A cataphract was a form of armoured heavy cavalry that originated in Persia and was fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa .
105-467: Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armoured horseman, with both the rider and mount almost completely covered in scale or lamellar armour over chain mail , and typically wielding a kontos ( lance ) as his primary weapon. Cataphracts served as the elite cavalry force for most empires and nations that fielded them, primarily used for charges to break through opposing heavy cavalry and infantry formations. Chronicled by many historians from
210-426: A Sasanian Persian, late Roman and Byzantine military unit of armored heavy cavalry . Similar to the cataphracti , the horsemen themselves and their horses were fully or sometimes partially armoured. There are several theories to the origins of this name, one being that the men were literally nicknamed "camp oven-bearers", due to the amount of armour they wore causing them to heat up very quickly in battle, or that
315-414: A sword or mace , for use in the melee that often followed a charge. Some wore armor that was primarily frontal: providing protection for a charge and against missiles yet offering relief from the weight and encumbrance of a full suit. In yet another variation, cataphracts in some field armies were not equipped with shields at all, particularly if they had heavy body armor, as having both hands occupied with
420-463: A Roman equivalent of horse archers , first mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum ). Given that "cataphract" was used for more than a millennium by various cultures, it appears that different types of fully armoured cavalry in the armies of different nations were assigned this name by Greek and Roman scholars not familiar with the native terms for such cavalry. The reliance on cavalry as
525-571: A combination of fire and movement , which pinned the enemy down, wore them out and left them vulnerable to a deathblow. The cataphract charge was very effective due to the disciplined riders and the large numbers of horses deployed. As early as the 1st century BC, especially during the expansionist campaigns of the Parthian and Sassanid dynasties, Eastern Iranian cataphracts employed by the Scythians , Sarmatians, Parthians, and Sassanids presented
630-506: A grievous problem for the traditionally less mobile, infantry-dependent Roman Empire. Roman writers throughout imperial history made much of the terror of facing cataphracts, let alone receiving their charge. Parthian armies repeatedly clashed with the Roman legions in a series of wars, featuring the heavy usage of cataphracts. Although initially successful, the Romans soon developed ways to crush
735-412: A leather shirt or similar garment has sewn-on scales in places, particularly around the neck and upper chest. The individual scales used to construct Roman armour are called squamae or squama . During Roman times, scale armour ( lorica squamata ) was a popular alternative to mail ( lorica hamata ) as it offered better protection against blunt force trauma. Hellenistic-Attic lamellar armour
840-649: A mail haubergeon . Sir Albrecht's armour appears to be additionally riveted to the backing. Scale armor was typically reserved for officers and senior soldiers in the militaries of various Korean states, including the period of the Three Kingdoms of Korea , due to cost and duration of production. As with other scale and lamellar styles of armor in other parts of the world, this armor was effective against light missiles and stabbing as well as against blade slashing, but not against heavy thrusts (e.g. from spears, ballista-type projectiles, and sword thrusts). Early in
945-720: A means of warfare in general lies with the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the Central Asian steppes in early antiquity , who were one of the first peoples to domesticate the horse and pioneered the development of the chariot . Some of these nomadic tribes and wandering pastoralists c. 2000 BC ( Bronze-Age ), the Iranians , migrated from the steppes of Central Asia into the Iranian Plateau and Greater Iran from around 1000 BC to 800 BC. Two of these tribes are attested based upon archaeological evidence:
1050-430: A new military force from the ground up, which was directly responsible for transforming the aging Byzantine Empire from one of the weakest periods in its existence into a major economic and military power, akin to its existence during the golden age of Justinian I . However, even in this case, it seems that the cataphract was eventually superseded by other types of heavy cavalry. It is difficult to determine when exactly
1155-588: A response (or even a stimulus) to an emerging trend of the late Roman army towards mobility and versatility in their means of warfare. In an ironic twist, the elite of the East Roman army by the 6th century had become the cataphract, modelled after the very force that had fought them in the east for more than 500 years earlier. During the Iberian and Lazic wars initiated in the Caucasus by Justinian I , it
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#17328014584421260-507: A shield and lance left no room to effectively steer the horse. Eastern and Persian cataphracts, particularly those of the Sassanid Empire , carried bows as well as blunt-force weapons, to soften up enemy formations before an eventual attack, reflecting upon the longstanding Persian tradition of horse archery and its use in battle by successive Persian Empires . While they varied in design and appearance, cataphracts were universally
1365-643: A similar time period to the Chinese. Meanwhile, the Tibetan Empire used cataphracts as the elite assault force of its armies for much of its history. The Gokturk Khaganates might also have had cataphracts, as the Orkhon inscriptions mentioned Latter Göktürk general Kul-Tegin exchanged armored horses in battle. Antigüedad y cristianismo: Monografías históricas sobre la Antigüedad tardía, Nº 16, pages 397-418.ISSN 0214-7165. Scale armour Scale armour
