06-13-2014, 07:13 PM
The volume of arrows that Crassus's army would have faced at Carrhae would have been very important according to Dr Kaveh Farrokh in his book 'Shadows in the Desert'. Mathematically if the Parthian/Saka horse archer was able to discharge on average at least 8-10 shots per minute then he would use up his supply (which was normally 30 arrows in a quiver or gorytos) in 3 to 4 minutes.
Although Surena seems to get the credit for allowing horse archers to resupply with well positioned camel trains (apparently 1000 camels at Carrhae) not far from the battlefield allowing them a reasonably high rate of fire over longer periods Farrokh claims it was devised earlier by Mithradates II who reigned from 123BC to 88BC, and this was one factor which Crassus seemed to overlook or ignore at Carrhae. He also states that the Parthians had a sophisticated network of workshops established throughout Luristan, Khuzistan, Persis, Khorassan, Hyrcania and Media where arrowheads were manufactured in large numbers by a unique casting system traceable to Iran and Central Asia which I suppose backs up Plutarch's story about Roman soldier's claims of strange missiles piercing through every obstacle and weakening /degrading the Roman's armour.
I also think that the Parthian/Saka eastern compound bow would have been a lot more powerful than the earlier Scythian bows described by Xenophon. So in a 30 minute barrage the average horse archer, at least on paper would be able to fire between 160-200 arrows which theoretically at least means that 10,000 horse archers would have fired 1.6 million to 2 million arrows in a 30 minute period. All mathematics and of course horsemen would have to peel off to resupply so that sort of consistent barrage over about 30 minutes by the full force of horse archers would not be possible I am sure but it does show that the Romans would have faced a massive arrow storm at Carrhae over the day.
Although Surena seems to get the credit for allowing horse archers to resupply with well positioned camel trains (apparently 1000 camels at Carrhae) not far from the battlefield allowing them a reasonably high rate of fire over longer periods Farrokh claims it was devised earlier by Mithradates II who reigned from 123BC to 88BC, and this was one factor which Crassus seemed to overlook or ignore at Carrhae. He also states that the Parthians had a sophisticated network of workshops established throughout Luristan, Khuzistan, Persis, Khorassan, Hyrcania and Media where arrowheads were manufactured in large numbers by a unique casting system traceable to Iran and Central Asia which I suppose backs up Plutarch's story about Roman soldier's claims of strange missiles piercing through every obstacle and weakening /degrading the Roman's armour.
I also think that the Parthian/Saka eastern compound bow would have been a lot more powerful than the earlier Scythian bows described by Xenophon. So in a 30 minute barrage the average horse archer, at least on paper would be able to fire between 160-200 arrows which theoretically at least means that 10,000 horse archers would have fired 1.6 million to 2 million arrows in a 30 minute period. All mathematics and of course horsemen would have to peel off to resupply so that sort of consistent barrage over about 30 minutes by the full force of horse archers would not be possible I am sure but it does show that the Romans would have faced a massive arrow storm at Carrhae over the day.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
