07-28-2010, 10:55 PM
Salve,
reviving this old topic:
I have been thinking about the Saka on the Jaxartes plain - what if the so called 'trapped Saka were heavily armed and armored, aristocratic if you will, riders hippakontistai, the cream of the Saka 'confederacy?
I have been thinking that if we accept the use of heavy bows - like those shown on Atarn http://www.atarn.org/chinese/scythian_bows.htm - and which could have effectively put the hippotaxotai out of the harms way when faced with Macedonian psiloi (due to their strength and range), then we are just left with a question who were the warriors that got trapped by the Macedonian's genius?
Another question is whether the Saka actually had been defeated? If we accept the huge losses suffered by the Saka (it is Arrian only who quotes them but not Curtius nor anyone else) why there was not smashing campaign?
Why broken enemy with camps near by suffered no pursuit and no invasion?
The losses suffered by the Macedonian army are actually quite high when compared with Macedonian other battles eg battle of Grannicus?
So we have these 160 killed and 1000 wounded Macedonians (only Curtius quotes them) out of 4000 horsemen and 3-4000 psiloi or so, and who knows how many horses died during and after - is this a fine victory that was left to dangle due to simple Alexander's diarrhea?
I dare say there was more to this battle than Arrian would like us to think
reviving this old topic:
I have been thinking about the Saka on the Jaxartes plain - what if the so called 'trapped Saka were heavily armed and armored, aristocratic if you will, riders hippakontistai, the cream of the Saka 'confederacy?
I have been thinking that if we accept the use of heavy bows - like those shown on Atarn http://www.atarn.org/chinese/scythian_bows.htm - and which could have effectively put the hippotaxotai out of the harms way when faced with Macedonian psiloi (due to their strength and range), then we are just left with a question who were the warriors that got trapped by the Macedonian's genius?
Another question is whether the Saka actually had been defeated? If we accept the huge losses suffered by the Saka (it is Arrian only who quotes them but not Curtius nor anyone else) why there was not smashing campaign?
Why broken enemy with camps near by suffered no pursuit and no invasion?
The losses suffered by the Macedonian army are actually quite high when compared with Macedonian other battles eg battle of Grannicus?
So we have these 160 killed and 1000 wounded Macedonians (only Curtius quotes them) out of 4000 horsemen and 3-4000 psiloi or so, and who knows how many horses died during and after - is this a fine victory that was left to dangle due to simple Alexander's diarrhea?
I dare say there was more to this battle than Arrian would like us to think
bachmat66 (Dariusz T. Wielec)
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