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. This
word 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 from
Germanic 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. 265-326
4
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 most
likely 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 this
theoretical 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 such
a 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 would
have 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 orally
transmitted 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.
11
Torocho 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. 85
17
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.