Paighān-î Ramān



Kamāndarān-î Ramān



Mardān-î Kof

ubānān

Bandagān-î Āzādān



Paighân-î Gund

[Spearmen of the Army / Semi-Professional Spearmen]













Their ranks consist not of men of virtuous birth and rank but rather mercenaries from the highlands or frontiers, the hired guardsmen of the noble clans, wealthier commoners or poorer dehqans. Either their own affluence or that of their employers grants these men a more suitable panoply than cheaply produced wicker shields and spears. They know the use of simple but effective corselets and helmets, quality wickerwork shields and sturdy spears. Yet iron and wood does not a true blooded warrior make. These soldiers are not true professionals, and ultimately their fate is the same as the





Kamāndarān-î Sassani



Paighân-î Adurbadagan /

Mardān-î Adurbadagan



Arteshtârān-î Adurbadagan



"For their whole infantry is nothing more than a crowd of pitiable peasants who come into battle for no other purpose than to dig through walls and to despoil the slain and in general to serve the soldiers. For this reason they have no weapons at all with which they might trouble their opponents, and they only hold before themselves those enormous shields in order that they may not possibly be hit by the enemy." [Procopius,, 1.22 - 1.30]Procopius' writing rings true for these hastily assembled levies drawn from the Sassanian's vast metropolitan source of manpower in Mesopotamia and Western Iran. These men are corvée'd from villages or cities with little but the shirts on their back, equipped with mass-produced spears and wicker shields by either the aristocratic vassals of the state or representatives of the Sassanian throne proper. One cannot expect much of anything from these men but to serve, fight, and die for their betters. The emphasis being on the latter, as a Sassanian lord is best served using these conscripts for dangerous work of attrition. Do not expect them to do anything other than hold a line [] so that more valiant men might truly win the battle. For all their deficiencies these men are cheap and numerous, and serve the valuable role of allowing more valuable men to fight elsewhere than the charnel house of the frontline!"Meantime, high mounds rose up with speedy growth; and the siege grew fiercer and sterner daily; many of our men being slain because, fighting as they were under the eye of the emperor, and eager for reward, they took off their helmets in order to be the more easily recognized, and so with bare heads, were an easy mark for the skillful archers of the enemy." [Ammianus Marcellinus,, 20.11.12]In the lands where the archer is king, even a commoner may consider himself an aristocrat if he wields the bow. True, these men are at best part-time militiamen of their village or neighborhood and at worst conscripted levies. Yet the skill demanded of archery leaves little room for laypersons and uninitiated practitioners. This alone suffices to raise these men above the common rabble of levied spearmen in utility and importance. Pride can only take these men so far, however - they are still at the status of part-time warriors and lack the superior panoply, training, and discipline afforded to higher grade archers of the army or royal court. Still, archery is the linchpin of Sassanian martial victory - it does not win the battle single handedly, but ravages the opposition enough for that mailed fist of Sassanian chivalry to carry the day. So long as the shield-wall holds or they remain at a distance these men can 'punch above their weight' a thousandfold.----------------------------------------The title of 'levy' can be a bit misleading, as these archers are meant to be an essential and large part of your army. Think levy less in the sense of a paighan conscript with no training whatsoever and more levy as a Hastati or Hoplite might be - not a professional always in service, but more than just a complete neophyte.[Hillmen skirmishers]"All regions of this country are fertile except the part towards the north, which is mountainous and rugged and cold, the abode of the mountaineers called Cadusii, Amardi, Tapyri, Cyrtii and other such peoples, who are migrants and predatory; for the Zagrus and Niphates fountains keep these tribes scattered; and the Cyrtii in Persis, and the Mardi (for the Amardi are also thus called), and those in Armenia who to this day are called by the same name, are of the same character. The Cadusii, however, are but little short of the Ariani in the number of their foot-soldiers; and their javelin-throwers are excellent; and in rugged places foot-soldiers instead of horsemen do the fighting." - [Strabo,, 11.13.3 - 11.13.4]Strabo's description of the inhabitants of North-West Iran can be applied to other highland peoples of the Iranian plateau - or for that matter the Isaurians of Anatolia, Aetolians of ancient Hellas, Iberians or Hispanola or any number of rugged mountain and hill dwelling peoples. One need not look far, for more often than not these highlanders dwell like so many weeds upon the garden edifice of Eranshahr. These inhabitants of a harsh world are encouraged to make war upon one another and raid the soft, weaker and richer lowlanders as a matter of necessity as much as custom. Skill with the javelin and fleet-footedness across highland crags facilitates their use as aggressive, nimble light infantry.[Shepherds / Sling-armed Shepherds]"A law in A.D. 409 expressly forbade any curialis, plebius, or possessor from leaving his children with shepherds (C. TH. 9.31.1). Anyone who violated this law would be considered as confessing his 'assocation with brigands'. Shepherds, like horsemen generally, were highly mobile, and there was a broad identification of shepherds, with or without horses, as(Bandits) in this period." - [F.E. Romer's chapter in "A Roman Villa and Late Roman Infant Cemetery", page 474.]The above account attests to the nefarious association of shepherds in late Roman Italia, but it is a reputation shared across space and time. Egyptians of old looked upon shepherding Canaanites with hateful contempt as do most sedentary societies in their consideration of pastoral peoples. Yet despite these rugged assumptions, shepherds have long been associated with power and affinity for royalty far beyond their modest means: King David of the Hebrews, Romulus and Remus of the Romans, and Ardashir I of the Persians. Such romantic tales may be myth, yet the humble shepherd does indeed possess a strength unexpected of such rough and tumble migrants. A hearty life beyond the softness