Parthian horse archers

[Alexandr K]

Hello all,

I'm currently doing some research about the battle of Carrhae. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with Parthian weaponry, so I would be grateful for some help in this respect. I'm particularly interested in their archery equipment now.

Do we know anything about Parthian arrows apart from the descriptions in Plutarch and Cassius Dio? Do we have any archaeological finds?

How many arrows would an average Parthian horseman have in his quiver (please disregard the camels with spare arrows for now)? Do we have any evidence for this? Well, I know that Al Tabari claims that Persian soldier carried 30 arrows during the reign of Khosrau I. (well allegedly, I admit I haven't read the passage as I don't currently have Al Tabari's work available) and Maurice's Strategicon claims that the Roman/Byzantine (whatever you prefer) soldier would have some 30-40 arrows in his quiver. The Romans of that time were probably heavily influenced by Sassanians, who in turn may have been influenced by Parthians, but this seems rather too far fetched with regard to an event of 53 B.C. Do we perhaps have any Parthian quiver, from which it would be possible to deduce how many arrows could have been carried in it? Or are there any closer parallels for numbers of arrows carried by archers of various ancient nations?

I know about the Parthian bow from Yrzi. I have Brown's article in Seminarium Kondakovianum. Is there any other relevant literature about Parthian bows that I should check?

I would appreciate your help very much.

Thank you in advance.

Greetings
Alexandr

[MeinPanzer]

I'm currently doing some research about the battle of Carrhae. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with Parthian weaponry, so I would be grateful for some help in this respect. I'm particularly interested in their archery equipment now.

In general, your best bet for evidence pertaining to Parthian arms and armour from around the time of Carrhae would be the finds from Old Nisa, an early Parthian fortress, which date to the 2nd-1st c. BC.

Do we know anything about Parthian arrows apart from the descriptions in Plutarch and Cassius Dio? Do we have any archaeological finds?

Numerous arrowheads were found at Old Nisa, both stored in storerooms and in other parts of the site. These are for the most part simple generic trilobate tanged iron arrowheads, while a small percentage also included hollow cast bronze trilobate heads. These are largely the same as those in use throughout Central Asia during the last three centuries BC.

As for the rest of the construction of Parthian arrows, little can be said. I don't know of any examples which actually preserve the wooden shaft, let alone fletching. However, a fresco from Old Nisa shows a fleeing nomad who has been shot by pursuing Parthian victors, and the arrows which stick into him had red fletching. They seem generally to have been short, which is fitting considering the small composite bows which the Parthians employed.

How many arrows would an average Parthian horseman have in his quiver (please disregard the camels with spare arrows for now)? Do we have any evidence for this? Well, I know that Al Tabari claims that Persian soldier carried 30 arrows during the reign of Khosrau I. (well allegedly, I admit I haven't read the passage as I don't currently have Al Tabari's work available) and Maurice's Strategicon claims that the Roman/Byzantine (whatever you prefer) soldier would have some 30-40 arrows in his quiver. The Romans of that time were probably heavily influenced by Sassanians, who in turn may have been influenced by Parthians, but this seems rather too far fetched with regard to an event of 53 B.C. Do we perhaps have any Parthian quiver, from which it would be possible to deduce how many arrows could have been carried in it? Or are there any closer parallels for numbers of arrows carried by archers of various ancient nations?

Unfortunately, this question is nearly impossible to answer based on archaeological evidence. The problem is that within graves of cultures where archery is widely practiced and weapons are buried with the interred the amount of arrows left in a burial often has little correspondence to the amount of arrows a warrior could have carried in everyday life. Oftentimes only one or a handful of arrows are provided on the basis of pars pro toto. However, I am not intimately familiar with excavations of Parthian burials which included weapons. I think when large quantities of arrows are included in burials such as those of steppe nomads, they rarely amount to more than 40 or 50, so this may be taken cautiously as an upper limit. 30-40 is probably a reasonable estimate.

