Persian Weapons

[Anonymous]

Could you tell me what kind of spear, sword, and shield the native Persian infantryman carried at the time of Alexander the Great and the same for the native Persian cavalry. Thanks. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I have heard that a light wicker woven shield, and a 'regular' style spear were carried, and also bows, thuis would be more for light infantry I imagine. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I'm learning more about the Persians. I'm about to read The History of the Persian Empire. If thats what they carried I can see why they couldn't stand up to the Greek or Macedonian phalanx. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I posted that 2 days ago in the subject Persian bows started by jjhhofman and I belive it is relevant here<br>
Please give me you thoughts<br>
<br>
"... Procopious who wrote about Velissarios and the battle of Dara 750 years after the Persian wars, said that the persian bows were inferior to the roman and that the katafracts considered them of nuicance value.<br>
<br>
Tradition weigh heavily at that time so there is no significant manufacturing changes unless archeology proves me wrong.<br>
My opinion is that Classic era persian bows were no beter.<br>
<br>
The Persians created their early empire shooting against not very well armored foes! <p></p><i></i>

[Felix]

The primary Persian infantry type was a composite formation. There was a front line of men with large wicker shields and short spears. The shield was called a spara and the troops were sparabara. They served to defend the lines of archers behind them.

The key of Persian success seems not to have been the bow itself, but the use of massed archers. Attacking against a force with 10% archers would be harassed by the arrows. If the defenders are 90% archers, those arrows are going to cause a lot more trouble. The Persians do not seem to have relied on the infantry as the arm of decision, but rather their cavalry.

Later, it seems the Persians tried a new type, similar to a Greek peltast, called the takabara. Their shield was of moderate size, and they had several javelins / spears.

Neither type was really able to stand up to a Greek, let alone a Macedonian, phalanx. The sparabara could hold their own as long as their wall of large shields held; but once broken, they had no backup, nor armour to protect them from Greek spears and swords.

[Paullus]

Another Persian shield was the gerron, a violin shaped figure-eight shield similar to the Boeotian and Dipylon types. It was made of wicker covered with leather. As with the spara it was not very sturdy.

By the time of Alex the G the spara had been discarded mainly, the gerron and pelta-types being skirmishing type equipment. Heavy Persian infantry called kardaces used copies of the hoplon along with Greek cuirasses. IIRC there were some 20,000 kardakes at Issus.

As for weapons of the infantry, the spear would have ranged from 6 to 10 feet in length with an iron head. Persian spears were renowned for their shortness and counterweighted with bronze bulbs. Officers and the Immortals had silver or gold counterweights. As a result Persian infantry were known as "apple bearers". Swords would have ranged from the akinakes (Iranian weapon of Scythian origin), xiphos, kopis, and machera. Overall they would have probably have been fairly rare except among the kardaces and elite units. Battle axes known as sagaris were a more common hand weapon.

If I may be so bold, I'd suggest my own article on Persian weapons here http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/page.php?p=1581