Well we can find a lot of Justinian armies that's for sure.
Well we can find a lot of Justinian armies that's for sure.
The most curious thing is if cataphract camels were still around during his time in the exarchate of Carthage.
http://warandgame.com/2008/08/29/cam...cient-warfare/
The Parthians and Sassanian Persians also made use of camel units; the Parthians even experimented (unsuccessfully) with cataphract camels.
Despite this, however, the camel could not compete with the horse as a war animal, since it lacked the horse’s speed and manoeuvrability. Having no natural enemies in the desert, camels did not evolve the ability to move very fast. Riding camels can attain a pace of 25km/h (15.6mph), but only for an hour, after which they must rest and recuperate. A gallop is an unusual pace for them, demanding a well-trained animal and expert rider, and it can be maintained for only about lkm (0.6 miles). Nabataean forces were primarily camel-mounted infantry, and the chief military strength of the Palmyrans lay in their horse archers and cataphracts, not their camelry. Even desert Arabs preferred to dismount from their camels and fight on foot, or ride horses into battle. As a result, although camel portage came to replace the use of wheeled vehicles in the Near East and North Africa during the early Middle Ages, the dromedary as a beast of war had only limited regional importance, while the Bactrian, operating in territory friendlier to the horse, had even less.
http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~kuijt/miscellania/Essex.html
Last edited by Armatus; November 06, 2010 at 04:06 AM.
CURRENCY IN THE AGE OF JUSTINIAN AND HERACLIUS
MILITARY WAGES. Between the joint reign of Valentinian I (364-375) and Valens (364-378) and Heraclius (610-641), annual wages of 9 solidi were paid to each cavalryman and 5 solidi to each infantryman, but salaries were a fraction of military costs. Salary and provisioning of a soldier was perhaps reckoned annually at 30 solidi and another 6 solidi were added to cover clothing and equipment. War horses were reckoned as costing 20 to 25 solidi per year; their initial purchase price at 7 to 10 solidi. Soldiers received most of their pay in bronze folles at the following rates:
MILITARY SALARIES, 498-542
Year Cavalryman Infantryman
Annual Wage Annual Wage
(in folles): (in folles)
498 3,780 2,100
512 1,890 1,050
539 1,620 900
Daily Wage Daily Wage
(in folles) (in folles) :
498 10.5 6.0
512 5.25 3.0
539 4.5 2.5
http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/c.../Justinian.htm
The Crucial development of Heavy Cavalry under Herakleios and his Usage of Steppe Nomad Tactics
"Walter Kaegi, concludes that the Romaioi under Herakleios (575-641) defeated the Sassanian forces with techniques from the section “Dealing with the Persians” in the Strategikon"
http://www.medievalists.net/2010/12/...nomad-tactics/
When Heraclius took control of the Empire, it was in a sorry state, with the Persians in the East threatening to invade the capital and the army in a shambles. His first action was to increase taxes, to impose heavy fines on criminal activity and to look for money from the church. With this, he boosted the army, giving land in Western Anatolia to anyone who would agree to a system of hereditary military service. The army suddenly became a job you could be proud of.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A13970676
what is that hilt of?
an eagle I think
I've been doing some research on this topic for EoR. So far, the Pre-Thematic army doesn't seem significantly different than that of the mid 4th century. I say this because I haven't found anything relevant to the contrary.
I often wonder if it doesn't have something to do with the iconoclasm, I realize that was a religious "crusade", but considering it was against imagery and roughly after these periods of strife it's almost like a lost time.