bridges) into smooth highways. The heroic horses easily trampled down the deep snow, and behind them the infantry rolled on a sleigh.
However, especially in the southern part of the country, warriors sometimes had to move on foot. And in this regard, it is worth mentioning short boots with a curved toe and high heels. Contrary to the confidence of many authors of “Russian fantasy” (starting with the animators of the cartoon “The Golden Cockerel”), no one in Russia walked in such shoes. Riding boots had high heels. For foot movement and in the Middle Ages, boots of the most ordinary style served.

Prince's comrade. End of X century

Despite the far from brilliant armament and training of the troops, the Russian state already in the first century of its existence showed itself to be quite strong. Although, of course, only in his “weight category”. Thus, the campaigns of the Kyiv princes against the Khazar Khaganate led to the complete defeat of this state, which once exacted tribute from the tribes of the south of Russia.
... In our time, nothing remained either from the Bulgarians, or from the Burtases, or from the Khazars. The fact is that the Russians invaded all of them and took away all these areas from them ... Ibn Haukal, an Arab geographer of the 10th century
Mari noble warrior X century

Just as it happened in Europe, as feudal relations developed in Russia, an increasing number of peasants were attached to the land. Their labor was used to maintain boyar and princely squads. The number of trained and well-armed warriors thus increased.
When the number of squads became comparable to the size of the militia, the squads took up a position on the flanks of the regiment. So there was a “regimental row” of already three regiments: “right hand”, “large” and “left hand”. In a separate - "advanced" - regiment, the archers who covered the battle formation soon stood out.

Russian combatant. Mid 10th century

In the 12th century, warriors completely stopped dismounting. Since that time, the cavalry has become the main force of the Russian armies. The heavily armed horsemen were supported by mounted riflemen. It could be either Cossacks or just hired Polovtsy.

A Russian knight of the 13th century dressed in chain mail, over which was put on scales or leather armor with iron plates. The warrior's head was protected by a conical helmet, which had a coat or mask. In general, the “armor class” of combatants was not only very solid for its time, but also surpassed that of European knights. The heroic horse, however, was somewhat inferior in size to the European destrie, but the difference between them was insignificant.

On the other hand, the Russian knight sat on his huge horse in an Asian way - in a saddle without a back with high stirrups. In this regard, protection on the legs by the Russians, as a rule, was not used. The advantage of the Asiatic seating was the great mobility of the rider. Mail stockings would be a hindrance.
The Asiatic seat allowed the rider to use the sword and bow effectively, but did not provide sufficient stability for spear fighting. So the main weapons of the combatants were not spears, but swords and clubs.
In addition, unlike the European knight, the knight carried with him throwing weapons: a bow with a pair of darts.

D the failures of the Pereyaslav combatant. Reconstruction

Russian weapons in the 12th-13th centuries, in general, were better than European ones. Nevertheless, even then “their” knight in close combat was somewhat stronger than “our” knight. The European rider had the opportunity to be the first to use his longer spear. But the Russian cavalry surpassed the European in mobility, a variety of combat techniques and the ability to interact with infantry.

Significantly outnumbered the warriors of the knights and the number. True, only in relation to the population of the country. Novgorod land, where only about 250 thousand Slavs lived, had a squad of 1,500 horsemen. The Ryazan principality - far from the richest in Russia - with a population of less than 400 thousand, exhibited 2,000 riders in full armor. That is, in terms of military power, Novgorod or Ryazan in the 13th century were approximately equal to such a country as England.

In the 13th century, armor for horses in Russia was used more often than in Europe.

The solid number of heavy cavalry in Russia is due to the fact that in the 11-13 centuries Russia became a predominantly trading country. Despite the fact that no more people lived in the Russian principalities than in England alone, the urban population of Russia was larger than the urban population of all Western Europe. By the beginning of the 12th century Kyiv already had 100,000 inhabitants. Only Constantinople could compare with him.
The great importance of cities in Russia is well illustrated by the fact that all Russian principalities were named after their main cities: Moscow, Tver, Ryazan, Novgorod. France, for example, no one has ever called the "Paris kingdom".

Who are you, “free Cossack, yes Ilya Muromets”?
In fact, where did the Cossacks near Murom come from, and even in the 13th century? After all, the Cossacks seem to belong to a later era, and the Cossacks lived in Ukraine. Well, geography is just fine. Murom, after all, was located in Ukraine. in Ryazan Ukraine. So from time immemorial the Ryazan principality was called. In Russia, all border lands were called "Ukraine" - "outskirts".

And the Cossack ... The Polovtsians called themselves Cossacks (Kazakhs, Kaisaks). No wonder the native village of the hero - Karacharovo - has a Turkic name.
Nomadic Turkic tribes settled on the borders of Russia. The Polovtsy converted to Orthodoxy and received land on the terms of border service. In addition, the baptized Polovtsy - Cossacks or, as they were also called, "hoods" - in the pre-Mongolian period exhibited light cavalry under the banner of Russian princes.

However, the strangest thing in the figure of the epic knight is by no means his nationality. In order to think deeply about the inscription on the stone-pointer (and those in Russia, indeed, were not rare), one had to be able to read. In the 12th-13th centuries, literacy in Russia was a common phenomenon in all sectors of society.

Monument to Ilya Muromets in Murom

In the 12-13 centuries, infantry in Russia retained great importance in the northern principalities, where forests and swamps often interfered with the actions of the cavalry. So, the inhabitants of the Novgorod land not only provided funds for the maintenance of the squads of the prince and the posadnik, but also armed themselves.
A significant difference between Russian medieval infantry and European infantry was that until the 17th century, peaks were not known in Russia. In the European medieval phalanx, pikemen became behind a row of shieldmen, and only then spearmen.
In Russia, warriors with horns, spears and sulits stood immediately behind the defenders.
The absence of pikes significantly weakened the infantry, since the spears could only provide some protection against light cavalry. The wedge of the crusaders during the Battle of the Ice was stopped not by the foot militia of Novgorod, but by the peculiarities of the local geography.
A low (only about 1.5 meters), but slippery cliff did not allow the knights to fly out from the ice of the lake to the shore. The Germans either underestimated the steepness of the slope, or did not notice it at all, since the Cossacks who had left for the ice blocked their view.

The first row of the phalanx was formed by warriors with large shields.

