What is the meaning of Cataphract?
Definition of cataphract 1 : a suit of armor for the whole body : coat of mail. 2 [Latin cataphractus, literally, armored, from Greek kataphraktos] : a soldier wearing a cataphract.
What was the Cataphract first people to use Cataphract?
Iranian Scythians
Iranian origins The extent circa 170 BC of the Iranian Scythians and Parthians, to whom the first recorded use of true cataphract-like cavalry can be attributed in antiquity.
Did camel Cataphracts exist?
Nations in the Middle East occasionally fielded cataphracts mounted on camels rather than on horses, with obvious benefits for use in arid regions, as well as the fact that the smell of the camels, if up wind, was a guaranteed way of panicking enemy cavalry units that they came into contact with.
Are Cataphracts Knights?
Heavy cavalry knights or heavy shock cataphracts? Knights in comparison with eastern roman cataphracts perhaps around 13th century. Cataphracts are heavily armored with lamellar and mail while knights are armored for the rider but not the horse.
What were Persian Knights called?
The asbaran have often been demonstrated as an example of existence of feudalism in Iran by modern scholars, who simply refer them as either chevalier, knight, or ritter. According to historians such as Christensen and Widengren, the asbar had the same status as the knight.
How big was the Parthian army?
The largest number of soldiers that the Parthians are recorded to have mustered were 50,000 against the Roman politician Mark Antony. Each division of the Parthian army had its own standard, which either displayed an image of a dragon, eagle, or the sun.
What was the name of the capital of Parthia?
| Parthian Empire | |
|---|---|
| Capital | Ctesiphon, Ecbatana, Hecatompylos, Susa, Mithradatkirt, Asaak, Rhages |
| Common languages | Greek (official), Parthian (official), Aramaic (lingua franca) |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism Babylonian religion |
| Government | Feudal monarchy |
Who are the Immortals in 300?
The Persian Immortals, also better known as simply the Immortals, are an antagonistic faction of the 2007 film 300, based on the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller. They are humanoid soldiers who act as elite warriors and bodyguards of Xerxes.
Why was the cataphract important to the Parthians?
A stone-etched relief depicting a Parthian cataphract fighting against a lion. Housed in the British Museum. ( Wikimedia Commons ) Generally, the cataphract is used to charge en masse into enemy lines. Due to the sheer weight of their armor, a cataphract charge can deal a great blow to the enemy.
Who are some of the people that used cataphracts?
Peoples and states deploying cataphracts at some point in their history include: the Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Parthians, Achaemenids, Sakas, Armenians, Seleucids, Pergamenes, Kingdom of Pontus, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Sassanids, the Romans, the Goths and the Byzantines in Europe and the Mongols, Chinese, and Koreans in East Asia.
When did the Sarmatians create the cataphract tank?
It is very clear that the concept of cataphract tended to made its way into the West in around 200 BC. The Sarmatians, at that stage, already had conquered most of former Scythian lands, and the latter were merely either assimilated or settled in the Bosphorus Kingdom, modern Crimea, or refugees in Getic and Dacian territories.
Which is an example of a Scythian feint?
An example of feinting comes from a battle mentioned in Part I ( Scythian Tactics and Strategy: Blah – Part I ), the battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE. The Roman historian Plutarch mentions that the Parthian horse archers would not engage the Roman forces during battle, but would retreat, luring the Roman forces to follow.