Faction Preview :The Persian Empire
هخامنشیانThe Persian Empire
Hakhamaneshiyan
Achaemenid Empire
In Anabasis, Xenophon describes the standard of Artaxerxes II at Cunaxa;"the royal standard, a kind of golden eagle, with wings extended, perched on a bar of wood and raised upon a lance."Herodotus mentions their use at the battle of Plataea 479 BC;
"When the commanders of the other divisions of the barbarians saw the Persians pursuing the Greeks so hastily, they all forthwith seized their standards, and hurried after at their best speed in great disorder and disarray." (Herodotus -The Histories, Bk IX )
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The mighty Persian Empire, the largest and most wealthy Empire the world has ever known, spanning three continents it includes territories in Afghanistan and Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centres of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya.
The name Iran derives from the word "Aryan," and in the first half of the first millennium BCE Iranian-speaking peoples moved gradually into the area of the Zagros mountains, the largest groups being the Medes and the Persians. More effective use of iron tools and irrigation from the ninth to the seventh centuries BCE enabled the Iranians to farm more successfully and increase population in the plains. The Aryans brought horses and chariots, and their use of cavalry stimulated the Assyrians to do the same.
The empire is ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty from its grand capital Persepolis. The Empire was forged by the will of one man,Cyrus the Great, who took the Persians from an obscure tribe to a world power.
Cyrus the Great inherited a Persian kingdom in the Median empire from his father Cambyses I in 559 BCE. The mother of Cyrus the Great was daughter of the last Median king Astyages. Herodotus, who delighted in relating stories of how oracles and dreams unexpectedly came true, wrote that because of a dream Astyages tried to have Cyrus murdered when he was a baby; but Hypargus did not want to kill him and left it to another who saved the child. When the boy was found to be acting like a king he was discovered and returned to his true mother and father. This ironic story may have been fabricated to justify Cyrus for overthrowing his grandfather.
Cyrus was so successful in the foundation of the Persian Empire his descendants were able to expand their conquests in all directions, subjecting all the peoples who they came into contact with. When the Persians conquered an area they installed puppet rulers or Persian satraps to govern the areas; they collected the great king’s taxes and furnished troops for the great king’s armies further conquests.
Cyrus the Great also expanded the Persian empire greatly in the east to the edge of India; but if he was influenced by the new religion of Zarathushtra, it did not quell his desire for imperial conquest. Near the Jaxartes River he ran into the Massagetae led by Queen Tomyris who sent him the following message:In 529 BCE a bloody battle was fought, destroying most of the Persian army and killing Cyrus.
King of the Medes, I advise you to abandon this enterprise,
for you cannot know if in the end it will do you any good.
Rule your own people, and try to bear the sight of me ruling mine.
But of course you will refuse my advice;
as the last thing you wish for is to live in peace.
Eight years before he died Cyrus had made his son Cambyses king of Babylon, while a second son Bardiya administered the eastern provinces. When Cambyses II succeeded his father, he had his brother Bardiya secretly assassinated and then invaded Egypt. With the advice of a defecting Greek general, Cambyses was able to get Bedouin help in crossing the desert. In a battle, in which Greek mercenaries fought on both sides, the Egyptian forces of Psamtik III fled to Memphis, which then fell to the Persians. From Egypt Cambyses tried to attack Carthage, but his Phoenician allies refused to fight against their own colony. According to Herodotus, a venture against a Libyan oasis failed because of a sandstorm. Cambyses did manage to invade Nubia, but the Persians suffered great losses on their return. Greek accounts of Cambyses' atrocities in Egypt probably reflect Egyptian resentment for the Persian domination they suffered until 402 BCE. In 522 BCE a man saying he was Bardiya rose up and tried to rule in Persia, and Cambyses headed home but died on the way.
Darius , a prince and governor of Parthia who had commanded the ten thousand immortals against Egypt, led a group of seven Persian nobles, maintained control of the army, and put down the revolt, killing the false Bardiya two months after the death of Cambyses, though it took two years to put down the various revolts in the empire. Darius sent forces led by Otanes to help Syloson, the exiled brother of Polycrates, to retake the island of Samos. He appointed Zerubbabel governor of Judah, and when the order of Cyrus to restore the temple was discovered, Darius supported that project. In 519 BCE Darius himself crossed the Caspian Sea and led the invasion of the eastern Scythians, and the following winter he marched to Egypt where he sought wise men and reinstated the former Egyptian laws. He also ordered the digging of a canal 150 feet wide from the Nile River to the Gulf of Suez.