The main task of the Russian infantry in the 12th-13th centuries was not the fight against cavalry in the field, but the defense of fortresses. The fighting on the rivers did not lose its significance, where, naturally, the cavalry could not threaten the infantry. When defending the walls, as in the “river battles”, the battle was fought mainly by throwing. Therefore, the main weapon of the Russian infantryman was a long bow or crossbow.
The crossbow is traditionally considered a Western weapon. But crossbows came to Europe from the Arab countries after the Crusades in the 12th century. This weapon, among other Asian curiosities, came to Russia along the Volga already in the 11th century.
Crossbows were widely used in Russia throughout the Middle Ages. The state “crossbow yard” existed in Moscow until the 17th century.

Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich, 19th century drawing

If you look at the map of the Russian state of the 9th century, you can see that the territory of the Moscow region was not yet included in the number of Russian lands. In fact, the lands between the Oka and the Volga were mastered by the Slavs only in the 11th century. By the standards of the Middle Ages, living conditions in this area could safely be called extreme.
It is all the more surprising that already in the middle of the 12th century the Vladimir land became the economic and political center of Russia. Kievan Rus was replaced by Vladimir Rus.

Vladimir land owed its rise to nothing else than the Great Silk Road, the main trade artery of the Middle Ages. The Caspian Sea and the Volga were convenient for transporting goods from Persia, India and China to Europe. Transport along the Volga especially increased during the period of the Crusades. The path to the Mediterranean Sea through Syria at this time became too dangerous.
And so European beauties began to dress in “Russian” silks, and references to “bast shoes of seven silks” and silk lashes penetrated into Russian epics. The enormous importance of trade in Russia is also perfectly illustrated by the appearance in the epics of the colorful figure of the merchant Sadko, looking down on Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko himself.

Unsinkable businessman Sadko

The tactics of the Russian armies were constantly becoming more complicated, and already in the 12th-13th centuries it began to provide for the division of the battle formation into 5-6 regiments. From the front, the battle order was covered by 1-2 "advanced" regiments of horse archers. Regiments of the "right hand", "left hand" and "large" could consist of both infantry and cavalry.
Moreover, if a large regiment consisted of infantry, then it, in turn, was divided into smaller “city regiments”, each with its own detachment of archers. And behind him was also a strong cavalry detachment, covering the princely banner and performing the functions of a reserve.
Finally, in the third line, behind one of the flanks, there was a "guard" or "ambush" regiment. It has always been the best cavalry

In the 14th century, Russia experienced one of the most difficult periods in its history. The ruin of the country by civil strife, the invasion of the Mongols and the monstrous plague epidemic could not but affect its armed forces. The squads of princes became noticeably smaller. Accordingly, the role of the infantry has increased. And she no longer had such weapons as before. The protective equipment of the foot warrior was now most often limited to a shirt with felt and hemp lined chest.
The cavalry has changed even more. In the 14-15 centuries, the protective equipment of the Russian cavalry became noticeably lighter. The horses themselves became twice as light. Preparing for offensive operations, Dmitry Donskoy transferred his squad to undersized, but hardy Trans-Volga horses.

Duel of Peresvet with Chelubey on the Kulikovo field

The lightening of protective equipment was only partly due to the insufficient “carrying capacity” of horses and the general economic decline. The Russians never used full knightly armor, although the princes, of course, could afford it. Hard armor did not interest Russian warriors, since in Russia the transition from swords to sabers was completed already in the 15th century.
In a battle on long knightly spears, mobility did not matter much. She did not play a decisive role in the battle with heavy swords or axes. But on sabers... In saber combat, mobility was so important that in the 18-19 centuries hussars even wore a jacket (“mentik”) only on one shoulder in order to completely free their right hand. A warrior could effectively use a saber only in light and flexible armor.

By the middle of the 15th century, the Moscow army again became predominantly mounted. The heavy cavalry consisted of nobles and their serfs (as squires were called in Russia). Cossacks and allied Tatars put up light cavalry.
As before, chain mail most often served as protective equipment for mounted warriors. But ringed armor, although it allowed to wield a saber, did not provide satisfactory protection from saber blows. In an effort to increase the reliability of armor, Russian armored men brought the weight of chain mail to 24 kg by the 15th-16th centuries. But that didn't solve the problem.
Forged chain mail did not solve the problem either (from large flat rings 2 mm thick, connected by ordinary wire rings). Such chain mail, of course, was not cut, but stabbing blows “held” even worse. Therefore, caftans stuffed with cotton wool, hemp and horsehair were increasingly worn over chain mail. Similarly, fur hats were worn over helmets to protect against saber blows.

In the 16th century, metal shields or even European-style cuirasses began to be attached to caftans with straps. Russian horsemen of the 15th and 16th centuries were armed with sabers, six-pointers, flails, darts, bows and short spears with a huge tip resembling a scimitar.

Moscow rider of the 15th century

At the end of the 15th century, the cities still continued to field infantry. Armed with bows and long poles, foot soldiers wore hemp shells. From that time on, a foot warrior in Russia began to be called an archer. That is, a shooter. Close combat was to be carried out by cavalry. The best weapon for the shooter already in the 15th century was the squeaker. A bullet could pierce the armor of a Livonian knight or knock down a Tatar horse. But there were still not enough citizens in Moscow who could buy squeakers.
Ivan III got out of the situation by starting to finance the purchase of guns from the treasury. This is how “state tweeters” appeared in Russia.
In the 16th century, most of the townspeople were exempted from military service. A minority of the townspeople (about 25% in Moscow) formed the estate of archers. Later, mounted archers were added to the foot archers - “stirrups”. In Europe they would be called dragoons.

Squeakers. Early 15th century

The entire history of Muscovy in the 14th-15th centuries can be described in one word: “war”. Like the inhabitants of early Rome, the Muscovites went on a campaign every year, as if they were doing field work. Neighbors, however, did not remain in debt, so that in a different year several wars happened at once. But Moscow won. In 1480 Sarai was destroyed by the troops of Ivan III. Upon learning of this, the Tatars fled from the Ugra. The yoke is over.
The end of the 15th century was a turning point in the history of Russia. During the reign of Ivan III, Moscow defeated the Horde and united the northern Russian principalities. In addition, Muscovy had to enter into a long war with a five-fold population of the Polish-Lithuanian Union. In 1503, the Commonwealth, having ceded a significant part of the territory to Muscovy, concluded a truce.

Sagittarius - "state tweeter"

Russian history can be safely called long-suffering. Only in the 20th century did she correspond several times. But no matter what the next guidelines turn out to be, the truth cannot be strangled or killed!
The truth is that history is written by the winners. Or, at least, those who manage to survive it. The Byzantines, for example, will no longer be able to rewrite their history. And the Khazars can't either.
The fact that the history of Russia has not yet been completed is an exhaustive proof of the strength and effectiveness of Russian weapons.

