03-08-2013, 04:22 AM
You "forgot" about the participation of Thracian-Gallic cavalry in that combined cavalry-infantry charge against the exposed flank and rear of cataphracts, who were at the foot of a hill (28.2-3):
"But when he saw that the mail-clad horsemen, on whom the greatest reliance was placed, were stationed at the foot of a considerable hill which was crowned by a broad and level space, and that the approach to this was a matter of only four stadia, and neither rough nor steep, he ordered his Thracian and Gallic horsemen to attack the enemy in the flank, and to parry their long spears with their own short swords. (Now the sole resource of the mail-clad horsemen is their long spear, and they have none other whatsoever, either in defending themselves or attacking their enemies, owing to the weight and rigidity of their armour; in this they are, as it were, immured.)"
And it is also worth mentioning that infantry cohorts charged down the hill, as they first climbed that hill, and only then - after shouting "The day is ours" - charged downwards towards the Armenians.
Plutarch immediately goes from describing Lucullus ordering his Thracian and Gallic cavalry to charge cataphracts' exposed flank, to describing the two cohorts climbing up the hill and then charging downwards towards the Armenians - he doesn't mention what was the Gallic and Thracian cavalry doing in the meantime. Looks like Thracian and Gallic cavalry engaged the cataphracts from the flank for some time and meanwhile two cohorts charged their rear, shouting "The day is ours". Being surrounded from two or three sides by Gallo-Thracian cavalry and 2 cohorts, the cataphracts panicked and routed.
A "hammer & anvil" tactics, but here used against cavalry, by a mixed cavalry-infantry force.
Thracian-Gallic cavalry was used as an anvil and 2 cohorts charging down the hill, as a hammer. If you want to use a "hammer & anvil" tactics vs cavalry, your anvil needs to be fast enough.
Otherwise it would be hard to explain how could infantry be able to catch up with cavalry, and also how was it possible that Roman infantry managed to climb up the hill and then charge downwards, without even being noticed by the Armenians (they didn't react to this maneuver, so they clearly didn't notice it). But the Armenian horsemen were stuck in a fight against Thracian and Gallic cavalry, which is why they did not see the Roman cohorts climbing the hill and then moving down it on time. And when, while fighting against the Roman "anvil", they finally saw the "hammer" running at them from the top of the hill and yelling, it was already too late for any counter-measures to repulse the Roman charge. Especially, that they were already engaged in combat against those Gallic and Thracian horsemen.
Being under such a surprise attack, the cataphracts panicked and started to run away.
Read it again, please... - the cataphracts stood at the foot of a hill, not on a hill :!:
OTOH, it was Roman infantry who stood on that hill (after climbing up to the top of it).
============================================
If we already speak about the "hammer & anvil" tactics:
A good example of using it against infantry, by a combined infantry-cavalry force (in such case infantry had to play the role of an anvil, and cavalry - of a hammer) was the battle of Panium. At Panium (200 BC), Seleucid cataphracts charged and smashed the Ptolemaic phalanx, working as such hammer.
There were also battles in which cavalry worked as both hammer and anvil.
At Kircholm (1605), winged hussars charged both the front and the flanks of enemy pikemen.
"But when he saw that the mail-clad horsemen, on whom the greatest reliance was placed, were stationed at the foot of a considerable hill which was crowned by a broad and level space, and that the approach to this was a matter of only four stadia, and neither rough nor steep, he ordered his Thracian and Gallic horsemen to attack the enemy in the flank, and to parry their long spears with their own short swords. (Now the sole resource of the mail-clad horsemen is their long spear, and they have none other whatsoever, either in defending themselves or attacking their enemies, owing to the weight and rigidity of their armour; in this they are, as it were, immured.)"
And it is also worth mentioning that infantry cohorts charged down the hill, as they first climbed that hill, and only then - after shouting "The day is ours" - charged downwards towards the Armenians.
Plutarch immediately goes from describing Lucullus ordering his Thracian and Gallic cavalry to charge cataphracts' exposed flank, to describing the two cohorts climbing up the hill and then charging downwards towards the Armenians - he doesn't mention what was the Gallic and Thracian cavalry doing in the meantime. Looks like Thracian and Gallic cavalry engaged the cataphracts from the flank for some time and meanwhile two cohorts charged their rear, shouting "The day is ours". Being surrounded from two or three sides by Gallo-Thracian cavalry and 2 cohorts, the cataphracts panicked and routed.
A "hammer & anvil" tactics, but here used against cavalry, by a mixed cavalry-infantry force.
Thracian-Gallic cavalry was used as an anvil and 2 cohorts charging down the hill, as a hammer. If you want to use a "hammer & anvil" tactics vs cavalry, your anvil needs to be fast enough.
Otherwise it would be hard to explain how could infantry be able to catch up with cavalry, and also how was it possible that Roman infantry managed to climb up the hill and then charge downwards, without even being noticed by the Armenians (they didn't react to this maneuver, so they clearly didn't notice it). But the Armenian horsemen were stuck in a fight against Thracian and Gallic cavalry, which is why they did not see the Roman cohorts climbing the hill and then moving down it on time. And when, while fighting against the Roman "anvil", they finally saw the "hammer" running at them from the top of the hill and yelling, it was already too late for any counter-measures to repulse the Roman charge. Especially, that they were already engaged in combat against those Gallic and Thracian horsemen.
Being under such a surprise attack, the cataphracts panicked and started to run away.
Quote: attacked the cataphracts of Tigranes, who stood on a certain hill.
Read it again, please... - the cataphracts stood at the foot of a hill, not on a hill :!:
OTOH, it was Roman infantry who stood on that hill (after climbing up to the top of it).
============================================
If we already speak about the "hammer & anvil" tactics:
A good example of using it against infantry, by a combined infantry-cavalry force (in such case infantry had to play the role of an anvil, and cavalry - of a hammer) was the battle of Panium. At Panium (200 BC), Seleucid cataphracts charged and smashed the Ptolemaic phalanx, working as such hammer.
There were also battles in which cavalry worked as both hammer and anvil.
At Kircholm (1605), winged hussars charged both the front and the flanks of enemy pikemen.
