10-14-2011, 05:02 PM
Peter--please speak carefully, avoid assertion and document your statements.
First, I think most current historians think that the Saka were dismounted in the center.
Second, historians are deeply divided about the presence of cavalry. On balance, it seems likely that there were at least some mounted Persians. It is very unlikely they were Saka--because it is unlikely that their horses would have been transported in preference to noble Medes and Persians. There seems to be strong evidence that there were mounted Persians int he fighting. Reconstructions of the painting in the painted Stoa of Athens all feature at least some horsemen. I recommend further reading--Peter Krentz's latest, Marathon, is very, very solid. NB--Saka frequently served dismounted in Persian armies. Or rather, it appears so from the evidence. This may be because they were really ethnic Sindi and Maeotians in Saka dress--even Hyrkanians and Northern Lydians--no Greek would have know the difference.
Peter, the people in the kits you are, to me, dissing, have put in a great deal of work. And research. Please validate your opinion with specific criticisms and sources.
Gaius, we do know that the cavalry made it ashore--they were instrumental in crushing the Euboeon Army a few days before Marathon, and there is much speculation as to what happened to them then. Again, look at Krentz's book, not because every theory he offers is correct, but because he summarizes ALL the known evidence in an unbiased manner.
First, I think most current historians think that the Saka were dismounted in the center.
Second, historians are deeply divided about the presence of cavalry. On balance, it seems likely that there were at least some mounted Persians. It is very unlikely they were Saka--because it is unlikely that their horses would have been transported in preference to noble Medes and Persians. There seems to be strong evidence that there were mounted Persians int he fighting. Reconstructions of the painting in the painted Stoa of Athens all feature at least some horsemen. I recommend further reading--Peter Krentz's latest, Marathon, is very, very solid. NB--Saka frequently served dismounted in Persian armies. Or rather, it appears so from the evidence. This may be because they were really ethnic Sindi and Maeotians in Saka dress--even Hyrkanians and Northern Lydians--no Greek would have know the difference.
Peter, the people in the kits you are, to me, dissing, have put in a great deal of work. And research. Please validate your opinion with specific criticisms and sources.
Gaius, we do know that the cavalry made it ashore--they were instrumental in crushing the Euboeon Army a few days before Marathon, and there is much speculation as to what happened to them then. Again, look at Krentz's book, not because every theory he offers is correct, but because he summarizes ALL the known evidence in an unbiased manner.
Qui plus fait, miex vault.