This is a representation of a Parthian gorytus (bowcase/quiver) from Old Nisa:

http://antiquemilitaryhistory.com/images/gorytus.jpg

If we estimate that each of those four pockets could hold maximum 10 arrows, then 40 sounds about right.

I know about the Parthian bow from Yrzi. I have Brown's article in Seminarium Kondakovianum. Is there any other relevant literature about Parthian bows that I should check?

I think that the majority of evidence for Parthian bows derives from depictions on small scale objects, like coins, terracotta figurines, etc. They generally show short, asymmetrical B-shaped composite bows much like those that were in use in the steppes between the 5th and 3rd c. BC. It seems like this was the type which was still in use in the 1st c. BC

[Alexandr K]

Hi Ruben,

Thank you very much for the information about Old Nisa! Would it be possible to point me to the relevant literature about the arrow heads? I have found some bibliography and literature about excavations in Old Nisa, but from the names of the publications it isn't very clear which of them could contain reports about the arrows. It would be quite difficult to obtain and read through all of them.

Unfortunately, this question is nearly impossible to answer based on archaeological evidence. The problem is that within graves of cultures where archery is widely practiced and weapons are buried with the interred the amount of arrows left in a burial often has little correspondence to the amount of arrows a warrior could have carried in everyday life. Oftentimes only one or a handful of arrows are provided on the basis of pars pro toto. However, I am not intimately familiar with excavations of Parthian burials which included weapons. I think when large quantities of arrows are included in burials such as those of steppe nomads, they rarely amount to more than 40 or 50, so this may be taken cautiously as an upper limit. 30-40 is probably a reasonable estimate.

Yes, I know it's almost impossible to get plausible information about this from archaeological evidence. Therefore I'm trying to find any clues that might help even a little bit in deciding this. Hopefully some passages in written sources (perhaps analogies with other ancient nations - Scythians, Greeks, Romans - I must check Coulston's article about Roman archery - ...?). So far I haven't been very successfull (the only things I have found are the mentions in Al-Tabari and Strategicon, but this is more than 600 years far away). I agree that 30-40 arrows is quite reasonable, but it would be good to have some more data to support this guess a little bit.

Thanks again. I appreciate your help.

Greetings
Alexandr

[bachmat66]

Salve,
My question is why using term: Parthian archers when clearly the army that destroyed Roman legions at Carhae was composed of the Saka horsemen, the branch of the Saka tribal groups that settled from northern India (Indo-Saka) to Parthian empire, and not too long before the war with the Romans invaded the Parthian domain, killed their kings and made others (eg Orodes grandfather Sanatruces was made king by the Saka, in this coin he even wears a very Saka headdress with their mythic imagery of deer, tamgas etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coin_ ... arthia.jpg ) and were 'responsible' for the 'nomadic' twist in the Parthian culture. Their leader was their clan wariorchief Surena. Proper Parthian Army under the king Orodes was elsewhere in Armenia,
Clearly you may have to look into evidence from the wide swath of land, from Chinese Turkmenistan to Southern Russian, eastern Turkey and Iran. eg article on Scythian (saka) bows from China be Bede Dwyer - http://www.atarn.org/chinese/scythian_bows.htm or S. Shelby drawings of the Saka bows http://www.atarn.org/chinese/Yanghai/yanghai.htm
Simonenko published a book on the Sarmatians, there is a chapter on the bows and arrows, and there are other articles in Russian language publications on the archery... the same when regarding Ukok horsemen of the Altai by Polsmak.