Berserk is an effective and quite conscious combat frenzy, as an extraordinary phenomenon of human fortitude, in the ancient Germanic and Old Norse society, a warrior who devoted himself to the god Odin.
Among the Germanic peoples, it turned into a kind of cult of a warrior-beast. Bestial "transformations", which are the highest form of development of combat rage, are known to all Germans. Late ancient historians report on the “Frankish fury”, on the “wolf warriors” of the Lombard people ... At the same time, such unstoppable forces were released that even a close disciplined system and the art of “correct combat” could not always resist them.

Pure berserkers, even the Vikings themselves, were treated with a feeling somewhere between admiration, fearful deference and contempt. These are the true "dogs of war"; if they were able to be used, then mainly - in the position of "tamed animals".
A kind of “wisdom of madness” protected the berserkers from throwing (and also from shock) weapons. Disinhibited consciousness included extreme responsiveness, sharpened peripheral vision, and probably provided some extrasensory skills. Berserker saw (or even predicted) any blow and managed to repel it or rebound.
Traditionally, berserkers were the vanguard that started the fight. They could not fight for a long time (a combat trance cannot last long), breaking through the ranks of enemies and laying the foundation for a common victory, they left the battlefield to ordinary warriors who completed the defeat of the enemy.
Not every berserker knew how to correctly use internal energy. Sometimes they spent it too extensively - and then, after the battle, the warrior fell into a state of “berserker impotence” for a long time, which was not explained only by physical fatigue.
The attacks of this impotence were so severe that the warrior-beast could sometimes die after the battle, even without being wounded.

The Slavs had their own "berserkers" - werewolf roars. And not a single berserker could compare with the Slavic roar, because "The Slavs surpass the Germans both in body and spirit, fighting with bestial ferocity ..." (Jordan, ancient historian, VI century).

Rykar is the living embodiment of Slavic anger. Already in the name, a furious animal roar is heard, and the word itself literally means “growling warrior.” Rykars in Russia were called special warriors who were able to successfully fight against an enemy that was many times superior in number, under any conditions, with all types of weapons, simultaneously with both hands. Rykar outwardly looks like a complete madman, but internally maintains an icy calm. The purpose of his life is to serve his family. Historical sources say that one rykar was able to disperse 10-20 warriors, and two rykars put a hundred armed people to flight.
Three hundred rykars of the city of Arkona - the guards of the temple of Svetovit, terrified the entire non-Slavic coast of the Baltic. The temple of Radogost in the city of Retra was famous for the same warriors. There was even a whole Slavic tribe of rykars - lyutichi (from the word "fierce"), all of whose warriors fought in wolf skins.
A warrior who wants to find a patron spirit, more often a wolf or a bear, had to fight them alone and naked. This is the reason why the enemies were so afraid of the roar, and the one who went through this test himself became more dangerous than the beast he defeated.
The roars fought naked or in some animal skins, without chain mail and shields (they simply interfered with them!). They always rushed into battle first, with the battle cry "Yar!" rushing forward. Roaring like those possessed, the roars destroyed the opponents, chopping in a jump a footman - in half, and a horseman - to the saddle. Having lost his weapon, having fallen under enemy arrows, the rykar continued to tear his enemies apart with his bare hands, not being afraid of death, not feeling any pain or fear, possessing an unbending will. And neither steel nor fire could do anything with them.

The Slavic princes recruited close warriors-comrades-in-arms from the rykars, and often they themselves were rykar-wolflacs. The rulers of Byzantium, China, the Caliphate - everyone had heard about the great Slavic warriors, and had in their troops elite guard detachments, assembled exclusively from the Slavs.
“Olbeg Ratiborich, take your bow, and put on an arrow, and hit Itlar in the heart, and his squad is all beaten ...” (Radziwill Chronicle: L .: Nauka, 1989, p. 91.) Eloquently. The Nikon chronicle about Ragday speaks no less eloquently: “And this man went to three hundred soldiers” (!). What is this, hero worship? Where there! The chronicler is sickened by the “god-resistance” of the bloody squabbles. Barbaric beauty is not at all his path. This is the real essence.
“The filthy ones had 9 hundred mines, and Russia had ninety copies. Rising up to strength, the filth of the pondos, and ours are against them ... And the wallpaper is dreaming, and there was evil ... and the Polovtsians run away, and ours are driven by them, the ovs of the secant ... ”(Radziwill chronicle, p. 134. 26) ..
Unfortunately, much of what our forefathers could and did is now lost, forgotten, shrouded in a veil of secrecy and dark rumors, and requires a new discovery. Fortunately, the roots are not completely lost ...
Few researchers draw parallels with Russian fairy tales about Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf; about Sivka-burka, through whose ear, having made his way, the good fellow took on new strength; about Van turning into a Bear, etc.

The legends of the skalds speak of berserkers as the great creators of victories. In ancient Russian fairy tales - as about werewolves for the sake of victories on a wider scale. It turned out that the enchanted warriors did everything because they possessed the highest, inhuman capabilities. For they were the favorites of the Gods! Masters of extraordinary powers!
Having awakened in oneself the accumulated reserves of evolution, animal nature and combining IT with the trance possibilities of human consciousness, one can actually be a super-activated person - for the sake of success and victories in life.
Mastery of trance mastery, hypnotic qualities, a special state into which the Berserker falls to induce a "gloomy" stupor on the enemy. The victorious maneuvers of the Berserker are so fast and of high quality that the enemy does not even have time to understand that it no longer exists ...
It is impossible to defend against the powerful energy of the Berserkers, nothing can stop them, because in a moment of the enemy's reaction, the Berserker manages to get ahead of the enemy by several moves, inflict 3-4 victorious blows.
Berserk is not just a warrior’s teaching, but, unfortunately, it became such in official history, the church stood in the way of this closed brotherhood, outlawing berserkers, after which these people were exterminated for a reward. Since that time, it is generally accepted that these were ill-mannered people, full of anger and rage, which cannot be controlled.

There are interesting facts:

1 - In the Nikon Chronicle there are amazing lines dated to the year 1000: “Ragdai the Udaloy died, as if he had run into this three hundred warriors” (Ragdai the Udaloy, who fought alone against 300 soldiers, died).
It is known from the legends that Ragdai was like a wolf, and fairy tales about the sword-hoarder originate precisely from this character. Which he waved as if it had no weight.

