05-04-2007, 04:52 PM
And for the Parthian cataphracts, the relevant passage would be from Plutarch's account of Carrhae:
'Before the Romans recovered from their consternation at this din, the enemy suddenly dropped the coverings from their armour. Now they could be seen clearly, their helmets and breastplates blazing like fire, their Margianian steel glittering keen and bright, their horses armoured with plates [scale?] of bronze and steel'
and when the Romans' Gallic auxiliary cavalry finally got to grips with the Parthian heavy cavalry
'both in attack and defence the odds were against them. The small light spears of his Gauls came up against tough breastplates of raw hide or steel...they grasped the long spears of the Parthians in their hands, grappled with the riders and pulled them down, clumsy with all their weight of armour, from their horses'.
Plutarch, Crassus 24-25
and here is an evocative description of charging Sarmatians (in chainmail?
'A fierce band of Sarmatians came thronging with savage yells; stiff are their lorica with supple chains; and such too the coverings of their steeds; but stretching out over the horse's head and shoulders the fir wood shaft, firmly resting on their knees, casts a long shadow upon the enemy's field, and forces its way with all the might of both warrior and steed.'
Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, vi. 233.
Pausanius on the other hand describes Sarmatians making armour from split hooves:
'They collect hooves and clean them out and split them down to make them like snake scales - you will not go far wrong if you think of this hoof work like the notches of a pine cone. They bore holes in these scales and sew them with horse and cattle hair to make breastplates no less good-looking than Greek ones, and no weaker; they stand up to striking and shooting from close range.'
Pausanius, i, c. 21
Phil Sidnell
'Before the Romans recovered from their consternation at this din, the enemy suddenly dropped the coverings from their armour. Now they could be seen clearly, their helmets and breastplates blazing like fire, their Margianian steel glittering keen and bright, their horses armoured with plates [scale?] of bronze and steel'
and when the Romans' Gallic auxiliary cavalry finally got to grips with the Parthian heavy cavalry
'both in attack and defence the odds were against them. The small light spears of his Gauls came up against tough breastplates of raw hide or steel...they grasped the long spears of the Parthians in their hands, grappled with the riders and pulled them down, clumsy with all their weight of armour, from their horses'.
Plutarch, Crassus 24-25
and here is an evocative description of charging Sarmatians (in chainmail?
'A fierce band of Sarmatians came thronging with savage yells; stiff are their lorica with supple chains; and such too the coverings of their steeds; but stretching out over the horse's head and shoulders the fir wood shaft, firmly resting on their knees, casts a long shadow upon the enemy's field, and forces its way with all the might of both warrior and steed.'
Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, vi. 233.
Pausanius on the other hand describes Sarmatians making armour from split hooves:
'They collect hooves and clean them out and split them down to make them like snake scales - you will not go far wrong if you think of this hoof work like the notches of a pine cone. They bore holes in these scales and sew them with horse and cattle hair to make breastplates no less good-looking than Greek ones, and no weaker; they stand up to striking and shooting from close range.'
Pausanius, i, c. 21
Phil Sidnell
