Known as the most formidable cavalry of their time, the Alans often they acted as mercenaries for the Romans and Byzantines. The horses and men were often protected by a hardened leather or metal hauberk covering the entire body. They fought with long swords using both hands and no shield. On their helmets they often confirmed deer antlers. The deer played an important role in their mythology. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus describes them as tall in stature and shapely, with blond hair.
They had a great ancestor cult but no shrines to worship gods. As a god they worshiped a sword stuck in the ground. There was little gender difference and probably more females than males were priests.
For several centuries the Alans maintained their position in the Empire of the Bosphorus, the kingdom in the Crimea. In the 5th century the Alans became a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire. The Alanian Empire fell apart in the 12th century and was divided into several kingdoms. After the sack of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204 and the expulsion of the Byzantine Imperial House, which their kings were connected by marriage, their influence comes to an end.

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