2 - Russian voevoda Evpaty Kolovrat hurried with 1500 detachment to the aid of Ryazan, besieged by Batu ... He did not have time ... Looking around the ashes, he decided to engage in battle with the enemy rearguard and defeated him on his head. When Batu was informed about the attack, he sent soldiers (tumen) to close the issue. The Russians held out. Batu sent a second tumen. The Russians held out again. Struck by the valor of the knights, he offered them money and positions. They answered: "No." - "What do you want?" Baty asked. “We want to die,” the Kolovrat squad replied.
After such an answer, Batu was forced to stop the army (an unheard-of moment in the history of warfare), reorganize it from a marching order into a battle one, and use all his might against a handful of Russians.
Only one thing is absolutely clear that a simple person could not do such a thing, no matter how furious he possessed, there is a limit to human strength (physical).

There are official theories according to which the aggressiveness of the berserker is explained by the use of psychotropic substances before the battle, namely muscarine, fly agaric poison. Today we know that people, when poisoned by fly agaric, fight wildly around themselves, they are excited, they are visited by delusional thoughts. In others and doctors, they see fabulous creatures, gods, spirits. The toxic effect wears off after 20 hours, and then people fall into a deep sleep, from which, in most cases, they wake up only after 30 hours. This view is the most common, but other possible causes have been cited, such as hysteria, epilepsy, mental illness, and heredity.

The structure of the army in the early period of Russian history (X-XI centuries)

With the expansion in the first half of the 9th century of the influence of the Kyiv princes on the tribal unions of the Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Krivichi and Severyans, the establishment of a system for collecting and exporting polyudya, the Kyiv princes begin to have the means to maintain a large army in constant combat readiness, which was required to fight the nomads. Also, the army could stay under the banners for a long time, making long-term campaigns, which was required to defend the interests of foreign trade in the Black and Caspian Seas.

The main form of military operations of the ancient Russian state was military campaigns, and the most large-scale of them were carried out on ships, but unlike the sea campaigns of the Viking-Varangians, which were in the nature of predatory raids, the campaigns of the Russian princes had a completely different content. They served the state interests of Russia. In this regard, it should be noted that the numerous attacks of the “Rus” on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea at the end of the 9th and the first half of the 10th century, as well as those that took place from the middle of the 8th century. their raids on the Black Sea coast have only an indirect relation to the national military history, being typically Norman.

The core of the army was the princely squad, which appeared in the era of "military democracy".

Under the squad it is customary to understand an armed cavalry detachment from the approximate persons of a prince or boyar. The squads of Russian princes were usually divided into the “oldest”, consisting of princely husbands - the boyars, and the “youngest”, who was constantly with the prince, his armed detachment. The younger squad consisted of "children", "lads", "young", "gridni" and warriors from the people - "husbands of the brave, kind, strong", as free military servants who came to the full support of the prince.

Responsibility for the defense of the state, and, consequently, for its military organization, lay with the prince-ruler. The princely squads were the core of the entire military organization of the Russian state.

The squad of the Grand Duke was the backbone of the Grand Duke's table of the ruler of Russia, and its members took part not only in wars and campaigns, but also in government. The squads of princes-vassals helped their eldest prince-suzerain in the family to manage affairs in a particular region of the state - the fatherland, the appanage. Druzhina troops were also used in internal princely strife.

Thus, the squad system of Russia was a large, influential, harmonious and permanent organization of armed people with broad powers and functions for the implementation of state and military control. Druzhina detachments were legitimate armed formations of the state, and each individual squad was a forge of personnel for Russian military leaders, which also allows us to correlate the squad with the officer corps of a later era. At the same time, we can consider the senior squad as senior officers - the "generals" of Ancient Russia; the middle link of the princely combatants - as "senior officers", and the younger ones are considered "junior officers". Each of the princes had several military governors with him, and also managed the institute of governors and posadniks, who were city governors.

The warrior relied on combat armor and weapons. He also had a war horse (in large campaigns - two). The squad was a permanent component, the core of the all-Russian or regional army: it was always in the service of the prince and had a clear social gradation, professionally mastered military affairs, was soundly armed, and received a salary for its service.

Another, more numerous part of the army was the militia - howls. At the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, the militia was tribal. The sets of wars at the beginning of the reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich or during the formation by Vladimir Svyatoslavich of the garrisons of fortresses built by him on the border with the Steppe are of a one-time nature, there is no information that this service had a certain period or that the warrior had to come to the service with some or equipment.

Also in the wars of Ancient Russia, mercenary troops took a certain part. Initially, these were the Varangians, which is associated with friendly relations between Russia and Scandinavia. They participated not only as mercenaries. Varangians are also found among the closest associates of the first Kyiv princes. In some campaigns of the 10th century, Russian princes hired Pechenegs and Hungarians. Later, during the period of feudal fragmentation, mercenaries also often participated in internecine wars. Among the peoples who were among the mercenaries, in addition to the Varangians and Pechenegs, there were Polovtsy, Hungarians, Western and Southern Slavs, Finno-Ugric peoples and Balts, Germans and some others. All of them were armed in their own style.

The Kievan and Chernihiv princes in the 12th-13th centuries used, respectively, the Black Klobuks and Kovuy: Pechenegs, Torks and Berendeys, expelled from the steppes by the Polovtsy and settled on the southern Russian borders. A feature of these troops was constant combat readiness, which was necessary for a prompt response to small Polovtsian raids.

Combat tactics (X-XI centuries)

The battle order of the troops of the ancient Russian state at the initial stage of its existence differed significantly from the line of tribal groups known in the previous era.

Initially, when the cavalry was insignificant, the main battle formation of the infantry was the "wall". Along the front, it was about 300 m and reached a depth of 10-12 ranks. The soldiers of the front ranks had good defensive weapons. Sometimes cavalry covered such a formation from the flanks. Sometimes the army lined up in a ramming wedge. Such tactics had a number of disadvantages in the fight against strong cavalry, the main ones being: insufficient maneuverability, vulnerability of the rear and flanks. Such a battle formation had the same strengths and weaknesses as the ancient Greek phalanx. The strength of the battle order of the "wall" lay in its solidity and the force of impact of the attacking mass of the troops, placed by the "wall", hiding behind large shields, swiftly rushed at the enemy. Since the cavalry was small in number, the outcome of the battle was determined by this onslaught of infantry. Sometimes the army lined up in a ramming wedge.

Actions in such formations require a high level of combat training of soldiers, as well as the presence of unity of command and discipline in the army.

So in the general battle with the Byzantines near Adrianople in 970, the weaker flanks (Hungarians and Pechenegs) were ambushed and defeated, but the main Russian-Bulgarian forces continued to make their way through the center and were able to decide the outcome of the battle in their favor.

