Evolution of Arms and Armors

Persian Empire

The Achaemenid Empire, also known as the Persian Empire, is another power that conquered a significant portion of the world and held it for a long time during the antiquity era. The empire typically lasted from 550BC, when Cyrus the Great rose against the Medes Empire and eventually conquered it, to create the early Persian Empire. Cyrus the Great’s initiative to unite the northern and southern halves of modern day Iran lead to the formation of one of the greatest empires in history. This empire lasted until 331BC, when Alexander the Great defeated the Persian army at Gaugamela.

The two most powerful Persian kings and leaders of the Persian Empire were Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great. They were great leaders because they were strategic in their military tactics and were good fighters. As the Persian Empire expanded and grew more prosperous, so did its culture. The Persian Empire expanded to a vast region spanning from Asia to Europe and Africa, and was involved in many wars. A notable war the Persian Empire was involved in was the Greco-Persian War, also known as Persian War (throughout 5th century BC), which was a series of conflicts with Greece. The defeat of the Persians in this war during Alexander the Great's rule of Greece led to the revolt of the Greek cities of Asia, and the end of the Persian Empire.

In contrast to other European armies, the Achaemenid (Persian) army was a light army. Traditional Persian warfare consisted of light armor and little face to face combat. The Middle Eastern heat was so intense that it necessitated the need to decrease the amount of armor worn by the soldiers. Metal was also expensive at the time. Therefore, most of the Achaemenid soldiers, except for cavalry, did not wear heavy metallic body protection because of their emphasis on rapid advance and archery. Soldiers mostly wore tunics, which were loose clothing reaching the knees that were padded with linen as a protective gear against soaring arrows. The Persians were mostly armed with spears, arrows, and bows and so they did not need armor as compared to the Greeks who used heavier weaponry like axes and metal swords that would easily severely injure a fighter close by.

Despite being one of the largest empires in world history, they did not create novel armor design or new armor making techniques. The power of their force was mostly from arduous training and the loyalty of their soldiers. Their army did possess linen and metal cuirasses as well as metal helmets, but those armors were essentially adopted from recruited Greek mercenaries. The lack of strong body protection was the major weakness in the Achaemenid military and led to their final defeat in the Persian War.

Like in other regions, bronze and iron are notable metals that were popular in the Persian Empire. Gold was also used to produce armors, especially scale armors, for elite or high-rank soldiers in the army. While metals were used mainly to produce weapons, organic materials were popular to produce armors in Achaemenid army. Wicker, leather and wood were widely used to produce shields, which was the kind of protection that Achaemenid soldiers mainly relied on. Wicker is hard woven fiber made of material of plant origin and formed into a rigid material, so it is tough enough to stop arrows.

SHIELDS
Image Reference Link/	Soldiers had a shield that was a rectangular sheet, 5 feet in length and was made of sticks that were kept together with animal skin framework. They were used to protect soldiers against arrows. When the archers were attacking an enemy, a line of men who carried these light shields would stand in front of them, while the archers shot from above the shields. They barely protected against heavy weaponry.
IMMORTALS
Image Reference Link	Origin: Achaemenid Empire, 6th to 4th century BC. Materials used in armor: cloth (tunic, cap), reed or leather (wicker shield), iron or bronze (scale armor). Immortals and other infantry soldiers were not equipped with heavy body armors. Their dress consisted of a soft felt cap (a tiara), embroidered tunic with sleeve, a coat of scale armor underneath the tunic, and trousers. Their wicker can be made of wood or woven fibers.
ARCHERY
Persian Archers with Recurve Bows Image Reference Link	Around 600 BC, Persians began to hire Scythian archers to teach them how to skillfully master archery. They made their bows and arrows based on the Scythian model, but with slight differences. The Persians did not use a compound bow like the Scythians, but a simpler bow that was made of wood and a cord to allow flexibility when released the arrow. These arrows had bronze tips. The bows used evolved to be like the compound bows used by the Scythians because they were much more powerful when releasing arrows.
CAVALRY
Image Reference Link	Cyrus the Great wanted to use more mounted soldiers because he knew how important they were especially since two of his greatest enemies used cavalry or soldiers on horseback. The Persian army was organized in a new fashion. The cavalry flanked both sides of the army in the middle which comprised of archers who attacked first from a distance. Afterwards, the horsemen attacked anyone left standing in the opposing army by throwing javelins, which were light spears thrown by hand.
Image Reference Link	Armor Materials: iron or bronze (for scale armor and helmet) and linen (for cuirass). Gold could be used instead of iron and bronze for elite soldiers. The horseman was described to carry 2 spears, one for throwing and one for fending, as well as a shield (not shown in the picture). He also wore a helmet with a Greek style padded linen corselet covered with metal scale. These armors were basically adopted from the Greek army by the Persians. Refer to Greece sections for more details.
CHARIOTS
Image Reference Link	The Persians wanted to find a way to disrupt the Greek orderly lines to allow for their archers to target as many enemy soldiers as they could. As a result, they decided to utilize the scythed chariot, which was an ancient war chariot that had one innovation that set them apart from other armies. The scythed chariot had swords that were connected to the rotating axles of the wheels of the chariot so that when the chariot was driven, the swords poking from either side of the wheels rotated with such speed that any soldier in proximity to the sides of the chariot would get arms, legs, and any other body parts either sliced off or cut deeply enough to cause permanent damage.
WAR FLEETS
Image Reference Link	The Persians adopted Greek war ships called triremes and biremes. Triremes were long narrow ships that supported three levels of rowers that had a long oar for steering at the back end and a ram, which is an iron beam at the front of the ship. A bireme, on the other hand, is the same as a trireme except it supported two levels of rowers, which are about 200 men as opposed to 300 men found in the triremes. The vessels had a ram at the front because it was used to stab into an enemy ship, attacking it and then successfully destroying parts of it.

Persian Empire

SHIELDS

IMMORTALS

ARCHERY

CAVALRY

CHARIOTS

WAR FLEETS