A New Explanation of Ascogefyrus, Thoracomachus and Other Historical Oddities

 By S. H. Rosenbaum

hile researching the treatise “de rebus bellicis” by the writer known as “the 

Anonymus”, two words describing recent contributions to military art caught

my attention.1  The first word is ascogefyrus, a portable pontoon bridge made

of inflatable skins whose merits, according to the Anonymus, encourage adoption. Thisword is explained by our author and subsequent scholars to be a word of Greek

extraction.2  His hesitant command of Latin, so obvious to commentators, makes this

Greek explanation somewhat improbable. The Anonymus writes during a time of barbarian immigration and military integration; if we take into consideration other loan-

words found in Late Latin literature such as barritus and folcum, a Germanic origin for

ascogefyrus becomes a possibility.3  He quite likely tried to pass it as a Greek word due

to a highly biased target audience that did not appreciate“ barbarian inventiveness”.4  The

last syllable, “ fyrus”, is what provided the clue. This word appears in Scandinavian

literature in the compound noun “ Fyrisvellir”.5  Fyris is from the Old Norse word fyrva,

“to ebb”, describing a tidal estuary.  As or  asi means to hurry, similar to modern Icelandic“yss”. The word “coge” is relative to “codd”, Middle English for a bag or sack.

6  Also

equivalent is the German word “kugel”, a ball, and Icelandic “kaggi”, a container or cask.

 Asi+coge+fyrus thus translates to “quick bladders (for) rivers/estuaries”. It is a direct

and accurate description of the inflatable pontoon bridge spoken of by the Anonymus,albeit in an unknown Germanic dialect.

7 

The equally interesting name thoracomachus also deserves a review.8  Modern

scholars have assumed that the felt jerkin worn beneath armor, once called a subarmalis, derived ultimately from the Greek thorax, through Late Latin thoraca. The Anonymus

appears to have arrived at the same conclusion. Note however, the careful explanation

that he provides, as if the reader might question the origins of the thoracomachus.  Just

 because the Anonymus thinks it is a Greek word does not mean that it actually is. In fact,“it is noteworthy that the word for felt in the Romanic languages is not based, as might be

expected, on Latin pileus, but on the Germanic word…  It is therefore probable that the

Romanic nations received the knowledge of felt not from the ancient Romans, but fromGermanic tribes early in the middle ages.”

9  Thus it is possible that the thoracomachus,

like ascogefyrus, is a Germanic word. No doubt when our author first saw these formed

felt articles he would have inquired into their purpose, perhaps even through an

1 S. H. Rosenbaum, Overlooked Evidence for Extinct British Latin 

2 E. A. Thompson,  A Roman Reformer and Inventor , Oxford, Clarendon Press 1952, p. 61 “The

manuscripts in the main give ascogefrus, which reflects little credit on the Anonymus’ knowledge of

Greek.” 3 Philip Rance, The Fulcum, the late Roman and Byzantine Testudo: the Germanization of late Roman

Tactics? Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 44 (2004) pp. 265-3264  De rebus bellicis, Preface 4 fin. Remember that the work was intended for the emperor and his officials.

5 Oliver Elton, The Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus, London, 1894, p. 76. (Holder p. 63)

6 See for instance “cod- piece”; cod also means “pod” and even scrotum. In ascogefyrus I detect a sense of

crude and vulgar military humor common to this day.7 The word order itself should confirm or repudiate these conclusions.

8 Various spellings include thoracomacho, toracomachus, torochomacho, etc.

9 Berthold Laufer, The Early History of Felt, American Anthropologist N.S., 32, Jan. March 1930, p.18

W

 

interpreter.10

  After learning its purpose, he would have asked by what name is it called.

The craftsman, quite possibly a non-native, would have responded “thoracomachus”. It

was the Anonymus who advocated, on the basis of its sound alone, a Greek etymology.

Torocho or thoraco appears to be a Germanic adaptation, a loan-word taken from Greek 11

 

or Latin. Machus is akin to modern English “make” or “made”, relative to Old High

German machon. The word thoraco + machus, translates as “torso formed (made)”. The

compound is accurate and perhaps describes aspects of the manufacturing process itself,such as the molding of the felt. We now see the Anonymus recording contemporary

Germanic words as used in the Roman army, not spontaneously coined Greek terms.

The liburna is described as a revolutionary craft powered by a team of oxen; our

author recommended that its propulsion would make it an effective warship. Despite the

glowing testimonials, the Anonymus never claims to have invented this liburna or any of

the devices he mentions.12

  With this in mind, one realizes that his proposals are mostlikely to be clever adaptations of things he saw with his own eyes. What the Anonymus

 probably observed in this case was some manner of ox-powered ferry.13

  A potential

northern provincial origin for the Anonymus allows us to deduce how and where thistheoretical ship may have been used.

14  The English Channel was originally suspected as

the place which most needed some kind of mechanical ferry; however the strength of the

tidal currents combined with the distance precluded this notion.15

  A close examination of

the Ordinance Map of Roman Britain quickly revealed the most logical location for sucha contrivance to be successfully deployed. Ermine Street, a Roman road between Lincoln

and York, ends on either side of the Humber, necessitating in ancient times some means

of swift, reliable transport across.16

  It would have been here that the Anonymus wouldhave experienced such a remarkable vessel. On a final note, excerpts in Scandinavian

folk-lore mention magical ships like Skidbladnir. It is entirely probable that the novel

locomotion provided by the paddle-wheels could have conceived these legends.

Barbarian regiments that embarked on this type of ferry ensured that the tales were orallytransmitted back to their homelands.

17  Idle speculation aside, the mud of the Humber

estuary sadly hides the evidence needed to verify these startling yet plausible proposals.

10 I suggested in Overlooked Evidence that the Anonymus had possibly visited a fabrica or armory.

11Torocho is absent from known Germanic vocabularies, but Goths certainly used Greek words.

12 Thompson, p. 51. Thompson notes that both Neher and Reinach believe the Anonymus was using a

source, albeit written. The Anonymus himself states that some inventions are antique, some new, others

recently tested. (xv. i. xvii. i.)13

 For one example see The Lake Champlain horse ferry , National Geographic, Oct. 1989. The vessel

might have resembled the Yarmouth horse packet as mentioned by Thompson P. 54. Such a craft fell well

within Roman technological limits and need not have been substantial to have left a vivid impression.14 Thompson, p. 72, muses on the possibility of the Anonymus having travelled to northern Britain, based

on the chapter concerning frontier walls and mile-castles. See also Cadwallader Bates, A Forgotten

 Reference to Roman Mile-Castles, Archaeologia Aeliana, ser. ii, vol. xvi, 1894, pp. 447-51, as well as C. E.

Stevens, A Roman Author in North-West Britain, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmoreland

Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, vol. I, (n.s.) 1951, pp. 70-79.15

 Tidal currents in the English Channel can reach up to 4 nautical miles per hour. Unpredictable wind and

weather conditions vs. the stamina of the “engines” must also be factored in .16

 John Wacher, The Towns of Roman Britain, London, 1976, p. 396, fig. 8517

 R. W. Chambers, Widsith, Cambridge University Press, 1912, p. 38 footnote 1. Chambers writes; “The

spreading of tradition (and legends) must have been facilitated by the intercommunication of mercenary

 bands.”