The tactics of the first Kyiv princes, based on the use of such a battle formation, allowed them to successfully operate against tribal militias, units of foot Scandinavians or nomads. However, in the confrontation with the enemy, who had strong heavy cavalry, the weaknesses of the "wall" were clearly manifested, primarily the poor protection of the flanks and rear from envelopment and the low maneuverability of the troops. Further development of tactics went in the direction of ensuring reliable protection of the rear and flanks, separating new elements of the battle formation from the "wall", increasing their maneuverability and interaction.

In the XI century. the battle order acquires a three-link structure - the "half row", dividing along the front into the "brow" (the center of the battle order) and the "wings" (flanks). This was due to the increase in numbers and the strengthening of the role of the cavalry and the need for interaction with the infantry, which, as a rule, was in the center. This formation increased the maneuverability of the troops. The first mention of such a battle formation and the maneuver of its units on the battlefield is found in the description of the battle near Listven in 1024 between the sons of Vladimir - Yaroslav and Mstislav. In this battle, one Russian formation with a center (tribal militia) and two powerful flanks (druzhina) defeated another Russian simple formation in one regiment. Ten years later, in 1036, in the decisive battle with the Pechenegs, the Russian army was divided into three regiments, which had a homogeneous structure, on a territorial basis. In 1068, on the Snova River, the 3,000-strong army of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich of Chernigov defeated the 12,000-strong Polovtsian army. During the campaigns against the Polovtsy in the Kiev rule of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich and Vladimir Monomakh, Russian troops repeatedly fought in encirclement due to the multiple numerical superiority of the enemy, which did not prevent them from winning.

By the end of the 12th century, in addition to the division into three regiments along the front, a division into four regiments in depth was added. To control the troops, banners were used, which served as a guide for everyone. Musical instruments were also used.

The tactics of the siege and defense of fortresses were primitive, since the means of defense far exceeded the means of attack. The besiegers, if they failed to capture the fortress with a sudden raid - "exile", as a rule, limited themselves to passive defense, hoping to starve out the weaker side. The exception is the siege by Vladimir Korsun, when an earthen mountain was piled up near the wall - “will take”. Nevertheless, the city fell only after the besiegers "took away water" from the besieged, digging up an underground gravity water supply from a source outside the fortress walls. The low activity of the besiegers also affected the fortification - Russian fortresses of that time were practically devoid of towers (with the exception of gate structures).

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Army of Ancient Russia- the armed forces of Kievan Rus (from the end of the 9th century) and the Russian principalities of the pre-Mongolian period (until the middle of the 13th century). Like the armed forces of the early medieval Slavs of the 5th-8th centuries, they solved the problems of fighting the nomads of the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region and the Byzantine Empire, but they were fundamentally different from the new supply system (from the first half of the 9th century) and the penetration of the Varangian military nobility into the social elite of the East Slavic society at the end of the 9th century . The army of Ancient Russia was also used by the princes of the Rurik dynasty for internal political struggle in Russia.

background

Under the year 375, one of the first military clashes of the ancient Slavs is mentioned. The Antian elder Bozh and with him 70 elders were killed by the Goths.

After the decline of the Hunnic empire by the end of the 5th century, with the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe, the Slavs returned to the historical arena. In the 6th-7th centuries, there was an active Slavic colonization of the Balkan Peninsula, which was owned by Byzantium - the most powerful state of the 6th century, which crushed the kingdoms of the Vandals in North Africa, the Ostrogoths in Italy and the Visigoths in Spain and again turned the Mediterranean Sea into roman lake. Many times in direct clashes with the Byzantines, the Slavic troops won victories. In particular, in 551, the Slavs defeated the Byzantine cavalry and captured its chief Asbad, which indicates the presence of cavalry among the Slavs, and took the city of Toper, luring its garrison away from the fortress with a false retreat and setting up an ambush. In 597, during the siege of Thessalonica, the Slavs used stone-throwing machines, "turtles", iron rams and hooks. In the 7th century, the Slavs successfully operated at sea against Byzantium (siege of Thessalonica in 610, landing on Crete in 623, landing under the walls of Constantinople in 626).

In the next period, associated with the dominance of the Turkic-Bulgarians in the steppes, the Slavs are cut off from the Byzantine borders, but in the 9th century two events occur that immediately chronologically precede the era of Kievan Rus - the Russian-Byzantine war of 830 and the Russian-Byzantine war of 860. Both expeditions were by sea.

Troop organization

IX-XI centuries

With the expansion in the first half of the 9th century of the influence of the Kyiv princes on the tribal unions of the Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Krivichi and Severyans, the establishment of a collection system (carried out by the forces of 100-200 soldiers) and the export of polyudya, the Kyiv princes begin to have the means to maintain a large army in constant combat readiness, which was required to fight the nomads. Also, the army could stay under the banner for a long time, making long-term campaigns, which was required to defend the interests of foreign trade in the Black and Caspian Seas.

The core of the army was the princely squad, which appeared in the era of military democracy. Among them were professional warriors. The number of senior combatants (excluding their own combatants and servants) can be judged from later data (the Novgorod Republic - 300 "golden belts"; the Battle of Kulikovo - more than 500 dead). A more numerous younger squad was made up of gridi (prince's bodyguards - Ibn-Fadlan defines the number of "heroes" in the castle of the Kyiv prince at 400 people under 922), youths (military servants), children (children of older combatants). However, the squad was not numerous and hardly exceeded 2000 people.

The most numerous part of the army was the militia - howls. At the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, the militia was tribal. Archaeological data testify to the property stratification among the Eastern Slavs at the turn of the 8th-9th centuries and the appearance of thousands of manors-choirs of the local nobility, while the tribute was calculated in proportion to the yards, regardless of the wealth of the owners (however, according to one version of the origin of the boyars, the local nobility was prototype of the senior squad). From the middle of the 9th century, when Princess Olga organized the collection of tribute in the Russian North through the system of graveyards (later we see the Kyiv governor in Novgorod, transporting 2/3 of the Novgorod tribute to Kyiv), tribal militias lose their significance.

The sets of wars at the beginning of the reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich or during the formation by Vladimir Svyatoslavich of the garrisons of the fortresses he built on the border with the steppe are one-time in nature, there is no information that this service had a certain period or that the warrior had to come to the service with any equipment .

From the 11th century, the senior squad begins to play a key role in the veche. On the contrary, in a more numerous part of the vecha - in younger- historians see not the junior squad of the prince, but the people's militia of the city (merchants, artisans). As for the rural people's militia, according to various versions, smerds participated in campaigns as servants of the convoy, supplied horses for the city militia (Presnyakov A.E.) or served in the cavalry themselves (Rybakov B.A.).