1470-500: A slower pace. Some cataphracts fielded by the later Roman Empire were also equipped with heavy, lead-weight darts called Martiobarbuli , akin to the plumbata used by late Roman infantry. These were to be hurled at the enemy lines during or just before a charge, to disorder the defensive formation immediately before the impact of the lances. With or without darts, a cataphract charge would usually be supported by some kind of missile troops (mounted or unmounted) placed on either flank of
1575-598: A textile base covered by a layer of metal scales, one with iron and one with bronze. Seeing as the armor sets were found within the city walls, they are assumed to have belonged to the Romans. However, the style of armor is tied to the Sasanian Empire so there is some confusion as to who the armor belonged to. Also found at Dura-Europos were drawings, or graffiti , that depicted scale armor on horses and cavalrymen. Scale armour offers better and more solid protection from piercing and blunt attacks than chain mail . It
1680-578: A throwback to the super-heavy cavalry of earlier antiquity. These cataphracts specialised in forming a wedge formation and penetrating enemy formations to create gaps, enabling lighter troops to make a breakthrough. Alternatively, they were used to target the head of the enemy force, typically a foreign emperor. As with the original cataphracts, the Leonian/Nikephorian units seemed to have fallen out of favour and use with their handlers, making their last, recorded appearance in battle in 970 and
1785-545: A victory. The adoption of cataphract-like cavalry formations took hold among the late Roman army during the late 3rd and 4th centuries. The Emperor Gallienus ( r. 253–268 AD ) and his general and putative usurper Aureolus (died 268) arguably contributed much to the institution of Roman cataphract contingents in the Late Roman army . The origin of the word is Greek. Κατάφρακτος ( kataphraktos , cataphraktos , cataphractos , or katafraktos )
1890-522: Is Dragon Skin body armour , which uses ballistic fabric and high-impact resistant ceramic plates to protect against pistol and rifle fire. However, its "scales" are not exposed. Clibanarii The Clibanarii or Klibanophoroi ( Greek : κλιβανοφόροι , meaning "camp oven-bearers" from the Greek word κλίβανος meaning "camp oven" or "metallic furnace" ), in Persian Grivpanvar , were
1995-446: Is also cheaper to produce, but it is not as flexible and does not offer the same amount of coverage. Forms other than brigandine and coat of plates were uncommon in medieval Europe, but scale and lamellar remained popular elsewhere. Modern forms of scale armour are sometimes worn for decorative or LARP purposes, and may be made from materials such as steel , aluminium , or even titanium . A similar type of modern personal armour
2100-420: Is an ancient Roman armour of this type. Other types of armour made from individual scales but constructed in a different manner have their own separate names, such as lamellar armour where the individual scales are perforated on several or all edges and lashed tightly to each other in straight ridged rows and do not need to be attached to a backing. The Romans also had a variant called lorica plumata in which
2205-461: Is an early form of armour consisting of many individual small armour scales (plates) of various shapes attached to each other and to a backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. Scale armour was worn by warriors of many different cultures as well as their horses. The material used to make the scales varied and included bronze , iron , steel , rawhide , leather , cuir bouilli , seeds , horn , or pangolin scales. The variations are primarily
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#17328014584422310-469: Is composed of the Greek root words, κατά , a preposition, and φρακτός ("covered, protected"), which is interpreted along the lines of "fully armoured" or "closed from all sides". The term first appears substantively in Latin , in the writings of Lucius Cornelius Sisenna : " loricatos, quos cataphractos vocant ", meaning "the armoured, whom they call cataphract". There appears to be some confusion about
2415-732: Is not entirely clear. Heavily armored riders on large horses appear in 4th century BC frescoes in the northern Black Sea region, notably at a time when the Scythians, who relied on light horse archers, were superseded by the Sarmatians. By the 3rd century BC, light cavalry units were used in most eastern armies, but still only "relatively few states in the East or West attempted to imitate the Assyrian and Chorasmian experiments with mailed cavalry". The Greeks first encountered cataphracts during
2520-540: The Battle of Immae , proving the continuing importance of mobility on the battlefield. The Romans fought a prolonged and indecisive campaign in the East against the Parthians beginning in 53 BC, commencing with the defeat of Marcus Licinius Crassus (close benefactor of Julius Caesar ) and his 35,000 legionaries at Carrhae. This initially unexpected and humiliating defeat for Rome was followed by numerous campaigns over
2625-628: The Draco banner and Tamga of Sarmatian cataphracts belonging to the tribe of Royal Sarmatians, was used by the Clan of Ostoja and become Ostoja coat of arms . As Western European metalwork became increasingly sophisticated, the traditional image of the cataphract's awe-inspiring might and presence quickly evaporated. From the 15th century and onwards, chain mail , lamellar armor , and scale armor seemed to fall out of favour with Eastern noble cavalrymen as elaborate and robust plate cuirasses arrived from
2730-741: The Fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453, when the last nation to refer to its cavalrymen as cataphracts fell (see Decline of the Byzantine Empire ). Horses covered with scale armor are alluded to in the ancient Chinese book of poetry, the Shi Jing dating between the 7th to 10th centuries BC—however, this armor did not cover the entire horse and was likely made of hide , not metal as traditionally believed (e.g. by Zhu Xi , Séraphin Couvreur , James Legge , etc.). According to surviving records,