Darius The Great advises his successor:
"If thus thou shalt think: `May I not feel fear of (any) other,' protect this Persian kara; if the Persian kara shall be protected, thereafter by the will of Ahuramazda happiness shall come down uninterruptedly and eternally upon this royal house".
Darius the Great, from a sculpture at Persepolis
In 500 BCE the Greek Ionian cities revolted and burned Sardis. The war went on sporadically until the Persians defeated the Greek fleet off Miletus in 494 BCE. Most of the men in Miletus were killed, and the women and children were enslaved. The next spring Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos were taken along with mainland cities. Handsome boys were made eunuchs, and beautiful girls were put in the royal harem. Cities and temples were burned.
Only the historian Hecataeus, who had opposed the revolt, was spared. The Ionian cities that had been allowed local autonomy before were now brought under imperial administration. Private wars between cities were no longer allowed but were arbitrated. A census was taken, and the taxation imposed on the weakened cities was burdensome. Darius appointed his son-in-law Mardonius, who according to Herodotus ejected irresponsible despots from Ionian cities and set up democracies. The Persians took gold-rich Thasos even though it had not been hostile, after which much of the Persian fleet and over 20,000 men were destroyed by a storm off Athos. At the same time a Thracian tribe of Brygi inflicted heavy losses on the Persian army on land while wounding Mardonius, who eventually subdued them before retreating to Asia.
His oldest son by Queen Atossa,Xerxes, who had been administering Babylon as viceroy for twelve years, became King of the Persians and the Medes and spent his first royal year putting down the Egyptian revolt. Xerxes inflicted more severe treatment than his predecessors had there and also in Babylon after their satrap Zopyrus was killed in a revolt in 482 BCE that was ruthlessly defeated.
Column Capital in the Form of a Man-Bull
Achaemenid Period, Reign of Xerxes (486-465 BC)
Excavated at Persepolis (Iran) in a building called Tripylon, these capitals originally supported the roof beams of the hall, which rested on the backs of the man-bulls.
"The man-bull has the limbs, body and ears of a bull, the feathers of a bird on his haunches, and the face and beard of a man. He wears large, dangling earrings and a tall crown decorated with three pairs of horns and surmounted by a band of rosettes and feathers. In the ancient Near East, horned crowns were worn by deities; this creatures horned crown indicates that he was a god although, undoubtedly, a minor one."
Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
The Achaemenian/Achaemenid Army is well known through descriptions by Herodotus, Xenophon, and Arrian as well as by illustrations on Persepolitan and Greco-Persian monuments. Of particular importance for the topic are the Greek representations of Persian warriorsand the evidence of the so-called Alexander Sarcophagus from Sidon.
The Persians whom Cyrus The Great united did not possess a professional army: as in days of old, the "people" of a region was represented by its backbone, the "military force," so the two words were used synonymously in one Old Persian term, kara (cognate with Lithuanian karias/karis "war, army," Gothic harjis "army," and German Heer "army,"), a sense still retained in the New Persian term kas-o kar "relatives and supporters."
One of the Louvre Museum melophore (immortal persian guard) from the famous glazed bricks friezes found in the apadana (Darius the Great's palace) in Susa (Shush) by archeologist Marcel Dieulafoy and brought in Paris. Such polychromic friezes used to decorate the Achaemenian king's palaces in their capitales of Shush, Ecbatan, and Persepolis. The royal troopers were 10000, any dead being straight away replaced explaining their name of immortals. Only persian and median nobles could access such function. They constitued sections of 1000 soldiers, armed with archs, shields, and lances, each section being commanded by officers named chyliarchs. According to Historian Pierre Briant who opposed the generally admitted idea derived from the greek historian's reports and despite their rich and colorful uniforms, these soldiers were neither a parade army nor some fastuous guard units, but elite fighters that were engaged in most of the battlefields.
Pavillon Sully at the Louvre museum, Paris, France
At first the Achaemenid army consisted wholly of Iranian warriors, and even when other regions were subjugated, Iranian formed the nucleus of the imperial army.
With the expansion of the petty kingdom of Persis into a world-empire embracing all Iranian groups from Central Asia to the Danube, a standing army was formed from Persians, Medes, and closely related peoples, and an imperial army was organized by incorporating warriors of all subject nations.
