Units of History - Roman Cataphracts (1st-5th Century AD) DOCUMENTARY
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
- An animated history documentary on the Cataphracts of the Roman Army. Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/C2y830s6YJP
This Units of History episode turns our attention to the evolution of super-heavy cavalry units which would eventually give birth to the Medieval knight. However their development throughout antiquity would take place across many centuries and many civilizations. Multiple episodes will be required to discuss each of these. For now, we deal specifically with the Roman Army Cataphracts of the 1st to 5th century AD.
What other Units of History should we cover next?
Sources and Suggested Reading:
“The Development of Roman Mailed Cavalry” by John W. Eadie
“Cataphracts: Knights of the Ancient Eastern Empires” by Erich B Anderson
“Cataphracti and Clibanarii Studies on the Heavy Cavalry of the Ancient World” by M. Mielczarek
“Roman Heavy Cavalry AD 500-1450” By Andrey Negin & Raffaele D’Amato
Credits:
Research: Sophia Ware
Writing: Sophia Ware
Narration: Guy Michaels
Artwork: Penta Limited
Editing: Penta Limited
#History
#Documentary
#Rome
Heavy lift on this episode which is once again one of our longest. Huge props to the art and editing team! What units should we cover next?
This is brilliant thanks so much ! Maybe a video on the crusaders units , knights and the armour/weapons ? Just an idea
Loving this video and I love the fact that you finally started a cavalry series 👏
I'd like to see the Condottieri be covered in this new series
Thank you so much I love the work you guys do, its the highlight of my week anytime you publish a video
The sword brothers
Ancient Indian War Elephants would be a fascinating unit to cover, I think.
Imagine being some poor farmer with a spear defending your hometown and these dudes pull up
I’d rather imagine being the soldier
And maybe just maybe you were behind a fortress , then the Romans started building mountains and shit.
I don't need to imagine I've played mount and blade I know bro
Imagine you’ve been raiding the Roman border and all you’ve fought are some dudes with spears and some mail and that’s all you expect easy pickings you’ve got your money you’re otw home and these metal covered monsters just piss on your parade
@@louassole You lived through it, bro, you ok?
The counter tactic to cataphracts attributed to Constantine was also used by Aurelian.
In his first battle against the clibinarii, he rode out with his 6k light Dalmatian and Moorish cavalry and forced them to charge at him, after making them chase after him for hours in the heat, he took advantage of their lost cohesion and flanked them, forcing them to fight in close quarters.
Few cataphracts survived that day
Yes, this seems like the most effective tactic to counter them. I wonder how well this approach translated in later years with other super heavy units
@@InvictaHistory I hear that during the crusades the Saracens? Camelry could counter the European heavy knights due to the horses fear of the camels smell and the environmental heat that forces them to take off their armour. Not sure how true that is though!
@@igncom1 I'm not sure how true that particular anecdote is but it's true that horses don't like camels. That was one of the factors that caused the U. S. Army to abandon their experiment with a camel corps in the southwest. Horses can be trained to tolerate camels but untrained horses often panic and run. I don't know why.
@@itsapittie US ARMY CAMEL CORPS?! What an amazing concept! Man what could have been.
@@InvictaHistory The same concept still applies today. Heavy units require more support and "tire" more quickly than lighter units. Of course, tanks don't actually get tired but they do break down and the longer they're committed to the battle, the more they will break. You can see this in the battles in the Ardennes in December 1944 and January 1945. The Germans committed a huge number of tanks to the effort and they did initially experience some success but the Allies resorted to striking and then falling back (whether through strategy or necessity) until the tanks broke down and/or ran out of gas at which time the dismounted tankers became easy pickings. Some things never change and one of those is that you don't get something for nothing.
This channel has gone a long way from rome 2 epic battles, impressive and entertaining
The fact that they are being attacked by spammer bots shows how much the channel has grown
@@CsStoker true, soon enough comment replies will be unusable
@@ArgentavisMagnificens Oh I dunno about unusable. The good news is that higher comment count means that the Great Algorithm is Pleased and that more actual people come to watch the videos!