2835-787: The Greco-Persian Wars of the 5th century BC with the Achaemenid Empire. The Ionian Revolt , an uprising against Persian rule in Asia Minor which preluded the First Persian invasion of Greece , is very likely the first Western encounter of cataphract cavalry, and to a degree heavy cavalry in general. The cataphract was widely adopted by the Seleucid Empire , the Hellenistic successors of Alexander
2940-599: The Mitanni and the Kassites . Although evidence is scant, they are believed to have raised and bred horses for specific purposes, as is evidenced by the large archaeological record of their use of the chariot and several treatises on the training of chariot horses. The one founding prerequisite towards the development of cataphract cavalry in the Ancient Near East , apart from advanced metalworking techniques and
3045-729: The Nisean , which originated in the Zagros Mountains for use as heavy cavalry. The Nisean would become renowned in the Ancient World and particularly in Ancient Persia as the mount of nobility. These warhorses, sometimes referred to as "Nisean chargers", were highly sought after by the Greeks , and are believed to have influenced many modern horse breeds. With the growing aggressiveness of cavalry in warfare, protection of
3150-748: The Pushtigban Body Guards , were sourced from the very best of the Savaran divisions and were akin in their deployment and military role to their Roman counterparts, the Praetorian Guard , used exclusively by Roman emperors. Ammianus Marcellinus remarked in his memoirs that members of the Pushtigban were able to impale two Roman soldiers on their spears at once with a single furious charge. Persian cataphract archery also seems to have been again revived in late antiquity , perhaps as
3255-597: The Roman-Persian wars intensified to the West, sweeping military reforms were again re-established. During the 4th century, Shapur II of Persia attempted to reinstate the super-heavy cataphracts of previous Persian dynasties to counter the formation of the new, Roman Comitatenses , the dedicated, front-line legionaries who were the heavy infantry of the late Roman Empire. The elite of the Persian cataphracts, known as
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3360-624: The Silk Road ) as well as within Greater Iran . Assyria and the Khwarezm region were also significant to the development of cataphract-like cavalry during the 1st millennium BC. Reliefs discovered in the ancient ruins of Nimrud (the ancient Assyrian city founded by king Shalmaneser I during the 13th century BC) are the earliest known depictions of riders wearing plated-mail shirts composed of metal scales, presumably deployed to provide
3465-447: The breastplate of the saddle) independently to give a further degree of movement for the horse and to allow the armor to be affixed to the horse reasonably tightly so that it should not loosen too much during movement. Usually but not always, a close-fitting helmet that covered the head and neck was worn by the rider; the Persian variants extended this even further and encased the wearer's entire head in metal, leaving only minute slits for
3570-739: The 2nd century by Emperor Marcus Aurelius (see End of Roman rule in Britain ). This tradition was later paralleled by the rise of feudalism in Christian Europe in the Early Middle Ages and the establishment of the knighthood particularly during the Crusades , while the Eastern Romans continued to maintain a very active corps of cataphracts long after their Western counterparts fell in 476 AD. But no sooner had
3675-667: The 4th century, the Roman Empire had adopted a number of vexillations of mercenary cataphract cavalry (see the Notitia Dignitatum ), such as the Sarmatian Auxiliaries . The Romans deployed both native and mercenary units of cataphracts throughout the Empire, from Asia Minor all the way to Britain, where a contingent of 5,500 Sarmatians (including cataphracts, infantry, and non-combatants) were posted in
3780-470: The 7th century, when Late Latin ceased to be the official language of the empire) were exclusively referred to as Kataphraktoi , due to the Empire's strong Greek influence, as opposed to the Romanized term Cataphractarii , which subsequently fell out of use. These later Roman cataphracts were a much feared force in their heyday. The army of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas reconstituted Kataphraktoi during
3885-922: The Assyrians with a tactical advantage over the unprotected mounted archers of their nomadic enemies, primarily the Aramaeans , Mushki , North Arabian tribes and the Babylonians . The Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727 BC) period, under which the Neo-Assyrian Empire was formed and reached its military peak, is believed to have been the first context within which the Assyrian kingdom formed crude regiments of cataphract-like cavalry. Even when armed only with pikes , these early horsemen were effective mounted cavalrymen, but when provided with bows under Sennacherib (705–681 BC), they eventually became capable both of long-range and hand-to-hand combat, mirroring
3990-665: The Assyrians, they differed in that not only the rider but also the head and flanks of the horse were protected by armor. Whether this development was influenced by the Assyrians, as Rubin postulates, or perhaps the Achaemenid Empire, or whether they occurred spontaneously and entirely unrelated to the advances in heavily armored cavalry made in the Ancient Near East, cannot be discerned by the archaeological records left by these mounted nomads. The further evolution of these early forms of heavy cavalry in Western Eurasia
4095-574: The Fujiwara period (11th century). "A primitive type of Japanese harness, the single laminae being of boiled leather, cut and beaten into pieces shaped like fish-scales." Kadazan people in Sabah make armour from scales of the Sunda pangolin . The Javanese people has a type of scale armour called siping-siping . It is a protective jacket with scale-shaped metal plates, possibly made of brass. At
