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 Replies: 24 / Views: 12,693 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
"With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him."
— Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1886)The Parthians were fantastic equestrians and their military consisted largely of two types of cavalry: heavy (the armored cataphracti) and light (the sagitari, who wore no armor). Although the cataphracti carried pikes and swords, and both contingents carried knives, the most devastating weapon of the Parthians was the compound bow - which both units carried. As Fred Shore states it, the Parthian bow "had extraordinary range and could, to the horror of Crassus' legionaries, pierce Roman armor" - referring, of course, to the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, in which seven Roman legions (estimated at about 42,000 men) were defeated by a Parthian force that was not quite a quarter that size. A preferred and very effective military tactic of the Parthians was what history has come to know as the "Parthian shot," in which the horsemen would retreat from their enemies - whether out of necessity or as a feint - and then twist their upper bodies around to shoot arrows at their pursuing opponents. The horsemanship had to have been impressive: Parthian shots were conducted while going at full gallop, and with no stirrups. The Parthian shot was used not only by the Parthians but by a number of other Eurasian militaries over a number of centuries: Scythian, Elymaean, Hunnic, Mongolian, Turkic, and Sassanian. The term "Parthian shot" has been used metaphorically since the early 19th century, and means to leave a snide remark as you depart. Some sources suggest that the related term "parting shot" is a misconstrued version of "Parthian shot" - but other sources argue that "parting shot" has its own, separate derivation.  http://persiareference.blogspot.com/ http://tirendaz.com http://pixgood.com http://darocabelleros.blogspot.com www.cais-soas.com  http://darocabelleros.blogspot.com http://blog.daum.netOne gets a sense of the importance that Parthians placed on both the horse and the bow by studying the iconography on their coinage - although the Parthian shot itself was never depicted. Of course the standard reverse for silver drachms is the seated archer (Arsakes, the founder of the dynasty), with bow in hand. Bronze issues deviated from this standardized reverse, and depicted all sorts of subjects including, of course, lots of horses. Here is a rare silver tetradrachm depicting the king, Artabanos II, on horseback. This coin, which is one of mine, represents - as far as I know - the only Parthian silver issue that depicted a horse:  Below are examples of Parthian bronzes with horses, all courtesy of CNG:  Mithradates I, chalkous  Mithradates I, chalkous  Mithradates II, dichalkous  Mithradates II, tetrachalkous  Darius, tetrachalkous  Unknown King, tetrachalkous  Artabanos II, chalkous Edited by Kamnaskires
02/13/2016 11:32 am
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
1194 Posts |
very interesting and beautiful coin.albert
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Pillar of the Community
United States
949 Posts |
Excellent piece of writing, Bob. Very engaging. Not only did it draw me in to a subject outside my normal range, it inspired me to consider doing something.
Thank you for taking the time to put this out there for us.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks, guys. Always fun to pull these things together and to share.
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Moderator
 United States
34419 Posts |
Yes very interesting Bob. I'll take some time this afternoon to post pics and a question about an Indo-Parthian coin that I have.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Wonderful work. I collected Parthian for a couple of decades and loved them immensely. One of the collections I've sold, but I'm sure I'll probably grab a Tet or two for old memory sake as I really enjoyed the entire history of that society and how it interacted with the Romans, too.
If you wanted a follow up it would be interesting for you to research the horse that they used, which I understand is now extinct. One of those things which might make an interesting aside.
Thanks for your time in your wonderful presentation.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks, all. Moxking, on the heels of reading your post above, I found these two comments regarding Parthian horses:
According to Shore (in his "Parthian Coins and History: Ten Dragons Against Rome"), the cataphracti (the Parthians' armored division) used Nisaean horses, "bred in the Parthian homeland for their great size and strength." Horses in this division, like their riders, were covered in armor.
Parthia.com has these comments about the Parthians' selection of mounts: "One thing the Parthians did not adopt from the Scythians was their horse. The Scythians used several breeds of horse with the golden Akhal-Teke being their preferred mount...The Medes, a relative of the Parthians, raised this animal. But the Akhal-Teke, while possessing great endurance and some speed, was not as fast as the Parthians wanted. The Great Horse of the Persians was the mount they chose. A magnificent animal that came in all colors, including the highly desired palomino and appaloosa, was fast and strong and beautiful. He was also the ultimate riding horse, occasionally producing gaited animals that were highly sought after by everybody from China to Roman Spain."
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Bob you knowledge of the Parthian empire is exceptional. You should consider writing a book about it, I know I would buy a copy.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Good write up Bob, many thanks.
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Valued Member
United States
129 Posts |
Excellent post. Always a pleasure to see more of your coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks for the comments, all.
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Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
Hi Bob,
Just saw your article and I find it a great informative piece of writing. See, I'm not the only one who told you to write a book. Since you wrote a little sidebar on the horses the Parthians used, perhaps a piece on the bows they used might be next?
Steve S.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4964 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
This coming weekend marks the 2,069th anniversary of the Battle of Carrhae. Zach "Beast" Beasley of VCoins has written a great, in-depth account of the military engagement for his "This Week in History" article: http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u...e=0525b38cb7 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thought I'd update this old thread with an impulse $5 purchase I made today. Some context: in the mid-19th century a "meat extract" product known as Liebig's Extract of Meat was developed. It was "a molasses-like black spread packaged in an opaque white glass bottle (containing) reduced meat stock and salt." According to the Wiki page, "The product enjoyed immense popularity and became a staple in middle-class European households." More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebi...Meat_CompanyThe company had a long history with, eventually, a number of mergers and buy-outs along the way. It is apparently part of the lineage of today's Premier Foods in Great Britain. Liebig's was well known not just for the meat product, but for its very popular sets of colorful trading cards. According to a Princeton page (at link below), "Collectors number the cards at 11,000 distributed in 14 countries and languages." https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2...trade-cards/Anyway, today I spotted a 1903 card depicting a Parthian shot. If the image is historically accurate, then it would seem that Parthian warriors wore tight-fitting leopard-spotted pajamas into battle. Who knew? I anticipate framing the card and hanging it in my studio or office.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1168 Posts |
Another great thread Bob, very interesting and informative.
Not only do we see these beautiful coins, but the history behind them too. Thank you once again for sharing.
Jim
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Replies: 24 / Views: 12,693 |
Posted 02/13/2016 10:17 am
