The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2: Assyria: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.Rawlinson, George
History
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2: Assyria: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.
The principal characteristic of the third or most heavily armed class of
archers is the long robe, richly fringed, which descends nearly to their
feet, thus completely protecting all the lower part of their person.
[PLATE XCVII., Fig. 2.] Above this they wear a coat of mail exactly
resembling that of archers of the intermediate class, which is sometimes
crossed by a belt ornamented with crossbars. Their head is covered by
the usual pointed helmet, and their feet are always, or nearly always,
protected by sandals. They are occasionally represented without either
sword or quiver, but more usually they have a short sword at their left
side, which appears to have been passed through their coat of mail,
between the armor plates, and in a few instances they have also quivers
at their backs. Where these are lacking, they generally either carry two
extra arrows in their right hand, or have the same number borne for them
by an attendant. They are never seen unattended: sometimes they have
one, sometimes two attendants, who accompany them, and guard them from
attack. One of these almost always bears the long wicker shield, called
by the Greeks [yeppov] which he rests firmly upon the ground in front of
himself and comrade. The other, where there is a second, stands a little
in the rear, and guards the archer’s head with a round shield or targe.
Both attendants are dressed in a short tunic, a phillibeg, a belt, and a
pointed helmet. Generally they wear also a coat of mail and sandals,
like those of the archer. They carry swords at their left sides, and the
principal attendant, except when he bears the archer’s arrows, guards
him from attack by holding in advance a short spear. The archers of this
class never kneel, but always discharge their arrows standing. They seem
to be regarded as the most important of the foot-soldiers, their
services being more particularly valuable in the siege of fortified
places.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account