4200-731: The Great 's kingdom who reigned over conquered Persia and Asia Minor after his death in 323 BC. The Parthians, who wrested control over their native Persia from the last Seleucid Kingdom in the East in 147 BC, were also noted for their reliance upon cataphracts as well as horse archers in battle. Besides the Seleucids it is possible that also the Kingdom of Pergamon adopted some cataphracts. Pergamese reliefs show cavalry similarly armed and equipped as Seleucid cataphracts, indicating an adoption. Yet these were probably equipped from trophies taken from
4305-494: The Joseon era (1392-1897), due to the cost and difficulty of bulk transport, an initiative was begun to replace metal (usually iron) components in armor with hardened leather in a majority of armor delivered/issued to military personnel. The tradeoff of this initiative (which was begun as early as 1457 ) was that while lighter, warmer, and more flexible than iron-scaled armor (as well as less costly to produce and easier to transport),
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4410-543: The Latin variant and the Greek innovation clibanarii being used in historical sources, largely because of the Byzantines ' heavy Greek influence (especially after the 7th century, when Latin ceased to be the official language). Contemporary sources, however, sometimes imply that clibanarii were in fact a heavier type of cavalryman, or formed special-purpose units (such as the late Equites Sagittarii Clibanarii ,
4515-503: The Liao, Xia, and Jin, but the shortage of suitable grazing lands and horse pastures in Song territory made the effective breeding and maintenance of Song cavalry far more difficult. This added to the Song's vulnerability to continual raids by the emerging Mongol Empire for over two decades, which eventually vanquished them in 1279 at the hands of Kublai Khan . The Yuan dynasty , successors to
4620-662: The Parthians, fielding units of super-heavy cavalry. This gradually fell out of favour, and a "universal" cavalryman was developed during the later 3rd century, able to fight as a mounted archer as well as a cataphract. This was perhaps in response to the harassing, nomadic combat style used by the Sassanids' northern neighbours who frequently raided their borders, such as the Huns , Hephthalites , Xiongnu , Scythians, and Kushans , all of which favoured hit and run tactics and relied almost solely upon horse archers for combat. However, as
4725-514: The Roman Empire comes in the 2nd century AD, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138 AD), who created the first, regular unit of auxiliary, mailed cavalry called the ala I Gallorum et Pannoniorum catafractata . A key architect in the process was evidently the Roman emperor Gallienus , who created a highly mobile force in response to the multiple threats along the northern and eastern frontier. However, as late as 272 AD, Aurelian 's army, completely composed of light cavalry, defeated Zenobia at
4830-618: The Seleucids, which would suggest limited numbers. The Romans came to know cataphracts during their frequent wars in the Hellenistic East . Cataphracts had varying levels of success against Roman military tactics more so at the Battle of Carrhae and less so at the battle of Lucullus with Tigranes the Great near Tigranocerta in 69 BC. In 38 BC, the Roman general Publius Ventidius Bassus , by making extensive use of slingers , whose long-range weapons proved very effective, defeated
4935-613: The Song, were a continuation of the Mongol Empire, and seem to have all but forgotten the cataphract traditions of their predecessors. The last remaining traces of cataphracts in East Asia seems to have faded with the downfall of the Yuan in 1368 and later heavy cavalry never reached the levels of armor and protection for the horses as these earlier cataphracts. Other East Asian cultures were also known to have used cataphracts during
5040-470: The West; this, in combination with the advent of early firearms , cannon , and gunpowder , rendered the relatively thin and flexible armor of cataphracts obsolete. Despite these advances, the Byzantine army, often unable to afford newer equipment en masse , was left ill-equipped and forced to rely on its increasingly archaic military technology. The cataphract finally passed into the pages of history with
5145-647: The Western Han Dynasty had 5,330 sets of horse armor at the Donghai Armory. Comprehensive full-body armor for horses made of organic materials such as rawhide may have existed as early as the Qin Dynasty according to archaeological discoveries of stone lamellar armor for horses. Comprehensive armor for horses made of metal might have been used in China as early as the Three Kingdoms period, but
5250-627: The ancient site of Dura-Europos , there were two full sets of scale armor for horses found during archaeology excavations. These sets of armor were determined to be from the Roman occupation of the city in the 3rd century CE. They were found in Tower 19, a defensive tower on the edge of the city, after destruction and fire due to defensive tactics. They were folded, one with an arrowhead still in it, and very well preserved. These horse "trappers"—a term used in Simon James ' excavation report —were made of
5355-534: The cataphract saw his final day. After all, cataphracts and knights fulfilled a roughly similar role on the medieval battlefield, and the armored knight survived well into the early modern era of Europe. The Byzantine army maintained units of heavily armored cavalrymen up until its final years, mostly in the form of Western European Latinikon mercenaries, while neighbouring Bulgars , Serbs , Avars , Alans , Lithuanians , Khazars , and other Eurasian peoples emulated Byzantine military equipment. During medieval times,
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#17328014584425460-647: The charges of heavy horsemen, through use of terrain and maintained discipline. Persian cataphracts were a contiguous division known as the Savaran ( Persian : سواران , literally meaning "riders") during the era of the Sassanid army and remained a formidable force from the 3rd to 7th centuries until the collapse of the Sassanid Empire . Initially the Sassanid dynasty continued the cavalry traditions of