Ranks of the Louvre Museum melophores (immortal persian guard) from the famous glazed bricks friezes found in the apadana (Darius the Great's palace) in Susa (Shush) by archeologist Marcel Dieulafoy and brought in Paris.
Pavillon Sully at the Louvre museum, Paris, France
Persepolitan representations, and official Persian economic and military documents ultimately used by Herodotus prove that the closer a nation was to the Persians, the more it shared in the domination of the empire by paying less tribute but contributing more soldiers.
Thus, the Medes who had the second position in the empire furnished more soldiers than others and indeed many of the imperial generals were chosen from the Medes (Mazares, Harpagus, Taxmaspada, Datis, etc.). Then came the Sacians, Bactrians, Hyrcanians, and other East Iranian groups.
The Persians now seek revenge, the ground now shakes under the numberless feet of the mighty Persian host, rivers are drunk dry and crops are stripped bare as they march to punish the impudent Greeks, their cities will burn, their women shall be taken into the great kings harem and their children sold into slavery, such is the price for defying the will of the great king!
The Achaemenidian Persian Army
and Hegemonia City States Mod
The Achaemenian/Achaemenid army is well known through descriptions by Herodotus, Xenophon, and Arrian as well as by illustrations on Persepolitan and Greco-Persian monuments. Of particular importance for the topic are the Greek representations of Persian warriors and the evidence of the so-called Alexander Sarcophagus from Sidon. The Persians whom Cyrus united did not possess a professional army: as in days of old, the "people" of a region was represented by its backbone, the "military force," so the two words were used synonymously in one Old Persian term, kāra (cognate with Lithuanian kārias/kāris "war, army," Gothic harjis "army," and German Heer "army,"), a sense still retained in the New Persian term kas-o kār "relatives and supporters."
Source: Head, D. (1992). The Achaemenid Persian Army. Stockport, England: Montvert Publications.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:At first the Achaemenid army consisted wholly of Persian (Iranian) warriors, and even when other regions were subjugated, Persians formed the nucleus of the imperial army. With the expansion of the once tiny kingdom of Persis into a world-empire embracing all Persian groups, from Central Asia to the Danube, a standing army was formed from Persians, Medes, and closely related peoples, and an imperial army was organized by incorporating warriors of all subject nations.Thanvabara
Military documents ultimately used by Herodotus prove that the closer a nation was to the Persians, the more it shared in the domination of the empire by paying less tribute but contributing more soldiers. Thus, the Medes who had the second position in the empire furnished more soldiers than others and indeed many of the imperial generals were chosen from the Medes (Mazares, Harpagus, Taxmaspada, Datis, etc.). Then came the Sacians, Bactrians, Hyrcanians, and other East Iranian groups.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
These were the archers of the Kings army. Taken from the normal ranks of Society in the same way as the Sparabara, they were also trained from childhood, to make up the bulk of the Persian's tactical formation. They worked in cohesion with the Sparabara; firing a lethal rain of arrows behind a protected wall of spears and shields. Armoured with a quilted linen corslet and using the powerful recurved bow these archers are not to be trifled with.
In the hands of a trained Persian, the bow can achieve deadly range and accuracy. But other than the bow they only carry a knife, in this way the Thanvabara should be kept out of close combat at all costs. Even though there are noted examples of Persians without ammunition drawing their knives and charging the enemy lines, this is only a brave gesture and not a tactic to be employed by any wise commander.
Apart from the standing army, the rest of the levies were recruited when the need arose, and it took a long time, sometimes years, to muster a grand army. There were many Iranian garrisons in important centres of the empire, and satraps and governors also had their guards and local levies, but these could not be depleted to form an army on short notice because the danger of revolt was always present. Tribal troops, especially from eastern Persia, were more readily available. Levies were summoned to a recruiting station (handaisa) where they were marshalled and reviewed. In the time of Darius & Xerxes a grand army could contain as many as 50 or more ethnic & national contingents.
Takabara
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Persians recruited from many ferocious Iranian tribes, known as the Takabara, to augment their standard tactical formations. They were called Takabara because of the arms which they carried, The 'Taka' is the crescent moon shaped shield which eventually many Persian units would adopt because of the better manoeuvrability afforded by its shape. The Takabara were also armed with javelins and axes capable of cleaving through bronze in the hands of a bloodthirsty.
As they do not wear much armour other than thick linen clothes they are vulnerable to missile attacks and their short ranged weapons mean that Phalanxes and Cavalry can make short work of them. However, when used to counter attack pinned down troops or other light infantry the Takabara's charge is a fearsome sight.