@@Callmecel I guess that is true. Though in some of the bigger channels you get 10 bot replies per comment so you'd have to dribble them in order to see an actual person's reply
@@ArgentavisMagnificens Very true! I haven't really flipped through comment sections on supermassive videos (first rule of the Internet), but I can imagine. Luckily, for now at least, there's no spam in the community section or the Patreon :)
An armored cavalryman charging at a war elephant and defeating it with only a lance is easily one of the most absurdly awesome things I've ever heard of. This was an awesome video, Invicta! Keep up the great work!
Yeah but there's no fucking way
Humans can do marvelous things during times of war.
@@bubbachomp4674 I know.
@@ethanarnold4441 Ok, Han Solo.
@@bubbachomp4674 Lol
It's always amazing how heavy shock cavalry plays a very important role in wars.
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Amazing episode as ever! Usually when people say that the late Roman army (as understood within the period from 3rd to 7th century AD) was worse than its early empire (1st century BC to 3rd century AD), they elaborate only on differences in infantry. That is how late Empire infantry is not as well equipped as the one during its peak, like dropping the use of the more complicated armor lorica segmentata for lorica hamata (basically a chainmail armor) and similar things. Yet its often overlooked that it isn't actually infantry was getting worse equipped because of the Empire's decline, it is only that there was a shift to heavier and heavier cavalry equipment. When one looks at the Late Roman cavalry, instead of deterioration of armor and equipment, one sees massive advancements, most obviously seen by cataphracts. Thus it isn't that the Late Roman army was equipped worse than its earlier counterpart, only that there came the shift of prioritization of equipping, where cavalry took the dominant role that infantry once had and vice versa.
Indeed you are right but, oddly enough, roman cataphracts didn’t fare particularly well: they were annihilated three times in a row by Constantine’s infantry, they were easily put to flight by the alamanic dismounted cavalrymen at Strasbourg, they were systematically defeated by the Persians according to Ammianus. At Adrianople, the Roman cavalry, which probably included cataphracts , was rapidly dispersed by the incoming barbarian cavalry. On the other hand, late Roman infantry has a better victories / defeats ratio than the republican legions and the ones of the principate. Until the very end of the Empire. The only notable roman defeat in the fourth century was indeed Adrianople, and was due to the poor performance of the cavalry.
There's one mention of a battle near Auxerre & Troyes by Ammianus, where Julian's clibanarii were used to good effect against the barbarians just to name one contrary example, but for the most part I agree, that most surviving evidence presents the roman cataphracts as a rather fragile and situational unit. One could however say, that their utility came from their mobility which was increasingly valued by roman commanders during late antiquity (thinking of the Strategikon of Maurice, descriptions of Bellisarius' campaigns etc.). Especially the former describes a well-armored cavalryman skilled with lance and bow as the optimal combatant of its time (which sounds a lot like an improved catafractus. The treatise also describes how lancers in the first two ranks should wear more/stronger armor which would again make them similar to the typical clibanarius).
Personally I also wouldn't put all the blame for Adrianople on the heavy cavalry itself, for iirc there were misinformations about the strength of the gothic cavalry since the scouts seemed to have overlooked the greutungi cav foraging in the surrounding land. Thus they were probably expecting an easy victory which might have convinced them to advance without orders. Them nearly breaking through before they got caught by surprise shows imo, that they weren't inherently wrong either, just misinformed (and lacked some discipline which seemed to be pretty common overall with late roman armies). But yeah, overall I still agree with most of your points.
I agree with your statements. I would also say that it seems that late imperial troops were not as poorly equipped as many would be led to believe. It is often said that the disuse of lorica segmentata as an example of the decline of the Army, but it seems that most of these armor changes were made because they were too expensive to maintain and appeared at actually fall apart quite easily. From a logistics standpoint, it makes sense to use armor that fairs almost as well and can be easily maintained. The fabricae across the empire were still churning out quality armor very late into the classical empire’s existence.