5565-404: The companies were clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff-joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skilfully fitted to their heads, that since their entire body was covered with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings opposite the pupil of
5670-631: The course of the Joseon Dynasty, Korean scaled armor changed in style. Initially the scales were on the exterior of the armor and thus attached to a base leather and fabric backing, but by the later Joseon era the scales (by this time mostly hardened leather) were riveted inside the armor coat, forming a type of brigandine armor. Horses covered with scale armour are mentioned in the ancient Chinese book of poetry, Shi Jing . Japanese (samurai) individual scales are called kozane . Japanese scale armour constructed from fish type scales ( gyorin kozane ) were reportedly constructed in Japan as far back as
5775-425: The development of dual-purpose cataphract archers by the Parthian Empire during the 1st century BC. Archaeological excavations also indicate that, by the 6th century BC, similar experimentation had taken place among the Iranian peoples inhabiting the Khwarezm region and Aral Sea basin, such as the Massagetae , Dahae and Saka. While the offensive weapons of these prototype cataphracts were identical to those of
5880-415: The domestication and evolution of the horse. These early riding traditions, which were strongly tied to the ruling caste of nobility (as only those of noble birth or caste could become cavalry warriors), now spread throughout the Eurasian steppes and Iranian plateau from around 600 BC and onwards due to contact with the Median Empire 's vast expanse across Central Asia, which was the native homeland of
5985-537: The earliest days of antiquity up until the High Middle Ages , they may have influenced the later European knights , through contact with the Eastern Roman Empire . Peoples and states deploying cataphracts at some point in their history included: the Scythians , Sarmatians , Alans , Parthians , Achaemenids , Sakas , Armenians , Seleucids , Attalid , Pontus , Greco-Bactrian , Sassanids , Romans , Goths , Byzantines , Georgians , Chinese , Koreans , Jurchens , Mongols , Tanguts and Songhai . In Europe,
6090-446: The early, north-eastern Iranian ethnic groups such as the Massagetae , Scythians, Sakas , and Dahae . The successive Persian Empires that followed the Medes after their downfall in 550 BC took these already long-standing military tactics and horse-breeding traditions and infused their centuries of experience and veterancy from conflicts against the Greek city-states , Babylonians , Assyrians , Scythians, and North Arabian tribes with
6195-434: The end by a fastening attached to the horse's hind leg, which supported the use of the lance by transferring the full momentum of a horse's gallop to the thrust of the charge. Though they lacked stirrups, the traditional Roman saddle had four horns with which to secure the rider; enabling a soldier to stay seated upon the full impact. During the Sassanid era, the Persian military developed ever more secure saddles to "fasten"
6300-422: The enemy formation through the resulting disruption (contrary to popular representations, Byzantine Kataphraktoi did not charge, they advanced at a steady medium-pace trot and were designed to roll over an enemy already softened by the archers). This formation is the only method prescribed for Kataphraktoi in the Praecepta Militaria of Emperor Nikephoros which was designed as a decisive hammer-blow which would break
6405-412: The enemy formation. Some armies formalised this tactic by deploying separate types of cataphract, the conventional, very heavily armored, bowless lancer for the primary charge and a dual purpose, lance-and-bow cataphract for supporting units. References to Eastern Roman cataphracts seemed to have disappeared in the late 6th century, as the manual of war known as Strategikon of Maurice , published during
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#17328014584426510-400: The enemy in the event that they resisted the initial charge. Contemporary depictions, however, imply that Byzantine cataphracts were not as completely armored as the earlier Roman and Sassanid incarnation. The horse armor was noticeably lighter than earlier examples, being made of leather scales or quilted cloth rather than metal at all. Byzantine cataphracts of the 10th century were drawn from
6615-444: The enemy. Due to the rigidity of the formation, it was not possible for it to re-form and execute a second charge in instances where the first blow did not smash the enemy (no feigned flight or repeated charges were possible due to the formation employed). It is for this reason that Byzantine military manuals (Praecepta Militaria and the Taktika) advise where possible, for the use of a second wedge of Kataphraktoi which could be hurled at
6720-423: The eye, or where through the tip of their nose they were able to get a little breath. Of these some who were armed with pikes, stood so motionless that you would have thought them held fast by clamps of bronze. The Persians opposed us serried bands of mail-clad horsemen in such close order that the gleam of moving bodies covered with closely fitting plates of iron dazzled the eyes of those who looked upon them, while
6825-464: The fall of the Tang Dynasty. During the Five Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms era, cataphracts were important units in this civil war. In the same period, cataphracts were also popular among nomadic empires, such as the Liao , Western Xia , and Jin dynasties—the heavy cataphracts of the Xia and Jin were especially effective and were known as "Iron Sparrowhawks" and "Iron Pagodas" respectively. The Song Empire also developed cataphract units to counter those of