The general term for the professional army was spada. This consisted of infantry (pasti), cavalry (asabari "horse-borne," and occasionally usabari "camel-borne"), and charioteers (only the noblest warriors used the then obsolete but symbolic chariot), and a large number of camp followers. From the moment they met the Greeks, the Persians incorporated subject or mercenary Greeks in their army. As the time went by, not only Persian satraps in Asia Minor but also the King of Kings employed Greek mercenaries, each of whom received free board and a monthly wage. At the great battles of Salamis in 480bc, and Plataea in 479bc, more Greeks fought with the Persian Army than against it. By the time of Alexander the Great, these mercenaries had become a regular part of the spada and their leaders had been incorporated into Iranian aristocracy. Again during Alexander’s battles with Persia, more Greeks fought against him than for him.
Sparabara
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Sparabara were, like the Thanvabara, Persian landowners. Many of these men would farm lands they had earned through military service and many more would be younger Persians fighting to secure their own estates for the happy day when they could retire from the army.
They are most often armored with quilted linen corslets and large wicker shields as a form of light manoeuvrable defence, this leaves them at a severe disadvantage to heavily armed opponents such as the hoplite, and the Sparabara's six foot spear will not give him range to plausibly engage a trained phalanx. However, against light or demoralised infantry, the Sparabara can engage eagerly and even trained units will be hard pressed to easily break this line.The organization of the spada was based on a decimal system. Ten men composed a company under a dathapati; ten companies made up a battalion under a thatapati; ten battalions formed a division under a hazarapati; and ten divisions comprised a corps under a baivarapati. The whole spada was led by a supreme commander (probably spadapati, although a general with full civil authority was called karana (from the Greek “karanos”), who was either the King of Kings himself or a trusted close relative or friend(e.g., Mazares the Mede led Cyrus the Great’s army and Datis the Mede led the army of Darius the Great at Marathon). A characteristic of the Achaemenid period is that commanders and dignitaries participated in actual fighting, and many of them lost their lives in action.The foot soldier carried a short sword (akinaces), a spear with wooden shaft and metal head and butt, a quiver full of arrows of reed with bronze or iron heads, and a bow about one meter long with ends formed in animals' heads, and a case which combined the bowcase and quiver-holder. A symbol of kingship and the Persians national weapon, the bowwas held in the hand of the King of Kings on his tomb and on coins. Battle-axe was also used, especially by northern Persian tribes. For protection, the infantryman relied on his wicker shield (made of sticks threaded through a wet sheet of leather capable of stopping arrows). The shield was either small and crescent-shaped or large and rectangular; the latter could be planted in the ground allowing the archer to fire his arrows from behind it,whilst protected further by a spearman behind him. Some guards carried the large "figure of-eight" -shaped shield known as the Boeotian, while the Gandharans carried round shields not dissimilar to those of Greek hoplites. Some Persians wore metal helmets, but,other than the Imperial Guard units (immortals) only the Egyptians and the Mesopotamian contingents wore armour for body protection.
Baktrioi Hippotoxotai
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The nomads in the lands surrounding Bactria live a life much more akin to the older traditional Iranian tribes. They are fiercely attached to their horses and only make war atop their mighty steeds. Their horses are well bred creatures, capable of great speeds and high stamina. The vast majority of these Bactrian nomads favour the bow to devastate the enemy from afar before escaping on their swift mounts before any harm can be returned. They also carry an armour piercing Sagaris axe in case they get caught in a melee. They might be lightly armed but their axes still pack a punch.
The elite infantry had variegated costumes: either the fluted hat, short cape over a shirt,pleated skirt and strapped shoes of the Elamite court type, or the conical felt hat, tightfitting tunic and trousers and boots of the Median cavalry type. One division of the infantry comprised "one thousand spearmen, the noblest and bravest of the Persians" who formed a special royal guard; their spears had golden apples as butts from which they were called the “Apple-bearers”. As a prince, Darius the Great served in this guard of spearmen under King Cambyses. Their commander was the hazarapati of the empire, who, as the officer next to the emperor, possessed vast political power. All members of this guard fell at Plataea
defending their position.
Asabari
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Drawn from the wealthier of the Persian landholders who can afford to maintain horses, the Asabari form the bulk of the Persian cavalry arm. They are armed with Javelins to soften the enemy up before charging in with axes. They are not suited to the later heavy cavalry role of charging down the enemy head on but are more than a match for light infantry and most cavalry units. They are armoured with a linen cuirass and cap, but their main weapon is speed and manouverability - being able to lure out slower units before peppering them with missiles and finally letting the infantry finishing them off. However they are not professional soldiers and their many years of training go only so far to compensate for a lack of armour. Hence the Asabari should avoid being trapped and bogged down in combat.
