Super warrior armor iron - horrors of ancient Rome

Considered an ancient "tank", strong and unstoppable and a nightmare of 10,000 Romans who survived the tragedy at Carrhae.

In ancient languages, the word 'Cataphract' was used by Romans and Greeks to describe super heavy cavalry on the battlefield. But have you ever asked, why are they called super heavy cavalry?

Everyone knows that the cavalry is divided into two types: heavy cavalry and light cavalry."Heavy" and "light" are concepts used to describe the amount of equipment a cavalry carries, which can be armor, weapons, crowns, iron robes for horses.

But for the Cataphract alone, the amount of equipment they brought was far more than a normal heavy cavalry. Therefore, Cataphract is called a super heavy cavalry class.

A drawing depicting Cataphract.

Cataphract cavalries are ancient masterpieces

The concept of heavy cavalry has existed for a long time, the oldest records showing that heavy cavalry has appeared since the 6th century BC in the Kwarezm area, the land of Asia near the Aral Sea today.

The heavy cavalry gradually replaced the chariot and became a key element in the army of the Assyrians, Achaemenids and Macedonians of Alexander the Great.

The concept of 'heavy cavalry' at that time gradually became popular, playing an extremely important role in ancient tactics at that time.

From the Cataphract (Latin cataphractus, Greek kataphractoi) began to appear to be the most "heavy " cavalry.

If the Hetairoi cavalry (under Alexander the Great's cavalry) is often equipped with chest armor, the Cataphract is fully armored, including masks, arm wraps, leg covers and all the rest of the body. Not to mention, even the horses were covered in heavy and heavy armor.

The Cataphract itself in Greek does not mean describing the huge amount of armor a warrior has to carry, but later on, it has gradually evolved according to the noun it describes. Until now in English, the Cataphract can both be adjective (enclosed in iron armor) and it can be a noun (heavy armor).

Ancient scholars later wrote about Cataphract as if it were a masterpiece of the ancient world. Sallust (86 - 34TCN) said 'The face of the Cataphract cavalry is iron' while Ammianus Marcellinus (who died in 350) said: "The steel circles wrapped around the body will completely cover even the muscle bundle. the smallest of warriors'.

Ammanius praised the Cataphract cavalry as "statues made by Praxiteles" (ancient genius sculptors) and made their opponents appear shy at first sight.

The Roman Emperor Aurelian, when he first saw the cavalrymen of the Palmyrene Empire in the 270 Emesa battle, exclaimed: 'They are too confident in the armor but they are really solid and safe . ' Many documents said that under the armor layers, the cavalry was also wearing armor made of animal skin or copper alloy.

Cataphract Cavalry of the Parthian Empire and Armenians.

How could a human being like a horse carry such a huge amount of armor without getting tired? Of course they will be very tired, but according to historian Heliodorus, the Cataphract cavalry are carefully selected - it must be those with outstanding body size and body size.

Both steeds must also undergo a rigorous selection round. History records that only Nisean breeds are suitable for riding horses for Cataphract cavalry.

This is a horse breed originating from the Nisean plateau (Iran today), possessing the size and strength far beyond the normal breed.

Nisean's aggression and persistence far surpassed that of normal horses.

The Romans were extremely impressed by the extraordinary health and stubbornness of this breed when they encountered the Parthian Empire. It is believed that Bucephalus - the legendary riding animal of Alexander the Great - is a Nisean horse.

Like the Nisean horse of the time, it was so precious and important that it often became the main subject of wars between many countries around Iran today.

Not only does the iron armor show its strength, the Cataphract are also masters in using many different weapons, including bows, arrows, spears, swords . However their most common weapons is a 3.6-4m long spear called Kontos.

Cataphractes hold Kontos with 2 hands

The early Cataphract did not use shields because they had to hold the Kontos with both hands. With the speed of a horse with a ' super ' weight, the Cataphract rushed to the enemy to break through the defenses with Kontos.

According to the historian Plutarch, the Cataphract's spear can pierce two people wearing armor at the same time. It was a true bulldozer on the ancient battlefield.

But nothing is perfect and so are the Cataphract. In addition to the extremely expensive 'maintenance costs' for the armor, their heavyness makes turning extremely difficult. Therefore, Cataphract cavalry is several times slower than other cavalry.

When the Cataphract rushes in, nothing can stop them.

Especially in ancient times, when the pedal on the horse was not invented, it was more difficult to control the super strong Nisean horses.

The history does not say much about the Cataphract's failures, but we can imagine, if the horse falls, the Cataphract is unlikely to stand up. Historian Heliodorus describes Cataphract as no horse like wooden sticks lying on the ground.

Become the terror of the Romans

Being equipped to the "root of the teeth" like that, in the early period, the Cataphract records showed that they were all . lost but rarely won.

Because none of the generals knew how to use Cataphract until Carrhae between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire.

Before this battle, the Cataphract first appeared in the Battle of Panion in 200TCN (Cataphract of the Seleucid Empire against the Ptolemaic kingdom) and in the Battle of Magnesia in 188 BC when the Seleucid Empire was at war with the Roman Republic.

In Magnesia, King Seleucid, Antiochus the Great brought up 3,000 Cataphract and 1,000 cavalrymen to defend Agema into the battlefield.

However, Seleucid failed in this match despite being more crowded. On the left flank, Cataphract lost to the much lighter equipped cavalry of the Romans due to infantry support.

In the right wing, Cataphract succeeded in repelling the Romans, but when the left wing and the center were broken, this success was not remembered.

It was not until 53 BC that the Cataphract's mighty power became known. About 1,000 Cataphract and 9,000 musk of the Parthian Empire under the genius command of Surena defeated 40,000 Roman soldiers of Marcus Linus Crassus (one of the Roman heroes at that time, next to Pompey Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar) but only The damage is more than . 100 people.

