Did the Scythians really recruit warrioresses?

[sendos]

If you play the Scythians in RTW, you will notice that you are able to train two warrioress units, which are both cavalry units. The requirement to recruit them is a sacred grove to a goddess (forget her name). In the units' details, it says that the Scythians had a custom of recruiting both men and women for war.

I have read Herodotus last year, which mentions some descriptions of the Scythians when Darius invades Scythia (and fails), but there were no references to Scythian female warriors.

The reason why I posted this here is because the History Section of Civfantics seems more for actual historic events and that this question is based around a game, not a historical reference.

 

[Maniacal]

This thread is the first google result for "scythian warrioresses". Judging from the wikipedia article its possible they did. However, thats wikipedia

 

[ArguCa]

Sarmatians did and I think Scythians did too

 

[PhilBowles]

If you play the Scythians in RTW, you will notice that you are able to train two warrioress units, which are both cavalry units. The requirement to recruit them is a sacred grove to a goddess (forget her name). In the units' details, it says that the Scythians had a custom of recruiting both men and women for war.

I have read Herodotus last year, which mentions some descriptions of the Scythians when Darius invades Scythia (and fails), but there were no references to Scythian female warriors.

The reason why I posted this here is because the History Section of Civfantics seems more for actual historic events and that this question is based around a game, not a historical reference.

There's a single known grave of a Scythian woman thought to be a warrior, and this is probably the best-known example of Scythian archaeology in popular culture. So while they probably didn't use female cavalry to any degree, it makes some sense for the game to use that as its basis for a Scythian unit. If people recognised the Scythians at all, that would be what springs to mind as making them distinct from, say, the Huns.

Then again, there were no such things as battlefield ninja, warrior nuns or bulletproof samurai in feudal Japan either... Total War departs from realism rather more than I'd like.

 

[Maniacal]

In one of the interviews with CA for Rome 2 they admitted they made up several of those units based on pretty sketchy "evidence" because it seemed like something that was possible for that faction and thought it would be cool. Like the Iberian Bull Warriors. They also "promised" they wouldn't be doing that in Rome 2.

 

[PhilBowles]

In one of the interviews with CA for Rome 2 they admitted they made up several of those units based on pretty sketchy "evidence" because it seemed like something that was possible for that faction and thought it would be cool. Like the Iberian Bull Warriors. They also "promised" they wouldn't be doing that in Rome 2.

I haven't played much of Rome - Iberian Bull Warriors? And I almost gave up on Shogun 2 after Warrior Nuns, geisha assassins, battlefield ninja and Bulletproof Samurai...

To some extent there may be an excuse with Rome - most cultures of that period aren't particularly well-known (virtually nothing is known about the Scythians) so there has to be some extrapolation, particularly with player demand for variety in unit types and unique units for each faction. But it crosses a line that really breaks immersion when it gets into fantasy stuff.

 

[GoodGame]

Roman war dogs are totally believable. 1000 dog armies----I don't think so.

 

[schlaufuchs]

Don't forget the Britannian head-hurlers or the Germanic wailing axe-women

 

[Princeps]

according to the greeks schytian women did some times go to war.