6930-612: The fashion for heavily armoured Roman cavalry seems to have been a response to the Eastern campaigns of the Parthians and Sasanians in Anatolia , as well as numerous defeats at the hands of Iranian cataphracts across the steppes of Eurasia, most notably in the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC) in upper Mesopotamia . Traditionally, Roman cavalry was neither heavily-armoured nor decisive in effect; the Roman equites corps comprised mainly lightly-armoured horsemen bearing spears and swords and using light cavalry tactics to skirmish before and during battles, and then to pursue retreating enemies after
7035-435: The first light of day appeared, than the glittering coats of mail, girt with bands of steel, and the gleaming cuirasses, seen from afar, showed that the king's forces were at hand. Cataphracts were almost universally clad in some form of scale armor ( Greek : φολιδωτός Folidotos , equivalent to the Roman Lorica squamata ) that was flexible enough to give the rider and horse a good degree of motion, but strong enough to resist
7140-432: The focal point for where this first occurred. The previously mentioned early Indo-Iranian kingdoms and statehoods were to a large degree the ancestors of the north-eastern Iranian tribes and the Medians , who would found the first Iranian Empire in 625 BC. It was the Median Empire that left the first written proof of horse breeding around the 7th century BC, being the first to propagate a specific horse breed , known as
7245-477: The form of a cuirass over mail, scale pauldrons , or faulds (the lower part of a breastplate that protects the lower stomach, hips and groin). There is also evidence for scale sabatons (protective shoe coverings) and scale aventails . The use of these scale armoured components is commonly depicted in period art and funeral effigies. The funeral effigy of Sir Albrecht Von Hohenlohe circa 1325 AD depicts him wearing scaled body armour underneath his surcoat and over
7350-461: The fourth century, mentions the " cataphracti equites (quos clibanarios dictitant) " – the "cataphract cavalry which they regularly call clibanarii " (implying that clibanarii is a foreign term, not used in Classical Latin ). Clibanarii is a Latin word for "mail-clad riders", itself a derivative of the Greek κλιβανοφόροι ( klibanophoroi ), meaning "camp oven bearers" from the Greek word κλίβανος , meaning "camp oven" or "metallic furnace";
7455-402: The great importance of armored cavalry in warfare. The later Sui Empire continued the use of cataphracts. During the Tang Empire it was illegal for private citizens to possess horse armor. Production of horse armor was controlled by the government. However, the use of cataphracts was mentioned in many records and literature. Cataphracts were also used in warfare from the Anlushan Rebellion to
7560-418: The heavy assault force of most nations that deployed them, acting as "shock troops" to deliver the bulk of an offensive manoeuvre, while being supported by various forms of infantry and archers (both mounted and unmounted). While their roles in military history often seem to overlap with lancers or generic heavy cavalry, they should not be considered analogous to these forms of cavalry, and instead represent
7665-437: The huge numbers of incoming arrows. This made them fatally susceptible to a massed cataphract charge, since the testudo made the legionaries immobile and incapable of attacking or defending themselves in close combat against the long reach of the Parthian cataphracts' Kontos , a type of lance . The end result was a far smaller force of Parthian cataphracts and horse archers wiping out a Roman army four times their number, due to
7770-517: The immense impact of a thunderous charge into infantry formations. Scale armor was made from overlapping, rounded plates of bronze or iron (most being around one to two millimeters thick), which had two or four holes drilled into the sides, to be threaded with a bronze wire that was then sewn onto an undergarment of leather or animal hide , worn by the horse. A full set of cataphract armor consisted of approximately 1,300 or so "scales" and could weigh an astonishing 40 kilograms or 88 pounds (not inclusive of
7875-572: The last record of their existence in 1001, referred to as being posted to garrison duty. If they had indeed disappeared, then it is possible that they were revived once again during the Komnenian restoration , a period of thorough financial, territorial and military reform that changed the Byzantine army of previous ages, which is referred to separately as the Komnenian army after the 12th century. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118) established
7980-538: The leather-based scaled armor provided less effective protection in combat. By the time of the Japanese invasions of Korea from 1592-1598, some Korean military armor components had been switched over from iron to hardened leather, but extant examples and contemporary documentation indicate that those Korean personnel wearing armor still utilized iron scales and such armor proved to be effective against most Japanese weaponry (not so much against firearms) in combat. Over
8085-602: The lingering period of exposure to cataphracts at the eastern frontier as well as the growing military pressure of the Sarmatian lancers on the Danube frontier led to a gradual integration of cataphracts into the Roman army. Thus, although cavalrymen with armor were deployed in the Roman army as early as the 2nd century BC ( Polybios , VI, 25, 3), the first recorded deployment and use of cataphracts ( equites cataphractarii ) by
8190-614: The middle of the first century) shows also a scaled tunic of a centurion. Again, in the collection of marble portrait-busts from the great Gallo-Roman villa of Chiragan near Toulouse, the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Severus both appear wearing corselets of scale armour. Metal scale armour was used throughout most of the European world for the duration of the medieval period. It was commonly used to augment other armour types, predominantly mail, but also plate armour taking
8295-573: The name is derived from Persian word griwbanwar or griva-pana-bara meaning "neck-guard wearer". The clibanarii cavalry of Shapur II is described by Greek historian Ammianus Marcellinus , a Roman staff officer who served in the army of Constantius II in Gaul and Persia , fought against the Persians under Julian the Apostate , and took part in the retreat of his successor Jovian , as: All
