Table Of ContentERICH B ANDERSON is a freelance Cataphracts were the most heavily
writer with a B.A. in history and armoured form of cavalry in the ancient
anthropology from Northern Illinois world, with riders and mounts both clad
University and a member of the Authors in heavy armour. Originating among the
Guild. He has written numerous articles wealthiest nobles of various central Asian
Cataphracts were the most heavily armoured shock
for History Today, Military History steppe tribes, such as the Massegatae
Monthly, Ancient Warfare, Medieval cavalry on the ancient battlefield, predating the knights and Scythians, they were adopted and
Warfare, Minerva, KMT, Strategy & of Western Europe by over 1000 years adapted by several major empires.
Tactics, Military Heritage, All About • The Achaemenid Persians, Seleucids,
History, History of War, Archaeological Sassanians and eventually the Romans
Erich B Anderson analyses the origins and
Diggings, History Magazine, Ancient and their Byzantine successors.
development of this potent weapon system,
Egypt, Renaissance and Katsujinken. Usually armed with long lances, they
He lives in Chicago, USA. their equipment, weapons and tactics harnessed the mobility and mass of the
• horse to the durability and solid fighting
power of the spear-armed phalanx.
Explains how and why they were adopted and
Although very expensive to equip and
employed by many major empires, Persians, Seleucids,
maintain (not least due to the need for
Parthians, Sassanians, Romans and Byzantines a supply of suitable horses), they were
• potential battle winners and remained in
use for many centuries. Erich B Anderson
Includes gripping accounts of epic battles
assesses the development, equipment,
involving cataphracts, eg Magnesia and Carrhae
tactics and combat record of cataphracts
•
(and the similar clibanarii), showing also
Traces their long combat history from how enemies sought to counter them. This
Central Asia to Persia is a valuable study of one of the most
interesting weapon systems of the ancient
•
world.
Contributes to the ongoing debate over
the effectiveness of such cavalry
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CATAPHRACTS
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For my brother, Sean, and my grandfather, Robert.
You are missed every day.
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CATAPHRACTS
Knights of the Ancient
Eastern Empires
Erich B Anderson
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First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Erich B Anderson, 2016
ISBN 978-1-47383-798-0
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asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission from the Publisher in writing.
Printed and bound in England By
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY.
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Cataphracts.indb 4 23/11/16 5:15 pm
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... vii
List of Illustrations .................................................................................... ix
Introduction ................................................................................................ xi
1. Origins of the Cataphracts ............................................................. 1
2. The First Cataphracts ..................................................................... 29
3. The Parthian Cataphracts .............................................................. 47
4. Cataphracts of the Minor Kingdoms ........................................... 67
5. The Sassanian Persian Cataphracts and Clibanarii ..................... 79
6. Imperial Roman Cataphracti, Cataphractarii and Clibanarii ........103
7. The Byzantine Kataphraktoi and Clibanarii ...................................127
Notes ..........................................................................................................165
Bibliography ...............................................................................................179
Index ..........................................................................................................182
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I am extremely grateful to Philip Sidnell of Pen & Sword who
has not only given me this opportunity to write my first history book,
but has also been crucial to the editing process. Furthermore, I want to
thank him and several other historians for their earlier work, who have
all helped me greatly in telling the story of the cataphracts, including
Mariusz Mielczarek, John W. Eadie, M. Michalak, Valerii P. Nikonorov,
M.P. Speidel, Bezalel Bar-Kochva, Eric McGeer, and Timothy Dawson,
among many others. I must also give my thanks to Dominic Allen for
his superb work on the design for the book cover/jacket, and also to
Matthew Jones for his excellent work on the production of the book.
I owe a great amount of gratitude to Northern Illinois University
as well, particularly the faculty of the history and anthropology
departments. Among these excellent professors, I especially need
to thank Jason Hawke, Michael Kolb and Valerie Garver. They were
pivotal to my early development as a historian and without their guid-
ance I may not have become the published author that I am today.