Mercenary troops took a certain part in the wars of Ancient Russia. Initially, these were the Varangians, which is associated with friendly relations between Russia and Scandinavia. They participated not only as mercenaries. Varangians are also found among the closest associates of the first Kyiv princes. In some campaigns of the 10th century, Russian princes hired Pechenegs and Hungarians. Later, during the period of feudal fragmentation, mercenaries also often participated in internecine wars. Among the peoples who were among the mercenaries, in addition to the Varangians and Pechenegs, there were Polovtsy, Hungarians, Western and Southern Slavs, Finno-Ugric peoples and Balts, Germans and some others. All of them were armed in their own style.

The total number of troops could be more than 10,000 people.

XII-XIII centuries

In the XII century, after the loss of the cities of Sarkel on the Don and the Tmutarakan principality by Russia, after the success of the first crusade, the trade routes connecting the Middle East with Western Europe were reoriented to new routes: the Mediterranean and the Volga. Historians note the transformation of the structure of the Russian army. In place of the senior and junior squads come the princely court - the prototype of a standing army and the regiment - the feudal militia of the boyars-landowners, the importance of the veche falls (except for Novgorod; in Rostov, the boyars were defeated by the princes in 1175).

With the isolation of the lands-princes under a more stable princely power, this latter not only intensified, but also acquired a local, territorial character. Its administrative, organizing activities could not but lay a hand on the structure of the military forces, moreover, in such a way that the squad troops become local, and the city troops become princes. And the fate of the word "druzhina" with its fluctuations testifies to this convergence of elements that were heterogeneous. The princes begin to speak of the city regiments as "their own" regiments, and call squads made up of the local population, without identifying them with their personal squad - the court. The concept of the prince's squad greatly expanded by the end of the XII century. It encompasses the influential tops of society and the entire military force of the reign. The squad was divided into the princely court and the boyars, large and ordinary.

Already in relation to the pre-Mongolian period, it is known (for the Novgorod army) about two methods of recruitment - one warrior on horseback and in full armor (horse and weapons) from 4 or from 10 dry, depending on the degree of danger (that is, the number of troops gathered from one territory could differ by 2.5 times; perhaps for this reason, some princes who tried to defend their independence could almost equally resist the united forces of almost all other principalities, and there are also examples of clashes between Russian forces and an enemy who had already defeated them in the first battle: victory on Snova after the defeat on Alta, defeat at Zhelan after the defeat on Stugna, defeat on the City after the defeat at Kolomna). Despite the fact that until the end of the 15th century the main type of feudal land ownership was a patrimony (that is, hereditary unconditional land ownership), the boyars were obliged to serve the prince. For example, in the 1210s, during the struggle between the Galicians and the Hungarians, the main Russian army twice sent against the boyars who were late for the general assembly.

The Kievan and Chernihiv princes in the 12th-13th centuries used, respectively, the Black Klobuks and Kovuyevs: Pechenegs, Torks and Berendeys, expelled from the steppes by the Polovtsians and settled on the southern Russian borders. A feature of these troops was constant combat readiness, which was necessary for a prompt response to small Polovtsian raids.

Types of troops

In medieval Russia, there were three types of troops - infantry, cavalry and fleet. At first, horses began to be used as a means of transportation, but they fought dismounted. The chronicler speaks of Svyatoslav and his army:

Thus, for the speed of movement, the army used pack horses instead of a convoy. For battle, the army often dismounted, Leo the Deacon under the year 971 indicates the unusual performance of the Russian army in the cavalry.

However, professional cavalry was needed to fight the nomads, so the squad becomes cavalry. At the same time, the organization was based on the Hungarian and Pecheneg experience. Horse breeding began to develop. The development of the cavalry took place faster in the south of Russia than in the north, due to the difference in the nature of the terrain and opponents. In 1021, Yaroslav the Wise with an army traveled from Kyiv to the Sudomir River, where he defeated Bryachislav of Polotsk, in a week, that is, the average speed was 110-115 km. per day. In the XI century, the cavalry is compared in importance with the infantry, and later surpasses it. At the same time, mounted archers stand out, who, in addition to the bow and arrows, used axes, possibly spears, shields and helmets.

Horses were important not only for the war, but also for the economy, so they were bred in the owner's villages. And they were also kept in princely households: there are cases when princes gave out horses to militias during the war. The example of the Kyiv uprising in 1068 shows that the city militia was mounted.

During the entire pre-Mongolian period, the infantry played its role in all hostilities. She not only participated in the capture of cities and carried out engineering and transport work, but also covered the rear, made sabotage attacks, and also participated in battles with the cavalry. For example, in the 12th century, mixed battles involving both infantry and cavalry were common near city fortifications. There was no clear division in terms of weapons, and everyone used what was more convenient for him and what he could afford. Therefore, each had several types of weapons. However, depending on this, the tasks performed by them also differed. So, in the infantry, as in the cavalry, one can single out heavily armed spearmen, in addition to a spear armed with sulits, a battle ax, a mace, a shield, sometimes with a sword and armor, and lightly armed archers equipped with a bow and arrows, a battle ax or an iron mace, and, obviously without protective weapons.

Under 1185 in the south for the first time (and in 1242 in the north for the last time) archers are mentioned as a separate branch of the army and a separate tactical unit. The cavalry begins to specialize in a direct strike with melee weapons and in this sense begins to resemble the medieval Western European cavalry. Heavily armed spearmen were armed with a spear (or two), a saber or a sword, a bow or bow with arrows, a flail, a mace, and less often a battle axe. They were fully armored, including the shield. In 1185, during a campaign against the Polovtsy, Prince Igor himself, and with him the combatants, not wanting to break out of the encirclement in the horse ranks and thereby leave to the mercy of fate black people, dismount and attempt a breakthrough on foot. Further, a curious detail is indicated: the prince, after receiving a wound, continued to move on a horse. As a result of the repeated defeat by the Mongols and the Horde of the northeastern Russian cities and the establishment of control over the Volga trade route, in the second half of the 13th century, a regression and reverse unification of the Russian troops took place.

The fleet of the Eastern Slavs originated in the 4th-6th centuries and was associated with the struggle against Byzantium. It was a river sailing and rowing fleet applicable for navigation. Since the 9th century, fleets of several hundred ships existed in Russia. They were intended to be used as transport. However, naval battles also took place. The main vessel was a boat carrying about 50 people and sometimes armed with a ram and throwing machines. In the period of the struggle for the reign of Kiev in the middle of the XII century, Izyaslav Mstislavich used boats with a second deck completed above the rowers, on which the archers were located.