Please note that on that coin you can see the bow as well, very similar to the one drawn by mr Shelby
more coins and Saka archers from their cousins, Indo-Saka
here we can see a separate quiver perhaps - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... gTunic.jpg
some coins tend to support the idea that mounted and armored spearmen or kontophoroi did not carry bows http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... 2216_2.jpg
http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... _s74-2.jpg
http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... _s89-2.jpg
and here armor, no spear but a whip and a bow visible in a traditional style, on the left side http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... 05-442.jpg
no spear, armor and a bow on a left side http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... ian_2.html
this king of 23 AD has clearly a quiver on the right side, hanging of the saddle, and his horse has a crenelated mane http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... 135_pl.jpg
Also Hatra and Palmyra can be of essence here, but their art is a bit later on, so it may show I century AD styles of quivers and their carriage

[MeinPanzer]

Salve,
My question is why using term: Parthian archers when clearly the army that destroyed Roman legions at Carhae was composed of the Saka horsemen, the branch of the Saka tribal groups that settled from northern India (Indo-Saka) to Parthian empire, and not too long before the war with the Romans invaded the Parthian domain, killed their kings and made others (eg Orodes grandfather Sanatruces was made king by the Saka, in this coin he even wears a very Saka headdress with their mythic imagery of deer, tamgas etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coin_ ... arthia.jpg ) and were 'responsible' for the 'nomadic' twist in the Parthian culture. Their leader was their clan wariorchief Surena. Proper Parthian Army under the king Orodes was elsewhere in Armenia,

Firstly, what historical basis is there for your supposition that Saka tribes were in control of the Parthian empire "not too long before the war with the Romans"? The Parthians did have trouble fighting the Saka in the second century BC, but by the reign of Mithridates II the Saka were defeated and the lands lost to them were recovered. Secondly, if you are referring to the Indo-Parthian kingdom, then they pushed the Saka out too to the southwest, into northern India. Thirdly, that coin shows Sanatruces wearing entirely Iranian headgear. Nothing about it shows Saka influence; what Saka "mythic imagery" do you see there exactly? Finally, the "nomadic twist" in Parthian culture derives in the main from the nomadic origins of the Parni, which go way back to the third or even fourth centuries BC, and not from Saka influence in the last two centuries BC.

Clearly you may have to look into evidence from the wide swath of land, from Chinese Turkmenistan to Southern Russian, eastern Turkey and Iran. eg article on Scythian (saka) bows from China be Bede Dwyer - http://www.atarn.org/chinese/scythian_bows.htm or S. Shelby drawings of the Saka bows http://www.atarn.org/chinese/Yanghai/yanghai.htm
Simonenko published a book on the Sarmatians, there is a chapter on the bows and arrows, and there are other articles in Russian language publications on the archery... the same when regarding Ukok horsemen of the Altai by Polsmak.

Even if these troops were Saka, and not Parthian (and I see no reason to suppose so), they would almost certainly have been influenced by the peoples around them during the time between their movement out of the steppe and their migration through Central Asia, Iran, and the Near East. Looking at weaponry from Xinjiang and the Altai dating to the 5th-3rd c. BC, or Sarmatian weaponry is hardly helpful in reconstructing the arms of a soldier in the 1st c. BC. The material from Old Nisa and other sources, like the Yrzi bow, are far more relevant.

Please note that on that coin you can see the bow as well, very similar to the one drawn by mr Shelby
more coins and Saka archers from their cousins, Indo-Saka
here we can see a separate quiver perhaps - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... gTunic.jpg

Parthian bows were very similar to Saka bows because the Parni and Saka shared a common origin on the steppes to the northeast of Iran.

some coins tend to support the idea that mounted and armored spearmen or kontophoroi did not carry bows http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... 2216_2.jpg
http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... _s74-2.jpg
http://www.grifterrec.com/coins/indoscy ... _s89-2.jpg

These coins do not show the gorytus because it was worn on the left side of the saddle, so that only a bit of it would be visible behind the rider, and because in these two depictions the butt of the spear and the rider's arm obstruct that portion of the gorytus. If you look at other coinage of Azes I and Spalirises, you can see the gorytus quite clearly; other earlier figural sources of Saka cataphracts and the fact that arrows were found with the Chirik Rabat cataphract panoply show that it was the norm for Central Asian cataphracts to carry bows.