The late Roman army was still as effective as it predecessor. As proven by Majorian. Under his leadership, he reconquered Hispania from the Visigoths and parts of gaul from the Burgundians. This is in 461 A.D during the twilight of the western Roman empire. Even against such odds the Roman army was still able to win battles under competent leadership
Adding on to the conversation, the Kataphractarii or Klibanarii as in their counterparts before the Eastern Roman Empire’s reforms which is around 1st- late 6th century AD are more or less the Roman period’s attempts at trying to perfect its armored cavalry contingent. As mentioned above, the efforts of Aurelian at the battle of Immae and the battle of Antioch, Constantine at the battle of the Milvian bridge, Julian’s rout of his Kataphractarii unit at Strasbourg show a clear weakness in Kataphractarii units. Its slow speed, relatively weak mobility and lack of stirrups contribute to horsemen being unseated relatively easily by avoiding the horsemen and then with two infantrymen pull the men down from his horse from either side.
One thing that the ancients learned especially the persians under Shapur II’s wars against Julian where he was experimenting with super heavy shock cavalry, his horsemen performed poorly in actual sustained combat with Julian’s heavy infantry and running out of stamina. More armor leads to lower stamina and poorer visibility due to protecting the wearer with a helmet with added mail aventail that covers everything except the eyes prevents Heavy shock cavalry the ability to perceive their environment more clearly.
Maneuvers seen in The battle of Turin are already one such example. The Sassanians had abandoned the super heavy shock cavalry by the time the 6th century rolls around. Favoring a mail hauberk with the same helmet and aventail combo, with lance and bow added to help ensure a balance of mobility, maneuverability, heavy shock power and ranged options.
Anyone should be familiar with the Bucellarii of Belisarius’s household guard favoring the powerful hunnic bow with strong accuracy at the cost of fire rate. Usually Hunnic or Sarmatian in origin, they have armor that protects well enough probably a scale coat or a mail hauberk and a ridge or segmented helmet they fight with the lance and bow. A powerful combination against the less mobile armies of the Ostrogoths and the Vandals who have no tradition of mounted horse archery. They do have heavy cavalry and infantry archers, but these are more specialized units. Whereas the Bucellarii were already experienced in fighting mounted shock and archer cavalry combination.
Personally, these units are best used on the reserve. They are a battering ram that smashes the unit at the right time in conjunction with other units could achieve tremendous victory such as the Battle of Dorostolon. When Emperor Tzimiskies fought against Svyatoslav of the Kievan Rus. Both the infantry and the cavalry were having problems after a while engaging the heavy infantry rus who held off both infantry and cavalry attacks. Then when all hope seems lost, then unleash the Katafractoi with the usual escort units. They will advance on the trot in a wedge formation with horse archers at the centre of the wedge laying down suppressive fire and additional escorts of medium cavalry and horse archers at the sides as escorts. Charge with lances. Then drop the broken lances and use their maces to smash through the infantry line and towards the command centre and the general. Killing him or capturing him to force the enemy army to retreat. At this late stage of the battle, the enemy would have committed their reserves and would not expect a sudden Katafractoi charge from all the way at the rear to suddenly pounce on him. By this point in the 10th century AD, stirrups would have been used so they are an incredible powerhouse moulded at this point.
I'm also interested in Eastern developments like Indo-Scythian to Kushan cataphracts, the cataphracts behind the Tibetan empire, armored Tang horsemen or the Jin Iron Pagoda Horsemen.
Most definitely. Good choices, honestly. Never enough coverage of the eastern meridian methods...
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@@fabiandanesti1497 u mean gay orthodox chant?
@@neighbor-j-4737 Technically, almost all of Europe (and almost all of Eurasia) is in the Eastern Meridian.
@@Intranetusa
Fair enough. I was just broadly agreeing using a figure of speech. Next time I'll use longitudinal specificity.
Please. Make one for the Parthian-Sassanid Cataphracts. they perfected it.
Central Asian tribes: TANK
Persians: Write that down write that down
Romans: I gotta get one of those
7:15 that's an Achaemenid cataphract/heavy cavalryman. The most revered and feared unit from the Classical Era.