8400-423: The necessary grazing pastures for raising horses, was the development of selective breeding and animal husbandry . Cataphract cavalry needed immensely strong and endurant horses, and without selectively breeding horses for muscular strength and hardiness, they would have surely not been able to bear the immense loads of armor and a rider during the strain of battle. The Near East is generally believed to have been
8505-399: The next two centuries entailing many notable engagements such as: the Battle of Cilician Gates , Mount Gindarus , Mark Antony's Parthian Campaign and finally culminating in the bloody Battle of Nisibis in 217 AD, which resulted in a slight Parthian victory, and Emperor Macrinus being forced to concede peace with Parthia. As a result of this lingering period of exposure to cataphracts, by
8610-427: The nose and eyes as openings. Ammianus Marcellinus, a noted Roman historian and general who served in the army of Constantius II in Gaul and Persia and fought against the Sassanid army under Julian the Apostate , described the sight of a contingent of massed Persian cataphracts in the 4th century: ...all the companies were clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that
8715-514: The ranks of the middle-class landowners through the theme system, providing the Byzantine Empire with a motivated and professional force that could support its own wartime expenditures. The previously mentioned term Clibanarii (possibly representing a distinct class of cavalry from the cataphract) was brought to the fore in the 10th and 11th centuries of the Byzantine Empire, known in Byzantine Greek as Klibanophoros , which appeared to be
8820-589: The regular one-handed spear used by most other cavalries of the period. Accounts of later period Middle Eastern cavalrymen wielding them told of occasions when it was capable of bursting through two layers of chain mail . There are also reliefs in Iran at Firuzabad showing Persian kings doing battle in a fashion not dissimilar to later depictions of jousts and mounted combat from the Medieval era. Cataphracts would often be equipped with an additional side-arm such as
8925-625: The result of material availability. Scale armour – a defence of great antiquity – began in the Middle East. The earliest representation is the tomb of Kenamon, who lived in Egypt in the reign of Amenhotep II (1436–1411 BC). Scale armour is armour in which the individual scales are sewn or laced to a backing by one or more edges and arranged in overlapping rows resembling the scales of a fish/reptile or roofing tiles. The scales are usually assembled and strapped by lacing or rivets. Lorica squamata
9030-682: The rider and the horse became paramount. This was especially true of peoples who treated cavalry as the basic arm of their military, such as the Ancient Persians , including the Medes and the successive Persian dynasties . To a larger extent, the same can be said of all the Ancient Iranian peoples : second only to perhaps the bow, horses were held in reverence and importance in these societies as their preferred and mastered medium of warfare, due to an intrinsic link throughout history with
9135-612: The rider to the horse's body, much like the later knightly saddles of Medieval Europe. These saddles had a cantle at the back of the saddle and two guard clamps that curved across the top of the rider's thighs and fastened to the saddle, thereby enabling the rider to stay properly seated, especially during violent contact in battle. The penetrating power of the cataphract's lance was recognized as being fearful by Roman writers, described as being capable of transfixing two men at once, as well as inflicting deep and mortal wounds even on opposing cavalries' mounts, and were definitely more potent than
9240-454: The rider's body weight). Less commonly, plated mail or lamellar armor (which is similar in appearance but divergent in design, as it has no backing) was substituted for scale armor, while for the most part the rider wore chain mail . Specifically, the horse armor was usually sectional (not joined together as a cohesive "suit"), with large plates of scales tied together around the animal's waist, flank, shoulders, neck and head (especially along
9345-697: The same period, made no mention of cataphracts or their tactical employment. This absence persisted through most of the Thematic period, until the cataphracts reappeared in Emperor Leo VI 's Sylloge Taktikon , probably reflecting a revival that paralleled the transformation of the Eastern Roman army from a largely defensive force into a largely offensive force. The cataphracts deployed by the Eastern Roman Empire (most noticeably after
9450-652: The same type of cavalry, designated differently simply as a result of their divided geographical locations and local linguistic preferences. Cataphract-like cavalry under the command of the Western Roman Empire , where Latin was the official tongue, always bore the Latinized variant of the original Greek name, cataphractarii . The cataphract-like cavalry stationed in the Eastern Roman Empire had no exclusive term ascribed to them, with both
9555-491: The scales were attached to mail. The Scythians ' horse warriors appear to have used scale or possibly lamellar armour , evident both from contemporary illustrations and burial finds in kurgans . The armour was made from small plates of iron or bronze. Due to the semi-rigid nature of the armour, the Scythian variety was made as breast- and back-plates, with separate shoulder pieces. Some finds indicate partial armour, where
9660-514: The separate evolution of a very distinct class of heavy cavalry in the Near East that had certain connotations of prestige, nobility, and esprit de corps attached to them. In many armies, this reflected upon social stratification or a caste system , as only the wealthiest men of noble birth could afford the panoply of the cataphract, not to mention the costs of supporting several war horses and ample amounts of weaponry and armor. Fire support
