08-15-2013, 03:04 PM
I think Michael and Aetius seem to have a handle on the antiquity of heavy horse.
According to Herodotus and Frontinus, the 530 BC battle began with a shower of arrows from both sides, then Tomyris pulled the "fake retreat" ploy, drawing Cyrus into a canyon. Her forces then turned around, and hit the Persians with shock cavalry. I always loved that story because the world's greatest general (of that particular time-period) ended up as a woman. :woot:
Here's a semi-realistic portrait of the woman General from a Medieval manuscript:
[attachment=7787]tomyris1.JPG[/attachment]
The Sassanians had a heavy unit called the Royal Savaran, evidently named after an elite Persian family.
I would think that the earliest Roman heavy cavalry would have been patterned after the Roxolani cataphracts they encountered along the Danube in AD 60-68 and again in the Dacian wars.
According to Herodotus and Frontinus, the 530 BC battle began with a shower of arrows from both sides, then Tomyris pulled the "fake retreat" ploy, drawing Cyrus into a canyon. Her forces then turned around, and hit the Persians with shock cavalry. I always loved that story because the world's greatest general (of that particular time-period) ended up as a woman. :woot:
Here's a semi-realistic portrait of the woman General from a Medieval manuscript:
[attachment=7787]tomyris1.JPG[/attachment]
The Sassanians had a heavy unit called the Royal Savaran, evidently named after an elite Persian family.
I would think that the earliest Roman heavy cavalry would have been patterned after the Roxolani cataphracts they encountered along the Danube in AD 60-68 and again in the Dacian wars.
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb