Battle of Cunaxa Illustration

[Sean Manning]

The first plate's Fig. 1 is a heavy Persian infantryman. The cuirass and helmet are based on interpretations of Persian seals showing heavy cavalrymen and infantrymen. The rest of his appearance is hypothetical reconstruction. His shield is taken from a Persian on the Oxford Brygos cup, but the use of such a shield by Persian heavy infantrymen is hypothetical. Fig. 2 is a late Persian cavalryman is based off of several sources. His helmet is based on an example found in Thebes in Egypt, the gorget is based on the Derveni gorget, and the cuirass itself is just hypothetical, as is the fact that he shows one arm covered with cheir and the other with scale-covered pteruges.

What's that? There is plenty of evidence that many Persian troops at one time used large sticks-and-leather shields, including Greek writers who mention imperial troops with gerra (“wicker shieldsâ€