Hellenic cataphracts

A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalry that originated in Persia and was fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa. Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armored horseman, hellenic cataphracts, ford maverick club both the rider and mount almost completely covered in scale armorand typically wielding a kontos lance as his primary weapon. Cataphracts served as the elite cavalry force for most empires and nations that fielded them, primarily used for charges to break through opposing heavy cavalry and infantry formations. Chronicled by many historians from the earliest days of antiquity up until the High Middle Agesthey may have influenced hellenic cataphracts later European knightshellenic cataphracts, through contact with the Eastern Roman Empire.

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Hellenic cataphracts

The limited availability of Greek conscripts in the east led to an increasing dependence on mercenary forces, whereas in the Hellenistic armies in the west were continuously involved in wars, which soon exhausted local manpower, paving the way for Roman supremacy in the region. The Diadochi were capable of deploying some of the largest armies of their day, and could easily outmatch the numerical strength of either Phillip II or Alexander 's Macedonian full strength contingents. However, the size of the armies participating in different campaigns could vary extremely, from a few thousand to over 70, soldiers. Of these armies, outside Greece, only a fraction would have been of Greek origin, the rest being allied contingents and conscripts from the local population. Lack of manpower was a serious concern for many Hellenistic rulers. The disparity between the manpower reserves available to Rome and to any other Hellenistic monarch had a profound influence on the way in which the opponents made war. Many states had to rely on mercenaries to bulk up their citizen forces: For example, the army of the Achaean League under Aratus of Sicyon was re-organized to contain a permanent corps of mercenaries that numbered 8, foot soldiers and on horseback, compared with the corps of picked Achaean troops, which numbered only 3, foot and horse. To take another example, by the mid-third century BC, the Spartan citizen population had decreased to a tiny fraction of what it had been at the time of the Persian Wars Cleomenes' army could only field about 5, men [3]. The inchoate reforms of Agis IV in the s BC had failed after a reaction by those opposed to the reforms. The problem of the lack of man-at-arms was then taken up by Cleomenes III of Sparta, who attempted to address it by his radical reforms. Cleomenes launched a coup against his rivals at home and used their demise to push forward a reform to increase Spartan manpower. In BC, Cleomenes cancelled all debts, pooled and divided the large estates and increased the citizen body by enfranchising 5, Perioikoi and ' metics ' resident foreigners.

Historians and students of the field alike have often compared the Hellenistic-era phalanx with the Roman legion, in an attempt to ascertain which of the hellenic cataphracts was truly better. There appears to be some confusion about the term in the late Roman periodas armored cavalrymen of any sort that were traditionally referred to as Equites in the Republican period later became exclusively designated as "cataphracts". The mace and cataphract ideas were combined into the Sassanid -introduced and Roman-named Clibanariiwho were armoured, hellenic cataphracts, both man and beast, in chainmail, and armed with a mace, hellenic cataphracts.

Military Saints is a common representative art theme in every Eastern Orthodox project of religious decoration of menologia, psalters, minitures, frescoes,manuscripts or secular iconography numismatics,seals. This iconographical tradition is rooted in Hellenistic culture and fully grew during the Roman Empire. Kings, Generals, Emperors and Gods dressed in armors in order to defend their earthly and celestial realms. This tradition survived during Late Antiquity. We should assume that the attires of Military saints have heavily based on traditional defensive weaponry in use at the time the icons were created. The leather element is essential to prevent the rigid metal elements from abrading each other. Every lamellae has the form of an elongated vertical rectangle with a semicircular ending at the top arch-like effect , also a vertical rid to its middle in order to reinforce their mechanical strength.

Melee Infantry No. Unit Sol. Custom Cost Recru. Ship Spd. Other Faction's Units Grand Campaign 36 1. Odrysian Kingdom. Royal Scythia. Rome Samnite Wars.

Hellenic cataphracts

By the 7 th and 8 th centuries B. Some were armed lightly and were used to harass the enemy from afar with missiles or to pursue routing troops. Other types of cavalry units were heavily armed, and were used as shock troops to break enemy formations. The most heavily armed cavalry unit in the ancient world was the greatly feared cataphract.

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File Size. Antigonus was defeated at Ipsus , because his victorious cavalry failed to return from the pursuit before the enemy elephants effectively blocked its way back. This is because the men of the 'Roman Contingent' are described as being in their prime of life. Greek Giant Ballista. Harvard University Press. The evolution of the heavily armored horseman was not isolated to one focal point during a specific era such as the Iranian plateau , but rather developed simultaneously in different parts of Central Asia especially among the peoples inhabiting the Silk Road as well as within Greater Iran. Despite these advances, the Byzantine army, often unable to afford newer equipment en masse , was left ill-equipped and forced to rely on its increasingly archaic military technology. They also had a tarantinarchos who commanded the League's Tarantine skirmishing cavalry. Some armies formalised this tactic by deploying separate types of cataphract, the conventional, very heavily armored, bowless lancer for the primary charge and a dual purpose, lance-and-bow cataphract for supporting units. They are to be used as heavy shock cavalry, and have staying power in melee because of the sheer weight of their armor.

Iranians deploying cataphracts at some time in their history included the Sarmatians, Parthian dynasty, Sassanid Persians, Armenians, Pergamenes, and later Romans, Byzantines and others. The Romans and Byzantines adopted this type of unit from Iranians, especially from Parthians, after the Battle of Carrhae. Cataphracts were the heavy assault force of most nations that used them, acting as shock troops supported by light or heavy infantry and foot or mounted archers.

Firstly, Antiochus IV 'had spent part of his early life in Rome and had acquired rather an excessive admiration for Rome's power and methods'. In BC, Cleomenes cancelled all debts, pooled and divided the large estates and increased the citizen body by enfranchising 5, Perioikoi and ' metics ' resident foreigners. Contents move to sidebar hide. Artillery Ship 2. Username Changing provided by Username Change v1. Their horses are more heavily armored than those of the Hetairoi, but they lack the characteristic fierceness and discipline of the elite Diadochoi cavalry. Athenian statesmen Lawgivers Olympic victors Tyrants. The Hellenistic armies based their strength on the pike-bearing phalanx, the legacy of Philip II and Alexander the Great. All rights reserved. Cataphracts were introduced to the Hellenistic world by the Seleucids in the late 3rd century BC and are attested to have also been used, probably as a lighter version and for a very limited time, by the Kingdom of Pergamon. Assyria and the Khwarezm region were also significant to the development of cataphract-like cavalry during the 1st millennium BC. With such a small population, and such drastic losses in battle, the Antigonid king had to think radically as to how to improve his nation's performance in the next war. With or without darts, a cataphract charge would usually be supported by some kind of missile troops mounted or unmounted placed on either flank of the enemy formation. Edit links. Pyrrhus and Antigonus both placed units of lighter troops in between the units of their phalanx.