Tactics

Initially, when the cavalry was insignificant, the main battle formation of the infantry was the "wall". Along the front, it was about 300 m and reached a depth of 10-12 ranks. The soldiers of the front ranks had good defensive weapons. Sometimes cavalry covered such a formation from the flanks. Sometimes the army lined up in a ramming wedge. Such tactics had a number of disadvantages in the fight against strong cavalry, the main ones being: insufficient maneuverability, vulnerability of the rear and flanks. In a general battle with the Byzantines near Adrianople in 970, the weaker flanks (Hungarians and Pechenegs) were ambushed and defeated, but the main Russian-Bulgarian forces continued to make their way through the center and were able to decide the outcome of the battle in their favor.

In the XI-XII centuries, the army was divided into regiments. In the 11th century, the "regimental row" became the main battle formation, which consisted of the center and flanks. As a rule, the infantry was in the center. This formation increased the mobility of the troops. In 1023, at the Battle of Listven, one Russian formation with a center (tribal militia) and two powerful flanks (team) defeated another Russian simple formation in one regiment.

Already in 1036, in the decisive battle with the Pechenegs, the Russian army was divided into three regiments, which had a homogeneous structure, on a territorial basis.

In 1068, on the Snova River, the 3,000-strong army of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich of Chernigov defeated the 12,000-strong Polovtsian army. During the campaigns against the Polovtsy in the Kiev rule of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich and Vladimir Monomakh, Russian troops repeatedly fought in encirclement due to the multiple numerical superiority of the enemy, which did not prevent them from winning.

The Russian cavalry was homogeneous, different tactical tasks (reconnaissance, counterattack, pursuit) were performed by units with the same recruitment method and the same organizational structure. By the end of the 12th century, in addition to the division into three regiments along the front, a division into four regiments in depth was added.

To control the troops, banners were used, which served as a guide for everyone. Musical instruments were also used.

Armament

Protective

If the early Slavs, according to the Greeks, did not have armor, then the distribution of chain mail dates back to the 8th-9th centuries. They were made from rings made of iron wire, which reached 7-9 and 13-14 mm in diameter, and 1.5 - 2 mm in thickness. Half of the rings were welded, and the other half was riveted during weaving (1 to 4). In total, at least 20,000 of them left. Later, there were chain mail with copper rings woven in for decoration. The size of the rings is reduced to 6-8 and 10-13 mm. There were also weaving, where all the rings were riveted. Old Russian chain mail, on average, was 60-70 cm long, about 50 cm wide (at the waist) or more, with short sleeves of about 25 cm and a split collar. At the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century, chain mail made of flat rings appeared - their diameter was 13-16 mm with a wire width of 2-4 mm and a thickness of 0.6-0.8 mm. These rings were flattened with a die. This form increased the cover area with the same armor weight. In the XIII century, there was a pan-European weighting of armor, and knee-length chain mail appeared in Russia. However, chain mail weaves were also used for other purposes - around the same time, chain mail stockings (nagavits) appeared. And most helmets were supplied with aventail. Chain mail in Russia was very common and was used not only by the squad, but also by noble warriors.

In addition to chain mail, lamellar armor was used. Their appearance dates back to the 9th-10th centuries. Such armor was made of iron plates of a shape close to rectangular, with several holes along the edges. Through these holes, all the plates were connected with straps. On average, the length of each plate was 8-10 cm, and the width was 1.5-3.5 cm. More than 500 of them went into the armor. The lamellar looked like a hip-length shirt, with a hem expanding downwards, sometimes with sleeves. According to archeology, in the 9th-13th centuries, there was 1 lamellar for 4 chain mail, while in the north (especially in Novgorod, Pskov, Minsk) plate armor was more common. And later they even supplant chain mail. There is information about their export. Scale armor was also used, which is a plate measuring 6 by 4-6 cm, reinforced by the upper edge to a leather or cloth base. There were also brigantines. Since the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century, folding bracers have been used to protect hands. And at the end of the 13th century, early mirrors appeared - round plaques worn over armor.

Helmets, according to archeology, have been widely used since the 10th century, and there are more archaeological finds of helmets (as well as chain mail) in Russia than in any other country in Europe. At first, these were conical helmets of the Norman type, which were not of Norman origin at all, but came to Europe from Asia. This type was not widely used in Russia and was supplanted by spheroconic helmets, which appeared around the same time. These were helmets of the Chernigov type, riveted from four parts of iron, and often richly decorated. There were also other types of spheroconic helmets. From the 12th century, high helmets with a spire and nosepiece appeared in Russia, and soon became the most common type of helmet, retaining its primacy for several centuries. This is due to the fact that the spheroconic shape is best suited for protection against strikes from above, which is important in areas of horse-and-saber combat. In the second half of the 12th century, helmets with a half mask appeared - they were richly decorated and belonged to noble warriors. But the use of masks is not confirmed by anything, therefore, if it was, then only in isolated cases. Western helmets of a hemispherical shape existed, but were also rare.

Large-sized shields were protective weapons of the ancient Slavs, but their design is unknown. In the 10th century, round flat wooden shields covered with leather with an iron umbon were common. From the beginning of the 11th century, almond-shaped shields, convenient for horsemen, spread. And from the middle of the XIII century, they begin to turn into triangular ones.

In the middle of the XIII century, the Galician-Volyn army had horse armor, called by the chronicler Tatar (mask and leather blanket), which coincides with Plano Carpini's description of Mongolian horse armor.

