Easterlings

The Easterlings are a whole other ballgame. Their society was much more complex – with large cities and temples. Apparently they have a strong hierarchy and caste system with soldiers near the top and the workers and slaves at the bottom. Their militaristic culture allowed them to almost defeat the free people on several occasions. Huns, Mongols, Scythians, Parthians, Sarmatians and/or Sassanides are said to provide inspiration for them. In the "Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589)", a book that inspired Tolkein's depiction, "Eastland" was described as having many towns and cities, each with their own kings. There was supposed to be great strife and contention between the different locations.
It must be noted that Aragorn travelled extensively in Easterling territory. He described them as having both good and evil people.
Their looks in the movies were inspired by empires based around Persia and Iran. So I will be drawing on them. It must be noted that the desert area they come from means that this inspiration seems to work. Yet there was great care to avoid making the Easterlings appear too close to any real world culture. This was especially true for the movies. Tolkien appears to have less issue with problematic racial elements in his work. As a result, the comments here will be a little more questionable. Especially in comparison to Gondor, where we have a clear set of numbers, maps, in universe descriptions and comments on the inspiration to draw conclusions from.
Now, if ever there was a society in Middle Earth that would lift directly from Sparta as the basis for its internal structure, it would be the Easterlings. So, Sparta had a class called the Spartiate - which consisted of 8,000 men at its peak. This class was the political elite of Spartan society. Members of the Spartiate class were not allowed to engage in manual labor or commerce. As a result, the government granted land and slaves to each household considered enough to live off of. Based on the Hoplites from the rest of Greece, we can expect this to be at least 10 acres. The result was effectively a professional army raised from birth and constantly training and preparing for war.
Below them were the Helots, or a cross between serfs and slaves. There was an estimated 7 helots for each Spartan citizen. As a result, fear of uprisings was a common feature of Spartan life. They were publicly humiliated and mistreated. In one incident, 2,000 helots were killed as a result of feared revolts.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

While it is clear that they have become much more urbanized, they do have a cultural tradition of nomadic lifestyles seen in the Wainriders and Balchoth people. From this, there is a wide diversity within Easterling culture. But it is unclear how much of this remains at the time of the War of the Ring. Sauron's religious influence and the impacts of conquests by the stronger tribes would likely reduce some of the diversity.
We can expect the military to be glorified and military heroics the core of personal worth and success. Success would be measured in the amount of land taken. Individuals would be ranked based on loot returned home and the number of slaves captured. Enemies killed or wounded would probably be another way to expand personal influence. Meanwhile, all able bodied men would be required to serve and it would likely be seen as an honor. In this respect the army would be seen as the “school of the nation” - a way to socialize people into the values and culture of the wider populace.
In a book that is said to have inspired Tolkein's Easterlings, there is a description of a diet of "Eastland". This description says that ale was rare. Meade was common among the lower classes. Mare's milk was said to be preferred by the wealthy.
Hakluyt, Richard (2004) [1589]. Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques And Discoveries Of the English Nation. 1. Kessinger Publishing. p. 53.

Shared customary codes and values

So, all we really know about Easterling society is that it is warlike. The stronger tribes conquer areas and force weaker tribes to become the slaves and servants. This honestly is not a lot to work with. But we do know that bravery in battle is a prime virtue for them. Their troops provided cover for their allies as the battle of Minas Tirith was clearly turning against them.
We can infer from this mentality a sort of social darwinism. Basically competition between societies leads to the destruction, conquest or enslavement of weaker groups by the stronger. Thus, actions need to be taken to ensure that a society becomes strong. Societies need to be strong in order to avoid the destruction that awaits weakness. The idea is that in this respect societies mirror organisms. Thus human societies become stronger and “more fit” over time. In the military mindset, this means more land, better soldiers and more slaves and the other fruits of military victory. Basically societies need to grow or they will die.
As a result, some level of eugenics is needed. The weak are somehow discouraged from reproduction in order to increase the children of the strong being a higher percentage of the populace. This would likely mean an increase in the death penalty for criminals or exile.
It is an unfortunately common belief that the poor are poor due to some flaw in their character, lifestyle or choices. This would likely be a widely held belief for the Easterlings, as the Helot class became members of that class because of military defeats. We can assume then that the Easterlings would see the Malthusian related death toll taken on the poor as a result of poverty would be seen as the weak and degenerate getting what they deserved. One of the major criticisms of this was that it was inhumane – which also fits what we do know of the Easterlings.
Pierre Desrochers; Christine Hoffbauer (2009). "The Post War Intellectual Roots of the Population Bomb" (PDF). The Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development. 1 (3). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2012. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
Meredith Marsh, Peter S. Alagona, ed. (2008). Barrons AP Human Geography 2008 Edition. Barron's Educational Series. ISBN 978-0-7641-3817-1.