Jasper Oorthuys of Ancient Warfare accepted my first magazine
article proposal, which was titled ‘The Seleucid Cataphract: Origins
of Armored Cavalry.’ This first freelance job not only initiated my
career as a writer, but also writing the article made me realize that few
people outside of the academic world were even aware of the existence
of cataphracts. Therefore, the article helped to put me on the path of
creating this book, so for that I owe an enormous debt of gratitude
to him. Additionally, I am very grateful to Josho Brouwers, Dirk van
Gorp, Edward Zapletal, Erin van der Pijl, Paul Lay, William Welsh,
Tim Williamson, Alicea Francis, Lindsay Fulcher, Thomas Hauck, Neil
Faulkner, Charlotte Crow, Dennis C. Forbes, J. Peter Phillips, Kyle
Lockwood, Peter Konieczny and Jona Lendering. These editors have
made it possible for me to pursue my dream career so I give them my
deepest thanks.
And last, but certainly not least, I am extremely thankful for the
amazing family and friends I am lucky to have in my life, especially my
mother and father, Martina and Mark. Without their love and support
I may not have gotten this far with my history writing and for that
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viii Cataphracts
I am beyond grateful. Furthermore, gratitude is due to Kim, Johnny
and Rich. Special thanks must also be given to Shannon, Hillary, Jason,
Dan, Joe, Rod, P.J. and Ben, among many others that would take too
long to list. Becoming a writer is difficult, but their friendship and help
have made it easier.
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Seleucid arms and armour captured by the Romans after their vic-
tory at Magnesia in 190 BC. Illustration by Mark Birge-Anderson.
2. Terracotta plaque of a Parthian cataphract hunting a lion, from
Babylonia, 2nd century AD. British Museum, London.
3. Depiction of a fully armoured cataphract. Redrawn version of
a crude graffito found at Dura Europos, 2nd–3rd century AD.
Illustration by Mark Birge-Anderson.
4. A fragment of ancient Roman scale armour (lorica squamata).
Museum of Somerset, Taunton, UK.
5. Sarmatian cataphracts flee from Roman cavalry during the Dacian
wars (AD 101–106) from the reliefs on Trajan’s Column, Rome,
constructed in AD 113. Photo by Conrad Cichorius, 1896.
6. Sassanian cavalryman with a kontos attacking a fully armoured
Parthian rider. Silver plate with gold coating. Azerbaijan Museum,
Tabriz, Iran. Photo by Alborz Fallah.
7. Relief from Firzubad, Iran, depicting the victory in AD 224 of the
Sassanian emperor, Ardashir I (r. 224–242), and his son, Prince
Shapur. Illustration by Eugene Flandin, 1840.
8. Relief from Naqsh-i Rustam, Iran, depicting the Sassanian
emperor, Bahram II (r. 274–293), in combat with a foe carrying a
broken kontos.
9. Relief from Naqsh-i Rustam, Iran, showing a Sassanian emperor,
Hormuzd II (r. 303–309), unhorsing an unknown opponent.
10. A relief of a Sassanian ruler armoured as a clibanarius from Taq-i
Bustan, Iran. It depicts either Khosrow II (r. 590-628) or Peroz I
(r. 459-484). Photograph by Javad Yousefi.
11. Drawing of a relief, which depicts laminated limb armour and
a helmet with a metal facemask, from the Column of Arcadius,
constructed in 5th century Constantinople.
12. Mosaic depicting a Late Roman armoured cavalryman mounted
on an armoured horse. Photograph courtesy of Simon MacDowall.
13. Facemask for Roman cavalry, early 1st century AD, from
Kalkriese. Museum und Park Kalkriese, Germany. Photograph
by Carole Raddato.
FM.indd 9 23/11/16 7:07 pm
Description:Cataphracts were the most heavily armored form of cavalry in the ancient world, with riders and mounts both clad in heavy armor. Originating among the wealthiest nobles of various central Asian steppe tribes, such as the Massegatae and Scythians, they were adopted and adapted by several major empire