[bachmat66]

ushta te,
I am in process of moving and all my books are 'traveling' right now, so i 'reserve' my right to answer when fully 'equipped'


a good start with the Saka/Scythian influences on the Parthians (and their origins are far from established) would come from a book by Joann Aruz, Ann Farkas et al The golden deer of Eurasia:perspectives on the Steppe Nomads of the ancient world, (published by Yale in 2007) and in there one may find a very enlightening article on the Central Asian imagery, including the subject of Parthian royal headgear (Iranian in your own words) from i century BC...

Plutarch on Surena and his warriors -

Surena was most conspicuous of all, being the tallest and handsomest man among them, though his personal appearance, owing to his feminine beauty, did not correspond to his reputation for courage, for he was dressed more in the Median fashion, with his face painted and his hair parted, while the rest of the Parthians, still keeping to the Scythian fashion, wore their hair long and bushy to make themselves more formidable.

Plutarch on Surena (or as the Iranists want ) Rustam Suren -

Now by hereditary right he had the privilege of first placing the diadem on the head of him who became king of the Parthians ; and this very Hyrodes[Orodes II], who had been driven out, he restored to the Parthian empire, and took for him Seleukeia the Great, being the first to mount the wall and to put to flight with his own hand those that opposed him.

Saka in Sakastan - I am sure you are well aware of the Herzfeld's theory on the Saka autonomy over former Dargiana, and changing of the name of that part of Iran. Modern author Beckwith reconstructs Sai as Saka who conquered Dargiana and changed it into Sakastan (Sistan of today) while their 'brother' Asi-Wusun eventually created the indo-scythian kingdoms. And there are no documents or sources that claim that Saka accepted Suren clan as their Parthian overlords but rather it could be inferred that Suren Clan was native of Sakastan and actually themselves Saka of the same clan eg Maues, Azes, Gondophares. The special priviledge may stem from their position within the Saka od Sakastan and the sucess of Saka ''revolt' or 'renaissance' of Saka power in first part of the I century BC (towards the death of Mithradates and during the civil wars? after his death) and from their actions during the enthronement of king Sanatruces (here you can see very clearly the many deer on his head gear http://www.coinarchives.com/15c72b93d04 ... e00548.jpg ) they had earned their unique right to crown the Parthian monarchs. Plutarch himself stated that Orodes II owed his throne to Surena.
I would say that there was no direct land recovery that had been lost to Saka - simply put some sort of vassal relationship was established between Saka and Parthian king Mithradates II, augmented by the high status of the Saka 'royal' clan i.e. Suren clan. it protected the Parthians from the east and allowed the Suren their expansion east into Northern India.

Why would be Saka implementing an Yrzi bow , rather older and outdated weapon for the mounted archers of Icentury BC ? or you meant the Irzi bow?

Parni and Saka shared their origin by perhaps being of Iranian descent, as were Medes or Bactrians, their southern cousins. Steppe origin of the Parni is understood as part of the Dahae confederacy. Accepted version of history is that in early III century BC these tribes came from beyond the Oxus Jaxartes line, from the vast grasslands of Eurasia, to conquer Parthia proper (former Achaemenid satrapy) and establish new Iranian state, and I think in that context the culture of Pazyrk is properly associated with Parthians as descendants of the Parni-Dahae.
But one thing is certain that in the ancient sources Parthians did not talk about armored kontophoroi/cataphractoi until Surena's victory of the Roman army. Is that omission an accident or a status quo prior to the Saka emergence as the driving force in the Parthian army? (please note that in the Achaemenid army Saka played equally interesting role). Tradition?
The coins do not show any gorytus, perhaps that is because they are not visible or perhaps because they did not carry bow and arrows when with a spear?
In my opinion these Saka from the Indo-saka coins of the I century BC seem to show the very best representation of the cataphract in the Saka-Central Asian tradition, right after Khalchayan warriors.
These are some observations that come to mind when looking at the Crassus defeat via Plutarch eyes, augmented by lots of reading and viewing sources and some enlightening conversations with my friend Patryk