of civilization, with skill at the sling and other weapons honed against predators of man and beast alike imbues these men with the ferocity of wolves - the conscience of wolves too, according to the civilized lowlands. What troubles Italia faced with such men prowling the rural plains and hills were intensified a thousandfold amongs the empty steppes, harsh deserts and rugged mountains canvasing much of Eranshahr. It is a silver lining that such men beyond the pale of polite society may be tenuously controlled with the prospects of pay and plunder and turned against the enemy.Skill with missile weaponry, on foot or horseback, is an area with no ambiguity in Roman accounts - the Sassanians were especially skilled at the bow, sling and javelin; short of the mailed cavalry's charge missile fire was the preeminent threat for the Romans. The sling does not carry as great a thematic presence as the bow in the historical accounts, yet descriptions of battles and sieges abound with the rain of bullets cast from slingers. Much like archers, slingers possessed a higher reputation and pay than the infantry of the line. Placed on the city's ramparts or from some rugged hilltop or forest and these men will make humble even the mighty cataphract.[Servants/Retainers of the Nobles / Armed followers]"...for the infantry are armed like the murmillones, and they obey orders like so many horse-boys." - [Ammianus Marcellinus,, 23.83]In sharp contrast to the untrained levies conscripted for service as spearmen are these 'horse-boys' who followed behind the array of aristocratic horsemen opposing Julian's invasion of Mesopotamia. We are left uncertain as to identities of these murmillo-esque soldiers. They most likely represent a varied background of mercenaries, enlisted highlanders from within the empire and its' peripheries (Such as Armenia or the Elburz), poorer Dehqans, richer militiamen, and the retainers of Iranian nobility. Accounts from Amminaus Marcellinus and others attest to a ready discipline and training possessed by these soldiers - enough that they could hold the line against the mighty Roman legions for a time, and could be trusted to the pivotal role of the battle formation's center.Still, these men are not true equals to the legions, nor can they be counted to possess the rich martial spirit found undiluted among the Armenian, Median, Albanian or Elburz auxiliaries. Their fate is much the same as the lesser Paighân-î Gund and Paighān-î Ramān - to hold the line, batter and be battered by the enemy so that the chivalry of Eranshahr may seize the day. Superior armor and training to the pitiful Paighān-î Ramān assures more will survive to see the fruits of their sacrifice.----------------------------------------"And day was now dawning, when mail-clad soldiers underspread the entire heaven, and the dense forces moved forward, not as before in disorder, but led by the [p. 505] slow notes of the trumpets and with no one running forward, protected too by pent-houses and holding before them wicker hurdles." - [Ammianus Marcellinus,, 19.7.3]humble Paighān-î Ramān - to be the bulwark from which their brethren archers can rain death upon the enemy, and to be the anvil from which the hammer of Eranshahr strikes.[Sassanian Professional Archers]"The walls [Pirisabora] were surrounded by a triple line of armed men, and from dawn until nightfall they fought with missiles. Then the defenders, who were strong and full of courage, spread over the ramparts everywhere loose strips of haircloth to check the force of the missiles, and themselves protected by shields firmly woven of osier and covered with thick layers of rawhide, resisted most resolutely. They looked as if they were entirely of iron; for the plates exactly fitted the various parts of their bodies and fully protecting them, covered them from head to foot." - [Ammianus Marcellinus,, 24.2.9 - 24.2.10]One can appreciate the vicious nature of Sassanian archery by the Roman's constant emphasis on closing the distance with their Eastern foes as quickly as possible. The mailed cavalryman may earn greater poetic veneration yet it was these warrior's deluges of firepower which promised a battered and worn battle line for the horsemen to sweep up. A stout shield-wall of spearmen and the looming threat of flanking cavalry can only protect archers so much - a sturdy panoply ensures not only greater survival in a close quarters brawl but also preserves these well trained archers from reciprocal enemy fire!"Pharasmanes was also powerful in infantry, for the Iberians and Albanians, inhabiting as they did a densely wooded country, were more inured to hardship and endurance." - [Tacitus, Annals, 6.34]Very often the dismal view of Sassanian infantry leaves us to look to their peripheral vassals as the source of the Sassanian infantry who could put up a good fight against the Romans. That bias may be somewhat unfair to the Sassanids (One hardly ever sees a Gallo-Roman recruited legion being better in quality than a North African recruited roman legion, after all), but it is likely that regions like Atropatene, Albania or the Elburz could call upon far better and far more infantry recruits than areas dominated by the Sassano-Parthian equestrian aristocracy or nomadic peoples. These men may lack heavy panoply, but their oval shields allow for a solid performance as medium infantry."They fight however on foot and on horseback, both in light and in heavy armour, like the Armenians." - [Strabo, Geographica, 11.4.4]Very often the dismal view of Sassanian infantry leaves us to look to their peripheral vassals as the source of the Sassanian infantry who could put up a good fight against the Romans. That bias may be somewhat unfair to the Sassanids (One hardly ever sees a Gallo-Roman recruited legion being better in quality than a North African recruited roman legion, after all), but it is likely that regions like Atropatene, Albania or the Elburz could call upon far better and far more infantry recruits than areas dominated by the equestrian aristocracy or nomadic peoples. Though not up to the iron discipline of the legions, these are not half-trained hairy savages of the mountains - these Medes and Albanians fight as quality heavy infantry with javelin and sword.However, even a King of Kings must recognize he is sovereign of all Iranshahr and those who bend their knee to the rightful shadow of God on earth. He is not the warlord of Albania and Atropatene, and cannot rely disproportionately on these vassals so as to field Sassanian legions in emulation of the Romans.