11-30-2006, 11:26 PM
I did not criticise the Parthian way of warfare and I didn't deny Crassus defeat.. Antonius lost his men on his retreat after he had not taken enough care to protect his siege train and supply lines and was forced to march back. As I said another strategic victory. this time for the Parthians. During the Principate however they were in a much weaker position than the Romans were because of internal problems and other reasons.
Rhandeia was a Roman defeat. Paetus was as incapable as Crassus was and got himself into a similar situation where he was surrounded and had to surrender still the war was won after Corbulo attacked. another strategic victory, this time for the Romans.
The only true Parthian victory during the empire was ironically their last at Nisibis in 217 against Macrinus.
As is said before I'm NOT saying the Parthians were stupid or cowards or whatever. I just say that since the reign of Augustus until their end they were never a real threat to the Romans. They were definately the weaker of those 2.
As for cavalry tactics> this depends pretty much on the situation. I already said that the Parthian cavalry was excellent. The Romans had nothing comparable to their horsearchers and their cataphracts were excellent heavy cavalry and parthian tactics relied on the combination of the 2...weakening enemy forces to break formation by using archers followed by an attack with the heavies. However this is not something which can be answered easily and depends on the situation. If the Parthians manage to neutralize the Roman cavalry as was the case at Carrhae this works fine. If this is not possible the cataphracts are out of the game as they are highly immobile and need to be protected against attacks from "medium" cavalry. Ammianus (if I remember correctly will look it up this weekend) gives a nice description of their advantages and disadvantages. They are perfect to break an infantry formation if it doesn't hold formation and they can exploit a gap. on the other hand they lose momentum rather quickly and become sitting ducks if they don't manage to route the enemy instantly and their use has to be well prepared as they can't perform actions covering longer distances.
btw don't underestimate Roman cavalry.
Rhandeia was a Roman defeat. Paetus was as incapable as Crassus was and got himself into a similar situation where he was surrounded and had to surrender still the war was won after Corbulo attacked. another strategic victory, this time for the Romans.
The only true Parthian victory during the empire was ironically their last at Nisibis in 217 against Macrinus.
As is said before I'm NOT saying the Parthians were stupid or cowards or whatever. I just say that since the reign of Augustus until their end they were never a real threat to the Romans. They were definately the weaker of those 2.
As for cavalry tactics> this depends pretty much on the situation. I already said that the Parthian cavalry was excellent. The Romans had nothing comparable to their horsearchers and their cataphracts were excellent heavy cavalry and parthian tactics relied on the combination of the 2...weakening enemy forces to break formation by using archers followed by an attack with the heavies. However this is not something which can be answered easily and depends on the situation. If the Parthians manage to neutralize the Roman cavalry as was the case at Carrhae this works fine. If this is not possible the cataphracts are out of the game as they are highly immobile and need to be protected against attacks from "medium" cavalry. Ammianus (if I remember correctly will look it up this weekend) gives a nice description of their advantages and disadvantages. They are perfect to break an infantry formation if it doesn't hold formation and they can exploit a gap. on the other hand they lose momentum rather quickly and become sitting ducks if they don't manage to route the enemy instantly and their use has to be well prepared as they can't perform actions covering longer distances.
btw don't underestimate Roman cavalry.
RESTITVTOR LIBERTATIS ET ROMANAE RELIGIONIS
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
