02-16-2009, 08:58 PM
Quote:The throat protection is only secondary its mainly a neck-guard, I think you can find it in those artworks of Gorelik (its short compared to the other variants). It seems to be made of leather and I think I have spotted it on an Achaemenid artefact worn by a heavy infantryman. Since I have seen it in early Parthian artefacts, I have a good feeling about it.
What Gorelik illustrates in his highly hypothetical reconstruction of Xenophon's prescriptions is the Derveni gorget, which is Macedonian. Which Achaemenid artefact showing a heavy infantryman and early Parthian artefacts are you referring to?
Quote:Well yes its on shaky grounds; but we know those ring armours for the arms from the Parthian period (Parthians didn’t employ chariot AFAIK) and as Xenophon talks about it we can also be sure that it was in use during the Achaemenid period.
Yes, the Parthians employed such armour widely, as did just about every major culture in Central Asia from the 3rd century BC onwards (Saka, Bactrians, etc.), but that is no evidence for Achaemenid use. All that tells us is that Parthian cavalry employed such armour. I don't doubt that it was used during the Achaemenid period, but the only evidence we have points to its use by charioteers.
Quote:I was under the impression that Xenophon was talking about the ring armour protecting the arm that holds the reins and that what I want to use.
Literally ever other source that I know of that illustrates the use of such arm armour shows it being worn on both arms, which is why I would be cautious when working with Xenophon's prescriptions. He was clearly providing an imaginary ideal of what would be the best arms and armour for a cavalryman to employ, and not actually drawing upon actual usage.
Quote:My artworks are mainly about the most elite units of the Persian army and my goal is to reconstruct the heavy cavalry that fought against the Greeks at Palatai, namely Masistios and his "invincible" armour. That’s also why I'm again planning to use a metal face mask.
Cavalrymen like the figure on the Canakkale sarcophagus (who very well may have been a satrap) most likely would have been among the most elite horsemen of the Persian army. What evidence are you drawing on for reconstructing such a figure with a face mask?
Ruben
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