9765-563: The shape of fish-scales; this comparison indicates scale armour, and not mail, is meant. Scale armour is not of frequent occurrence on the grave monuments of the German frontier. On two tombstones of the Sertorii at Verona (one that of a centurion, the other that of a standard-bearer) both figures are represented wearing a tunic of scale armour which covers the shoulders and comes down below the belt. The Carnuntum monument of Calidius (a work of
9870-455: The significant role cavalry played not only in warfare but everyday life to form a military reliant almost entirely upon armored horses for battle. The evolution of the heavily armored horseman was not isolated to one focal point during a specific era (such as the Iranian plateau ), but rather developed simultaneously in different parts of Central Asia (especially among the peoples inhabiting
9975-577: The stiff-joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skillfully fitted to their heads, that since their entire body was covered with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings opposite the pupil of the eye, or where through the tip of their nose they were able to get a little breath. Of these some, who were armed with pikes, stood so motionless that you would think them held fast by clamps of bronze. The primary weapon of practically all cataphract forces throughout history
10080-445: The tenth century and included a complex and highly developed composition of an offensive, blunt-nosed wedge formation. Made up of roughly five hundred cavalrymen, this unit was clearly designed with a single decisive charge in mind as the centre of the unit was composed of mounted archers. These would release volleys of arrows into the enemy as the unit advanced at a trot, with the first four rows of mace-armed Kataphraktoi then penetrating
10185-512: The term in the late Roman period , as armoured cavalrymen of any sort that were traditionally referred to as Equites in the Republican period later became exclusively designated as "cataphracts". Vegetius , writing in the fourth century, described armour of any sort as "cataphracts" – which at the time of writing would have been either lorica segmentata or lorica hamata . Ammianus Marcellinus , Roman soldier and historian of
10290-497: The uphill-storming Parthian armored cavalry. At the time of Augustus , the Greek geographer Strabo considered cataphracts with horse armor to be typical of Armenian , Caucasian Albanian , and Persian armies, but, according to Plutarch , they were still held in rather low esteem in the Hellenistic world due to their poor tactical abilities against disciplined infantry as well as against more mobile, light cavalry. However,
10395-592: The usage wasn't widely adapted as most cavalry formation requires maneuverability. It was not until the early 4th century, however, that cataphracts came into widespread use among with the Xianbei tribes of Inner Mongolia and Liaoning , which led to the readoption of cataphracts en masse by Chinese armies during the Jin dynasty (266–420) and Northern and Southern Dynasties era. Numerous burial seals, military figurines, murals, and official reliefs from this period testify to
10500-458: The word has also been tentatively linked to the Persian word for a warrior, grivpan . However, it appears with more frequency in Latin sources than in Greek throughout antiquity. A twofold origin of the Greek term has been proposed: either that it was a humorous reference to the heavily armoured cataphracts as men encased in armour who would heat up very quickly much like in an oven; or that it
10605-497: Was also widely used in Middle Eastern empires, such as Persia and Byzantium . In these areas, scales were commonly dished (that is, with a bowl effect from a depression being hammered into a flat piece of metal) in order to benefit from the extra protection offered by a rounded scale. According to the statement of Herodotus , the ancient Persians wore tunics with sleeves of diverse colours, having upon them iron scales of
10710-504: Was deemed particularly important for the proper deployment of cataphracts. The Parthian army that defeated the Romans at Carrhae in 53 BC operated primarily as a combined arms team of cataphracts and horse archers against the Roman heavy infantry. The Parthian horse archers encircled the Roman formation and bombarded it with arrows from all sides, forcing the legionaries to form the Testudo or "tortoise" formation to shield themselves from
10815-836: Was further derived from the Old Persian word *griwbanar (or * grivpanvar ), itself composed of the Iranian roots griva-pana-bara , which translates into "neck-guard wearer". Roman chroniclers and historians Arrian , Aelian and Asclepiodotus use the term "cataphract" in their military treatises to describe any type of cavalry with either partial or full horse and rider armour. The Byzantine historian Leo Diaconis calls them πανσιδήρους ἱππότας ( pansidearoos ippotas ), which would translate as "fully iron-clad knights". There is, therefore, some doubt as to what exactly cataphracts were in late antiquity, and whether or not they were distinct from clibanarii . Some historians theorise that cataphracts and clibanarii were one and
10920-399: Was noted by Procopius that Persian cataphract archers were adept at firing their arrows in very quick succession and saturating enemy positions but with little hitting power, resulting in mostly non-incapacitating limb wounds for the enemy. The Roman cataphracts, on the other hand, released their shots with far more power, able to launch arrows with lethal kinetic energy behind them, albeit at
11025-467: Was the lance. Cataphract lances (known in Greek as a Kontos ("oar") or in Latin as a Contus ) appeared much like the Hellenistic armies ' sarissae used by the famed Greek phalanxes as an anti-cavalry weapon. They were roughly four meters in length, with a capped point made of iron, bronze, or even animal bone and usually wielded with both hands. Most had a chain attached to the horse's neck and at
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