The Cataphract cavalry of Parthia - the terror of the Romans.The Parthians were once vassals of the Seleucid empire before self-independence in 250 BC.

Later when the Seleucid Empire broke down, the Parthians quickly took the position of the Eastern leader and established themselves as the majority of cavalry, including the Cataphract.

Rome defeated the Seleucid empire with 3,000 Cataphract in 188.

Crassus had met the Cataphract, had met Parthia but had won easily without having to sweat. So no one believes that Surena's small army can stop Roman progress.

Returning to the battle of Carrhae, in this match, Surena used an extremely creative alternate tactic: 9,000 bombs just circled around and shot names at the Roman army, forcing Roman infantry to retreat to formations. testudo tortoise shell to fight back.

And when they successfully ranked testudo, the Cataphract will join. The heavyness of human-horse tanks and the mighty power of the Kontos merchant school has worked. The Romans, when they collected the testudo squad, could do nothing when these Parthian bulldozers rushed at them.

Therefore, each of the Roman warriors became a good prey for Kontos. Later survivors, as they recounted, were still trembling recalling the roar of the Cataphract horseshoe as they approached. They don't know when they will die .

When the Roman infantry returned to the normal lineup to block the Cataphract's advance, it was at the same time that Surena flagged the withdrawal, leaving 9,000 men to continue pouring rain of names into the Roman army.

Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, where Rome failed.

Just like that, when the Romans ranked testudo, the Cataphract would rush in and when they formed a normal formation, the sniper would continue firing.

The battle lasted from morning to evening and almost only the Parthians alone fought and Rome had to suffer.

Surena was so smart that she prepared 5,000 camels named after them to allow the sniper to shoot without having to think too much. Crassus, after seeing 5,000 distant camels, was almost disappointed and commanded the Gaul cavalry into battle.

These cavalry were very elite, each fighting alongside Caesar in Alesia. However, this is the first time they have to fight full body armor like the Cataphract.

As a result, the spears and blades of the Gaul cavalry could not injure the Cataphract. Completely hopeless in both attack and defense, Crassus' Roman army lost almost all, killed 20,000 people, captured 10,000 alive and only 10,000 men escaped.

Now people realize how important the commander is. Surena was honored as a hero and it was also the reason that he was executed for suspected betrayal shortly after.

In 39 Prince Pacorus brought his troops to attack the Romans and this time, the Cataphract forces were much larger than before. However, the campaign became a disaster when Rome captured the peak and Pacorus ordered the Cataphract to attack . on the hill.

Kontos School - the Romans obsession after the Battle of Carrhae.

Getting the cavalry heavier than the rhino to climb up the slope is indeed a nightmare. As a result, Pacorus was killed when fighting and Parthian forces failed miserably. At the same time it also proved that the Cataphract must not be used as the main force in the army.

Cataphract can cause terror, disturb the enemy lineup and inflict great damage but only with the support of other units.

Cataphract's introduction into countries, including . Vietnam

The Romans did not see what the Macedonian cavalry, Alexander Dai's lineage was, but they were always afraid of the Cataphract's power. In the second century, the Romans brought Cataphract into the army as an indispensable part.

Byzantine Empire (Eastern Rome) built the Cataphract force named Athanatoi up to 10,000 people in peak years. The cataphract on the battlefield always retains its majesty and strength and plays an extremely important role in the military of all medieval countries, just a variant.

The Battle of Carrhae marked the superpower position of the Parthian Empire at that time and the dominance of the Cataphract.

For example, in Turkey under the Ottoman Empire, the Sipahi - Ottoman cavalry forces were later largely equipped with the Cataphract.

This could be explained by the long period of war with the Byzantine Empire that made the Ottomans impressed with the Cataphract and gradually transformed them into their army.

But many other documents suggest that the Cataphract's introduction mainly comes from countries located in the East, the area of ​​the ancient Persian empire, where the Cataphract was born. What is most evident is that after the Mongols led over 20,000 Mongolian troops to invade the Muslim country, the Mongols began using super heavy, full-body cavalry-like cavalry units.

The cavalry of Gendarmes can be considered as the Cataphract's transmission.

The development of super heavy Cataphract cavalry also appeared in both . Vietnam. Until now there has not been any history of the Cataphract influence in Iran to the ancient Viet Viet, but Dai Viet recorded the whole book as saying: 'The 27th day of Quang Hung 14th (1591), the two sides of Trinh army and the Mac army faced each other, choosing 400 cavalrymen to come to the battlefield .

Three days later, Trinh Tung sent troops to attack Thang Long, to completely destroy the Mac army, to send Nguyen Huu Lieu to bring 5,000 elite soldiers and healthy elephants and iron-clad horses. Northwest corner of Thang Long citadel . '.

The photo depicts an armored cavalry of Dai Viet, however, only for reference and image.(Photo: empoleon92 on Devianart).

Because later, horse pedals were introduced into Vietnam, so using weapons on horseback became much more comfortable, it is not necessary to use spear field with both hands as before.

Nobody knows when the Cataphract gradually disappeared from the battlefield. Just knowing that with the development of guns and cannons, such extremely heavy armor became a burden, so they replaced the Cataphract with 'lighter' cavalry. Later cavalry teams usually wore only breast armor, called Cuirassier.

However, Cataphract's existence for at least 22 centuries (from the sixth century BC to the XVI century when the gunpowder flourished) marked the historical position that could not be overshadowed.

The drawings and reliefs of the Cataphract still remind viewers of the curiosity of a bloody war in history, where the Kontos merchant school has become a nightmare for the most superior military. that time - Romans.