I'd like to learn much more about the "bucellarii," the late Roman and post-Roman cavalrymen who fought with sword, lance, AND bow all at once!
Bucellarii were escort troops, basically personal retainers paid and equipped by a Dux or Magister Militum by his own money. It means "Biscuit eaters". Size could vary.
@@wijse I had thought It was somehow related to "Bucephalus" , Alexander the Great´s horse, since they were a cavalry unit.
I love how this video is so extremely well informed and interesting, with a lot of depth and historical basis, and then at 32:00 it summarizes the fall of the western roman empire with a "and then it fell" with it just dissapearing on the spot.
Because episode its not about Fall of roman Empire
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@@fabiandanesti1497 I would like to, but there's no Orthodox Church in my city!
@@rodrigomachado5291 F
Well you see sometimes shit just happens.
wow this one was crazy good, got emotional at some points must admit. Your channel came a long way since the days of Rome 2, even though this same video evoked some nostalgic feelings of charging heavy shock cav.
The first Roman ruler who adopt and put cataphracts into service was Galienus - very underrated emperor.
There should be a serie about him tbh. The story of a desesperate emperor, seeing the world fall appart around him. His reign was tragic.
@Benoit Labrecque Agree! And when I think of him I realise that karma exist. Look what happened to Galiens assasins: Claudius 2, Aurelian and Probus. They got what they deserved.
Cataphracts were always my favorite troops in titles like Rome Total War. I was so thrilled to hear y'all are doing a series on the unit and its history. I am very surprised that Maxentius was such a fool to waste his cataphracts on an unsupported frontal assault.
Here`s some CHAD Orthodox Chant
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Thank me later , ☦and Embrace Orthodoxy☦
Games? What use is that? Nothing to do with reality.
@@talisikid1618 Games are the main reason this channel even exists. This used to be a Total War gaming channel.
@@talisikid1618 games is what gives people like us who love history a chance to do more than just read about it but actually see it be apart of it play around with it and change it to our liking when you have a burning question what if
@@talisikid1618 If sorry to tell you, but gamers are real ;)
This weekend is just the best of HistoryTube.
@Leo the British-Filipino
Wait, Alexios Komnenos? Who uploaded a video on him. Been dying for a doc on him
@@RexGalilae Kings and generals
@@RexGalilae czcams.com/video/e5LE2eZb64U/video.html
@@skyereave9454
Great! Thanks!
@@skyereave9454 Hoping they'll cover the rest of Alexios I's reign. Would be a bummer if they stopped coverage once their series on the First Crusade is complete.
The light infantry mixed with cavalry was also used by Ariovistus against Julius Caesar were they won on the flanks. Seem to have bin a common tactic. By holding the horses the infantry could run with the speed of horses. Ceasar would later use this tactic vs Pompey with the same effect.
Absolutely nuts that people were making all these crazy cavalry advancements… without stirrups!
Now this is some high quality type of deep dive! 👌 This is probably one of my faves now. Thanks for making this!
YESSSSSSSSS.
the second i saw the notification i shoved my ear pods in my ears and spammed the play button. Thank you for this great video.
Hitting it once works too
The animations are amazing. The best ones ive seen on these kinda of videos!
vHere`s some CHAD Orthodox Chant
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FINALLY I’ve commented like the need for a cataphracts video on every history CZcamsr I follow like you and Kings and General and you finally came through!
I LOVE using them in Rome: Total War
If only the Gauls had some!,
Originally from the Parthians and Sassanian Empires. The knights of Europe originate from the Persians and Saka Parthians
Out of all units of ancient history, the cataphracts are my favorite cavalry. Right up there with the napoleons Cuirassiers!
Excelente vídeo, Invicta!!! Parabéns!!!!!
My lord, such a well made video! You guys deserve to be a paid service hahaha. You guys are great for giving us this great content for free. Love yall!
13:45 would have loved to see a full scale 4m spear to give more the idea of what it’d looked like. Amazing video as always btw, thank you
"Hey Crixus"
"Yes?"