Average technological level

They are described as good at working iron, but not as good as Gondorians. We can assume not as good as Dwarves, but this is not explicitly stated anywhere. Some skill with stoneworking is stated - though we can assume that their skill here ranks similar to their relative skill with iron.

Common Etiquette rules

Generally the Spartiate would eat meals together in large groups and live together for long portions of their lives. The military mess style common meal was mandatory starting at 20. Each person was also required to contribute food to the meals.

Common Dress code

Judging by their armor, fashion relied on leather. Cloth was often dyed burgindy or black. Bronze and brass was a common embellishment as well. I would imagine this would carry over to civilian dress.

Art & Architecture

They are described as building walls of stone. I assume this means defensive city walls.
As noted in discussions of the armor, decorations seem to be reliant on brass and bronze. A sun motif was also common. Other features we see are crimson serpents.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

They tend to prefer the spear in combat. Though some prefer to use axes. Chariots are also observed in the past military conflicts.
Now, in the Easterling culture, I would imagine that several other techniques that serve the eugenics mission. The most obvious would be the practice of infanticide like from Ancient Sparta – the perceived weak and sick being left to die. Then there would be blood sports and human sacrifices to kill off the weakest adults. Gladiators of Ancient Rome are the most obvious sports that do this. The Aztecs as a possible model for the sacrifices. Sterilization techniques might be used as well against the “unfit” adults, though the tactics used would probably be rather unsafe and gruesome. Euthanasia would probably also be used against any permanently disabled and the terminally ill and elderly.
Gladiator combat could be a useful tool for not just eliminating extra people, but also selecting people for membership in the Spatiate class. Meanwhile criminals could use it to redeem themselves through public entertainment or die in the process. The promotion through the ranks could also be served through this in times of peace. Chariot racing specifically could be useful on the latter point for those in the cavalry – as would jousting.

Coming of Age Rites

Infants were actually left to die of exposure if they were deemed too weak to fight as adults. Starting at 7, all male children were required to begin military training. At this point they were expected to give their loyalty to the unit they ate with. A simple cloak was all that was given for clothing. Beds were just reeds - that the children had to pull by hand with no knives. Children were intentionally underfed to encourage them to steal their food - yet they were severely punished for being caught. This was more to demonstrate displeasure at them being bad thieves though.
By 18 Spartiates became part of the Spartan reserves. They would also become the secret police - spying on the slave population. They could kill any slave out at night or who spoke against the government. The government would actually declare war on their slave population every year to legalize the murder of rebellious slaves. At 20 they became full soldiers. At this point they had to live in the barracks and compete to become part of the cavalry. Each unit had to vote unanimously to allow a person to join. If one failed to be admitted to a unit by 30, they were not citizens. Also at 30 men were allowed to leave the barracks and start families.

Common Myths and Legends

Now, the clans of Rome were all likely based off geography, representing the various neighborhoods of Rome. We can assume then that Curia of the Easterlings would be geographic as well. The Roman Curia all had their dfferent origin myths. These were rooted in different heros from Roman Myths. Different clans were also said to be decendants of different Sabine women kidnapped during Rome's Founding.
Yeah, according to the myths, Romulus founded the City of Rome. His initial group of colonists were practically all men. To solve this demographic problem, women from the Sabine Tribe were kidnapped and made to marry the settlers. Other versions suggest the women were seduced normally or offered political and civic rights not available to them at home. Hence the formation of clans based on these women.
Naturally, the Easterling clans would be a bit more culturally diverse due to differing local histories and wider geographic variation. But this would probably not be enough to make them separate ethnicities. Similar to how there are local variations in modern day Italy but there is still only one Italian ethnicity. Basically, broad general common traits that would express themselves in somewhat different ways based on local context. But we can expect mirroring the Roman clans in the reverence of mythological heroes that the clan traces its decent from.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

The physical appearance of the Easterlings is one of the few areas where we really see the diversity within Easterling society. Some are described as tall and sallow skinned. Others are "swarthy" and short. Some are bearded. Eyes are typically dark brown or black. Hair is normally straight and black.

Related Organizations

• Easterling Government

Related Locations

• Rhun