Thracians enjoyed something of a mixed reputation in the ancient world, for on the one hand many saw them as barbarians, fierce, warlike, and wild, but on the other hand their craftsmanship was much admired, particularly their metalwork. They were organised into dozens of tribes, and spent much of their martial prowess fighting each other, but their worth as mercenaries was widely recognised, and Thracians could be found fighting in very many ancient armies, including those of Greece, Persia, Macedonia (including Alexander the Great), Pontus and eventually even Rome. Occupying parts of modern Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, much of Thrace was broken, hilly ground that was not conducive to organised formations like the phalanx, so Thracians were expert in skirmishing and ambush, retiring when pressed, but inflicting much damage on an enemy by constant small attacks on exposed elements. Rarely united, the Thracian tribes maintained their independence for centuries, but were eventually subjugated by Macedonia and, later still, by Rome.

When you buy a set of Thracians, you want to see figures with typical Thracian characteristics, and there are plenty on show here. Half of the poses wear the fabric cap with large neck and cheek pieces, which was common, and there are also six poses wearing characteristic Thracian boots with flaps hanging down at the top. In between these two extremities there are mostly tunics with no sleeves – another Thracian feature – although a few have long sleeves, which is also accurate. Some tribes generally went bare-legged, but the northern tribes wore trousers more often, and as it is impossible to tell which figures here wear trousers, anyone can decide that by simply painting. One man particularly stands out as he wears a kilt but is bare-chested (first figure in middle row), which was indeed illustrated at the time, but is thought to be fairly uncommon, so just a single figure like this makes sense. Four of the poses wear a cloak, which was another common feature, especially for those Thracians living at higher altitudes.

In the early part of the Thracian period, armour was rare and probably mostly worn by the elites, particularly cavalry, but from the 4th century BCE a growing Greek influence amongst the Thracians changed the way they dressed for battle, and that included the more widespread introduction of armour. The five poses without the Thracian cap all wear a helmet, of which two are Chalkidian, two are Phrygian (also sometimes called Thracian), and the last is a very elaborate specimen with a large crest and thin horns (bottom row). Clearly this is an elite warrior, and this model recreates a helmet found in Bryastovets, in Bulgaria, dated to the 4th century BCE. Probably not a common style, but clearly at least one did exist, and several helmets have been found in the region that were altered, embellished or repaired by their owners – helmets tended to be retained much longer than in Greece, where fashion was more closely observed. This also applied to other armour, and two of these poses wear a full ‘bell’ cuirass, with a large pectoral at the throat (something like the later gorget). One also has a hinged groin protector attached to the bottom of his cuirass, again replicating an actual example discovered in 1925. Greaves were another piece of armour that became much more widespread in the 4th century BCE, and four of the figures here have them. All are held by their own elasticity rather than by straps, and are worn with shoes apart from one man, who is barefoot. Thracian greaves could be very elaborately decorated, but happily here most are plain apart from those of the final figure, which have a human face on them, matching several extant examples. Finally we have the trumpeter, who looks very Greek in style, with his helmet, corselet (perhaps linen?) and pteruges.

From the available evidence it seems that the typical Thracian elements described above became less common from the 4th century BCE, when the Greek influence grew in Thracian society. Later on, other influences from Macedonia, the Celts and then the Romans all probably changed the image of the Thracian warrior in many ways, so there was often little to tell Thracian mercenaries from their neighbours. To what extent the traditional Thracian look persisted after the more widespread introduction of armour and other foreign influences is impossible to judge now, given the fragmentary evidence available to today’s scholars, so it is not clear whether those figures dressed and equipped in later styles would have stood alongside those in older garb – perhaps those serving in foreign armies adopted the newer look while those at home retained a more Thracian one. Equally, those figures here that mix old and new may raise an eyebrow amongst some, but as with any ancient subject, it is impossible to know now, and we are happy to say all these figures are accurately done Thracians, though some are more or less typical for certain periods.

Given the way the Thracians fought, they had no heavy infantry as such, and the normal warrior (‘peltast’) fought with a spear. Lighter troops might fight with javelins, slings or bows. This set provides three poses with a spear or javelin – all in our middle row. Each has a ring hand into which a separate weapon can be inserted, and while spear lengths varied, these can be cut down to represent javelins if required. The bottom row shows the sole slinger in this set, and there are no archers, but the top row has a very interesting weapon. This was the rhomphaia, a type of sword where the handle could sometimes be almost as long as the blade, which was curved towards the tip, and was very similar to the later falx used by the related Dacians to the north. This fearsome weapon is thought to have first appeared during the 4th century BCE (which was clearly a busy time for the Thracians), and since three of these poses also wear armour, they are clearly for the later part of the Thracian story rather than the first few centuries. The trumpeter and the supposed officer hold straight swords, much like the Greeks, which were more common in later years.

Seven of the poses carry the traditional Thracian crescent shield, all engraved with decorations that look reasonable. Where visible, these have been sculpted as having either a wooden or a wicker base, and both are again correct. Called peltae, not all such shields were of the crescent shape, and we find a couple of examples here that are oval, one being very similar to those carried by the Celts and Romans. As before, this reflects such foreign influences in the Thracians, so are more appropriate for the later period, but perfectly correct.

The sculpting is very nice, and has all the right folds in the clothing, and good proportions for the human form. Where detail is required, such as for the trumpeter, this too is good, and the faces are well done and with good-looking facial hair. As well as the shields, many of the cloaks have decoration added to them, which reflects well the designs known to have been used on such garments. We found that the holes in the ring hands for the spearmen needed to be enlarged a little to accept the spear, but this does at least guarantee that the fit will be firm once achieved. The bases are really small, and while all the figures do stand, it won’t take much to topple some. Unfortunately, the finish on these figures is not neat, and they do give a rather messy appearance with bits of flash and some rather rough seams in places, as can be seen in our photos. Time and patience with a sharp knife will fix this, but it does not do the raw models any favours.

The poses are pretty good in our view. Blade weapons and shields always limit what poses can be achieved, but here the weapons and shields are quite well positioned, despite the fact that apart from the separate spears there is no assembly required. You could argue that an archer should have been included, but overall we liked the mix of weapons, and the poses were all fine. The last figure with the exotic helmet, which we are assuming is some form of commander, has his sword out to the side (a somewhat odd pose) and holds something in his left hand. This is also illustrated on the box artwork, and appears to be a drinking horn.

There is one obvious fault with this set, and that is each sprue provides three figures with ring hands, but only two spears. Even the figures pictured on the box reflect this, and we have given the two spears to the same figures as on the box, so the last man in our second row has to do without. That may need no more than a raid on the spares box for many, but it is still an annoying error. Another quirk is the piece with a couple of severed heads stuck onto poles. Doubtless Thracians beheaded some victims – many did in the ancient world – but we are not aware of any particular significance for this bonus item. Some historians think that perhaps ordinary Thracians went into battle bare-headed, and the wearing of a cap or helmet was restricted by law to leaders, but this is unproved, and may only have applied to some northern tribes, so the lack of any bare-headed men here does not cause us any issues. What we have here is a very diverse selection of warriors, most displaying typical features of Thracian warriors, along with a pleasing blend of later items like armour as adopted from neighbours over the centuries. Sculpting is good, as are the poses, but there is some cleaning up required before painting. Where Thracians adopted the look of their employer or neighbours, other sets can already provide those figures, but for a set of Thracians with characteristic features, this set does very well, and while not all of the figures are appropriate for the whole of the history of Thrace, this will provide many an ancient army with a useful mercenary element that has been hard to model up to now.