One corps of the spada consisted of ten thousand elite Iranian foot soldiers, the so-called “Immortals” whose "number was at no time either greater or less than 10,000" - Herodotus.
These had variegated costumes and acted as the Imperial Guards. "Of these one thousand carried spears with golden pomegranate at the lower end instead of spikes; and these encircled the other nine thousand, who bore on their spears pomegranates of silver" – Herodotus
Arštibara
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Arštibara were the elite of both the Persian Army and the Persian society, drawn from the aristocracy this unit was supremely loyal to the Achaemenids and the ideal of Persian supremacy. Numbering always at 1000 men this unit was usually positioned around the commanding officer of the Persians on the field. They are armed in a far more handsome manner than their lower classed brethren, with expensive robes and jewellery the Arštibara are a gleaming example of imperial might. But the image of the decadent aristocrat is shattered when the Arštibara are seen in battle at the forefront of the chaos and fighting like lions until victory. In the case of the death of their commander the Arštibara are noted to fight to the death in brave defiance of the enemy.
They wear scale armour and carry heavy, bossed shields but disadain helmets to encourage their comrades with contempt for the enemy's attacks. Their many years of experience and training mean they fire their bows, practiced on the hunt and in many wars, with some of the deadliest accuracy in the world. Their spears are distinguished by the golden apples used as counter weights on the butts of their spears. In this way they got the nickname 'Armtaka' meaning apple bearers.
One of the main weapons of an Immortal was the short bow which was of little use against the heavy armoured Greek hoplites. His other main weapon was quite a short spear with an iron point and a silver counterbalance (the officers had a golden counterbalance). A short sword, or a big dagger, completed the weaponry of an Immortal. A corset with metal plates is worn under his tunic to offer some protection. In his left hand he is holding the gerron: a traditional shield made of wicker and leather. This shield gave him enough protection against arrows, but it certainly could not stop a well aimed thrust of a spear of a Greek hoplite while the Greek hoplon could stop such an attack. On his head he is wearing the tiara: a soft cap made of fabric which he could pull down over his face when he marched through a desert. His loose tunic is richly decorated with embroideryand was often painted in purple, blue, yellow, or white.
"They wore soft caps called tiaras, multicoloured sleeved tunics with iron scale armour looking like the scales of fish, and trousers. Instead of aspides they carried gerrha with their bows cases slung below them. They carried short spears, large bows, cane arrows and daggers hanging from their belts beside the right thigh."-Herodotus
Arštibara Asabari
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
This unit comprises of some of the greatest warriors in the Persian empire. Utterly devoted to the pursuit of manly excellence these nobles vie with each other for the most glorious deeds of valour. Having practiced the art of war for the greatest part of their lives these warriors are eager to do battle with any foe and show their might.
The squadron shows the ultimate in loyalty to the King, being made up of many of his relatives and the rest being his noble's. Darayawuš the Great (Dareios) served as an Arštibara Asabari before his ascension to the Persian throne. Armed with a recurve bow and the characteristic golden weighted spear these soldiers can fight from a distance or up close and personal. They wear brilliant corslets of heavy scales to protect against the fiercest attacks, as such they can hold their own in even a protracted melee. Their great pride and honour prevent them from wearing any head protection however as that would be considered a cowardly and shameful act.
Riding at the head of the army in sheer brilliance these soldiers are the pride of Persia.
Campaigns usually started in early spring. Provisions were stored at various magazines along the route of the army, and were also brought with it in baggage-trains. Royal and religious emblems accompanied the centre of the army where the commander had his position: the eagle standard and the holy fire in portable fire-holders attended by Magi chanting hymns, and the sacred chariots of Mithra, Ahura Mazda and others.
Anusiya
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Persian Anusiya are the royal body guards of the Persian Shah-an-Shah, or "King of Kings." They are to defend their great emperor with the utmost courage and skill, giving their lives if needed. Noble born of Persian stock, these men were raised from youth to "Ride a horse, shoot a bow, and to speak the truth" in the ancestral Persian way.