throwing machines

In ancient Russia, there was the use of throwing machines. The earliest report of their use by the Slavs dates back to the end of the 6th century - in the description of the siege of Thessalonica in 597. In a Greek source, they are described as follows: “They were quadrangular on wide bases, ending in a narrower upper part, on which there were drums very thick, with iron edges, and wooden beams were driven into them (like beams in a large house), having slings. (sphendones), raising which they threw stones, both large and numerous, so that neither the earth could endure their hits, nor human structures. But besides, only three of the four sides of the ballista were surrounded by boards, so that those inside were protected from hitting arrows fired from the walls. During the siege of Constantinople in 626 by the Slavic-Avar army, siege equipment consisted of 12 mobile towers upholstered in copper, several rams, "turtles" and throwing machines covered with leather. Moreover, the machines were manufactured and maintained mainly by Slavic detachments. Arrow-throwing and stone-throwing machines are also mentioned during the siege of Constantinople in 814 by the Slavic-Bulgarian army. In the times of Ancient Russia, the use of throwing machines by both the Byzantines and the Slavs, Leo Deacon notes, speaking of the campaigns of Svyatoslav Igorevich. The message from the Joachim Chronicle about the use of two vices by the Novgorodians against Dobrynya, who was going to christen them, is rather legendary. By the end of the 10th century, the Russians stopped raiding Byzantium, and a change in tactics led to a decrease in the use of siege weapons. Now the besieged city is taken either by a long blockade or by a sudden capture; the fate of the city was most often decided as a result of the battle near it, and then the main type of hostilities was a field battle. Again throwing guns were used in 1146 by the troops of Vsevolod Olgovich during the unsuccessful siege of Zvenigorod. In 1152, during the assault on Novgorod-Seversky, stones from vices destroyed the wall and took the prison, after which the struggle ended in peace. The Ipatiev Chronicle notes that the Polovtsy under the command of Konchak went to Russia, with them there was an Islamic master serving powerful crossbows, which required 8 (or 50) people and “live fire” to pull them. But the Polovtsy were defeated and the cars got to the Russians. Shereshirs (from the Persian tir-i-cherkh), mentioned in the Tale of Igor's Campaign - perhaps there are incendiary projectiles that were thrown from such crossbows. Arrows for them have also been preserved. Such an arrow was in the form of an iron rod 170 cm long with a pointed end and tail in the form of 3 iron blades, weighing 2 kg. In 1219, the Russians used large stone-throwing and flame-throwing crossbows during the assault on the Bulgarian city of Oshel. In this case, Russian siege equipment developed under West Asian influence. In 1234, vice was used in a field internecine battle, which ended in peace. In the XIII century, the use of throwing machines is growing. Of great importance here was the invasion of the Mongols, who, when taking Russian cities, used the best technology of that time. However, throwing weapons were also used by the Russians, for example, in the defense of Chernigov and Kholm. They were also actively used in wars with the Polish-Hungarian invaders, for example, in the battle of Yaroslav in 1245. The Novgorodians also used throwing machines when taking fortresses in the Baltic states.

The main type of Russian throwing machines were not easel crossbows, but various lever-slinging machines. The simplest type is the paterella, which threw stones attached to the long arm of the lever when people pulled on the arm. For cores of 2 - 3 kg, 8 people were enough, and for cores of several tens of kilograms - up to 100 or more. A more perfect and widespread machine was the mandzhanik, which was called vice in Russia. In them, instead of the thrust created by people, a movable counterweight was used. All these machines were short-lived, their repair and manufacture was monitored by "vicious" craftsmen. At the end of the 14th century, firearms appear, but siege engines still retain their combat value until the 15th century.

Drawings by Oleg Fedorov are based on reliable archaeological and scientific data, many of them are created for major museums and private collectors from Russia, Ukraine and other countries. We have already talked about the reconstruction in Fedorov's watercolors, this time we will talk about the warriors of Ancient Russia.

The druzhina culture in Ancient Russia was formed simultaneously with the Old Russian statehood and embodied the ethnic, social and political processes of the 9th - early 11th centuries.

As historical materials show, the Slavs, the main population of the ancient Russian territories, were relatively weak in military-technical terms. As weapons, they used only arrows, spears and axes. The situation changed after the so-called "Rus" came to the territory of Ancient Russia. According to scientists, in ancient times this was the name given to warriors who came from northern Europe. Along with the Rus, progressive for that time items of military weapons and protection appeared.

Children's wooden swords and other "toy" weapons are often found among archaeological materials. For example, a wooden sword with a handle width of about 5-6 cm and a total length of about 60 cm was found, which corresponds to the size of the palm of a boy aged 6-10 years. Thus, in the games, the process of learning skills that should have been useful to future warriors in adulthood took place.

It is important to note that the "Russian" army at the initial stage of its existence fought exclusively on foot, which is confirmed by Byzantine and Arabic written sources of that time. At first, the Russians considered horses exclusively as a means of transportation. True, the breeds of horses that were common at that time in Europe were rather short, so for a long time they simply could not carry a rider in full armor.

By the end of the 10th century, military conflicts increasingly occurred between detachments of the Rus and the troops of the Khazar Khaganate, as well as the Byzantine Empire, which had strong and trained cavalry. Therefore, already in 944, the Pechenegs, whose detachments consisted of light horsemen, became allies of Prince Igor in the campaign against Byzantium. It was from the Pechenegs that the Rus began to buy specially trained horses for the new kind of troops. True, the first attempt of the Russian troops in the battle on horseback, undertaken in 971 in the battle of Dorostol, ended in failure. However, the failure did not stop our ancestors, and since they still lacked their own cavalry, the practice of attracting nomadic cavalry units, which were even part of the ancient Russian squads, was introduced.

Old Russian warriors adopted from the steppe people not only the skills of mounted combat, but also borrowed weapons and clothing characteristic of the “horseman” culture. It was at that time that sabers, sphero-conical helmets, flails, caftans, tote bags, compound bows, and other weapons for the rider and horse equipment appeared in Russia. The words caftan, fur coat, feryaz, sarafan are of Eastern (Turkic, Iranian, Arabic) origin, reflecting, apparently, the corresponding origin of the objects themselves.

Taking into account the fact that in most of the territory of Ancient Russia the climatic conditions were quite severe, historians suggest that woolen fabric could be used when sewing Russian caftans. “They put on him bloomers, leggings, boots, a jacket, and a brocade caftan with gold buttons, and put a sable brocade hat on his head” - this is how the Arab traveler and geographer of the 10th century Ibn Fadlan describes the funeral of a noble Rus. The wearing of wide trousers by the Rus, gathered at the knee, is mentioned, in particular, by the Arab historian of the beginning of the 10th century, Ibn Ruste.

In some military burials of the ancient Rus, silver, decorated with filigree and granulation, conical caps were found, which are presumably the ends of headdresses in the form of a cap with a fur trim. Scientists claim that this is exactly what the “Russian hat” made by the masters of ancient Russia looked like, the shape of which, most likely, belongs to nomadic cultures.

The need to conduct combat operations mainly against steppe lightly armed horsemen led to a gradual change in Russian weapons in the direction of greater lightness and flexibility. Therefore, at first, the completely European (Varangian) weapons of the Russian squads from the time of campaigns against Byzantium gradually acquired more eastern features: Scandinavian swords were replaced by sabers, warriors moved from rooks to horses, and even heavy knightly armor, which eventually became widespread in Europe, never had analogies in the works of ancient Russian gunsmiths.