What are \'Parthian shots\'?

[Epictetus]

Some newly discovered letters of the writer Marcel Proust have been published. In one, he says something rather odd to me.

In the first letter Proust accuses Mme Williams of firing Parthian shots because she writes to him only when she has left town.

Does this refer to the Parthians' harassing fire at a distance?

Or is this perhaps some idiom in French? (In which case, my question shouldn't be in this section at all.) I rather like the phrase. It has a nice ring to it.

[Dan D'Silva]

I haven't looked into this in depth, but supposedly it's the act of shooting backwards in the saddle while retreating. In the 19th century it became conflated with the phrase "parting shot," which is what it means here.

[Nathan Ross]

Also in the sense of something to which you are unable to respond (which I think is the sense in which Proust means it), with the implication of a dishonourable or sneaky attack.

The Parthians, as Dan says, supposedly trained their horse archers to shoot backwards from the saddle, thereby doubling the number of arrows they could despatch during a wheeling manoeuvre before the enemy.



I'm not sure offhand what the source for this might be though...

[Flavivs Aetivs]

I've heard the same thing about Scythian, Sarmatian, and Hunnic archers so it's nothing new. It just happens to be named the "Parthain Shot" probably because the Romans encountered the tactic fighting against the Parthians before they came into direct contact with Sarmatian Armies later on.

[Michael Kerr]

Hi, not much I can add to the topic but this link might explain the usage of the two terms.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/parting-shot.html

Regards
Michael Kerr

[Epictetus]

Aha. Thanks. That makes perfect sense. I think I like the phrase "Parthian shot" better than "parting shot."

[Vindex]

Having recently had a go, I would suggest that as long as you had a short bow so you can fire over the horse's quarters, any mounted archer can achieve this shot.

What may be of more interest is that the fact it was noted at all suggesting that the Romans may not have seen it before and it preceded them having archers of their own who could do it; or just they were bad sports and thought firing whilst appearing to retreat was dishonourable.

[Nathan Ross]

they were bad sports and thought firing whilst appearing to retreat was dishonourable.

I think there's certainly an aspect of that - the Parthians were just being 'tricky'. Interestingly, it turns out that the 'Parthian shot' (despite being mentioned in passing by Plutarch, amongst others no doubt) was mainly of interest to Roman poets, Ovid and Virgil and others, who caught on very quickly to the metaphorical application. They, like Proust in the quote above, seem to attribute this tactic to women. There's possibly a connection here to the idea of 'easterners' being inherently duplicitous and 'feminine' in their warfare... Honest upstanding Roman men, of course, would never do anything as sneaky... :neutral:

[Eleatic Guest]

[attachment=9813]BritishMuseumLondon.jpg[/attachment]

[Alanus]

If you were to vacation in Mazatlan, you'll find the natives doing "partying shots," or "slammers" as they're called at Sen'or Frog's bar and grill. Things never change. "Partying shots" can be deadly. illy: :dizzy: :whistle:

[66kbm]

Nathan Ross posted a pic..... unless the pic is reversed, doubtful as the quiver is on the right/correct side....then just maybe the Parthian Shot was so called as the guys were ambidextrous....left and right handed. The pic shows the guy shooting left handed.

[attachment=9840]parthian_horse_archer.jpg[/attachment]

Kevin

[Nathan Ross]

The illustration is by Jeff Burn, from John Warry's Warfare in the Classical World. Burn is still the greatest illustrator of ancient warriors, in my opinion.

But you're right - I checked my copy and the image is reversed! Here it is the right way around - not a terribly good reproduction, unfortunately...

[attachment=9841]parthianrightwayaround.jpg[/attachment]

[66kbm]

BUGGER........bang goes my theory then....
But the quiver is then on the wrong side.....too confusing for me.
Think I had best stick to driving trucks....
Kevin

[Nathan Ross]

But the quiver is then on the wrong side.....

So it is! Strange... unless the guy's carrying on that side because he can only shoot backwards... but that seems a bit counterproductive!

[Dan D'Silva]

Nay, 'tis the usual way gorytoi were worn in early times. I wouldn't know how its speed compares with a right-hip quiver, but it's not as awkward as it looks.