Their main armament was the Persian recurved short bow at range, and the short spear for up close and personal "negotiations". These men in later times were referred to as "Apple Bearers" because of the shape of the bronze counterweight at the butt of their spears. They wear higher quality armor than most Persian troops and are tenacious in battle, having higher hitpoints due to their upbringing and higher attack due to the quality of their weaponry. This unit will also have both a ranged (archer) and melee (spear) attack, making it the most versatile unit in the Persian roster.
In short, these men will truly be a mainstay of the player's Persian forces. They will bolster the generally weak Persian infantry lines by holding their ground, while the Persian cavalry can make headway along the flanks of the enemy battle lines.
Mounted scouts were sent in advance to watch the enemy's movements. There was also an excellent system of communication: couriers on the royal road changed horses at short intervals and speedily conveyed their messages to their destinations; also by their light and mirror signals the King of Kings in Susa and Ecbatana received the news from the whole empire, it is claimed, on the same day.
Arabioi Kamelotoxotai
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Persians recruited many different peoples to bolster the forces in their armies. These camel borne archers are as swift as they are deadly. The great elevation offered by the Camel's large body meant that the archers had a commanding view of the battlefield. They wear no armour and carry only daggers to suppliment their bows but this only adds to their speed and efficiency.
Fire signals communicating the news from towers and heights were widely used with good results. Fortified gates were set up in narrow passes leading into various provinces not only for custom checks but also for stopping the advance of an enemy.
Anusiya Asabari
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Anusiya also had a corresponding regiment in the Persian cavalry. Their superior thorough bred and expensive horses of the Persians were trusted only to professional soldiers, but the result of combining well trained horses and men is devastating. This unit served as the complimenting support half of the normal Persian standing army of Anusiya.
The cavalry of the Persians is descended from a long tradition of steppe horsemanship in the Iranian tribes and is thus especially powerful on the field. Armed with heavy cornel wood javelins called "palta" and a hefty axe, these soldiers can work effectively in the melee and as skirmishers. They are armoured with corslets of iron scales which protect the rider very well from enemy attacks. The Persian tradition of horsemanship was further developed on the hunt and in many campaigns, with the opportunity to learn from the Scythians and their constant raids on Persia.
The Imperial Achaemenidian Army was undoubtedly well-organised, equipped, supplied and supported and could call upon vast resources in terms of man-power and finances. It was also undoubtedly well-suited to the type of warfare common in the eastern world, dominated by light troop types, archery and cavalry.
Aithiopes
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Nubians settled as mercenaries in Temeh were a very important part of the Egyptian military ever since the early days of the civilization. These loyal and professional, yet expandable men are the cannon fodder in the first lines of the army. Their equipment is neither sufficient for engagement with heavy armoured troops nor for fighting eastern archers. Nevertheless, they can be used in close combat, while a leather shield offers minimal protection.
Although they seem to be another outdated relict of the old Egyptian army, they have overcome armies on African ground more than once.
It’s consistent failure to beat Greek heavy infantry-dominated armies, despite huge numerical advantages, was because imperial generals failed to use their advantage in missile weapons and cavalry (both of which Greek armies lacked), and they generally allowed the Greeks to chose battlefields that suited their heavy infantry troop types and tactics.
Aigyptioi Epibatai
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
An impressive section of the Egyptian military are the marines. Issued with a Tough, tower shield and a thick linen corselet, they are well protected and still very mobile, thus providing a formidable base for the very effective offensive equipment. This includes a large axe. The axe, although very old by now, is still a deadly weapon and again, the new marines are an excellent example of the synthesis of Greek and Egyptian military technology.
Persian battlefield loses at Marathon, Thermopylae, Plataea and numerous others is testament to this.
sources-citations-Thanks
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
check also :
Engineering an Empire - The Persians
http://www.persepolis3d.com/
sources :
"The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS)"www.cais-soas.com
http://www.cyrusthegreat.com/
en.wikipedia.org
www.flickr.com/
Many THANKS to rez for his great help writing the unit descriptions(please rep him on sight for his work)...
and Mr Jason Bishop aka Wijitmaker from Wildfire games/O A.D for his generous contribution allowing to use some descriptions from 0 A.D game...visit http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/ to see their amazing work.
The Hoplite association
for their great work too
recommended link to read more about the great Persian/Achaemenid empire
and a great book about(a very expensive book),top of the top...
http://www.amazon.com/Achaemenid-Per.../dp/1874101000
Some units/models will be changed after release,the above models are not the final ones...research are in progress for more accurated models...
Thank you
The Hegemonia Team
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Dolfa
