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A cataphract was a form of armoured heavy cavalry that originated in Persia and was fielded in ... A stone-etched relief depicting a Parthian cataphract fighting ...
The Cataphract Numerus formed a wedge of around 400 men in 8 to 10 progressively larger ranks. The first three ranks were armed with lances and bows, the remainder with lance and shield. The first rank consisted of 25 soldiers, the second of 30, the third of 35 and the remainder of 40, 50, 60 etc. adding ten men per rank.
Cataphracts needed to maintain a close and ordered formation to be effective and their flanks were particularly vulnerable to attack. If their formation became broken, individual cataphracts could be attacked by lighter-armed troops with relative ease.
The Roman forces advanced and came to a stream. Crassus's generals advised him to make camp and to attack the next morning to give his men a chance to rest. Publius, however, was eager to fight and managed to convince Crassus to confront the Parthians immediately. [23] Relief of a Parthian cataphract attacking a lion using kontos
Historically, the cataphract was a heavily armed and armoured cavalryman who saw action from the earliest days of Antiquity up through the High Middle Ages. Originally, the term cataphract referred to a type of armour worn to cover the whole body and that of the horse. Eventually the term described the cavalryman himself.
The focus then turns to the deployment of the kataphraktoi and general tactics for cavalry fighting independently against both infantry and cavalry. Three aspects of battle have particular attention paid to them: how infantry were to defend against cavalry, how the kataphraktoi were to attack infantry, and how an army should pursue a defeated ...
As a result, these horses could walk hundreds of kilometres, loaded with over 100 kg (220 lb) and still be able to charge in an instant. Also, hussar horses were very quick and manoeuvrable. This allowed hussars to fight with any cavalry or infantry force, from Western heavy Kissaiers, to Eastern light Tatars. They were widely regarded as the ...
The army of Emperor Nicephorus II, the 'Pale Death of the Saracens' himself, relied on its cataphracts as its nucleus, coupling cataphract archers with cataphract lancers to create a self-perpetuating 'hammer blow' tactic where the cataphract lancers would charge again and again until the enemy broke, all the while supported by cataphract archers.