"Is it just me or are those statues moving?"
"Hmm probably n-"
Love this subject and this time period. I think I can speak for most of us when I say, "Can't wait for the next installment." Excellent work!
Beautifully constructed, and executed.
Thank you...
I love you included detailes of how they were used in combat.
I'd like to imagine I have a decent understanding of how foot troops behaved and were used. But cavalry always seemed nebulous.
Here`s some CHAD Orthodox Chant
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Thank me later , ☦and Embrace Orthodoxy☦
Another excellent video from my favorite channel. Keep them coming!
Great episode! Looking forward for your next one!
You guys are killing it 💪🏼 thank you
Amazing video as always
Fantastic episode. Well done guys.
I’ve always loved the cataphracts ever since I was a kid. Thanks for all the bad ass work on such a bad ass class of ancient warrior!
Amazing Video! Thank you for this!
Thank you very much for this wonderful video!
Huge ! Titans! This topic is so underrrated but so important. Thank you ! ❤️
loved this one! keep up the good work
One of your best videos! Bravo!
yes been waiting for this!!!
After watching this video, I really want to see a full length movie, or TV series about Cataphract culture, organization, and combat. That would be awesome. Your videos are always a treat to watch! Thank you!
Omg I waited for this one so long. Thanks
I really loved this video clibanarii is one of my favorite army units ever thanks for covering it 👍
What a great episode. Thank you guys so much for your hard work. Can’t wait to hear about the Byzantine cataphract
You mean the Roman Cataphract? Byzantium was already renamed as Constantinople.
Loved the video👍👍👍
Amazingly made video as ever
Very interesting. I never heard of these before. Glad I found this.
awesome vid as always
Thanks for sharing
Another great video. Thanks!
Awesome video! Thank you!
Thank You! Really enjoyed it!
The art for this channel has become insanely good.
You're artwork is amazing and makes it much more immersive. Great work!
Nice video, thanks! For the next unit you could cover the papal guard :)
Great episode!
VERY WELL DONE !
Another unit that you can cover is the Markabata chariot, which they were used in Ancient Egyptian warfare.
Great video Thank you
Greatly appreciate yer content.
Awesome production
Great look at the history of the Cataphracts! It was truly a huge step in the eternal arms race of human warfare. ⚔🐎🏹
Excellent channel!
Well done, again. I cannot wait for the cataphract sequel.
Fantastic stuff. Thanks
Great video:) waiting for next
This is the best deep dive I have seen concerning cataphracts.
I have been interested in them ever since I first played Age of Empires.
Still the coolest units in the game
@@carlosmarquez5901 Unless you count the cheat code units. Type in "Bigdaddy" and see what happens.
(spoiler)
You get an IROC Z Camaro with a rocket launcher.
Make about 4 of these and you can take over the world within minutes.
A great corollary to the Byzantine Kataphraktoi are the medium shock cavalry who have arguably a longer and more distinguished operational history than the Kataphraktoi, the Akritai; the border guards of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Legendary Akritic Songs of the half Roman half Saracen Digenes Akritas; The Two-Blood Prince (Vasileios Masouras/ Fasil Al-Mansur, Andronikos Steed and Armouris Armouropoulos. The Akritai is the Greek name for the Latin Limitani, those who guard the limes (borders). There is an incredible overlap in operational history between the Limitani/Akritai of antiquity and the Middle Ages and their Christian successors in the Balkans in the early modern era in the Armatoloi/Stratioti/Voynuks/Vlachs who fulfilled similar roles as the Akritai in guarding mountain passes and receiving privileges in return from the new dominant power (The Ottomans) that exempted them from certain taxes and restrictions and placed them in a military social class above the non-military Raya (non-Muslim) Orthodox Christian majority in the Balkans.
Well done!! Bravo!💓
Incredible product guys
Excellent video 📹
Knowledge
Thank you for the video another subject I didn't know anything about.
amazing. These warriors must me mind-blowingly good to have survived for 10 years on the battlefieldd just to become cataphracta.
Not really. Survivability of light and medium cavalry was very high in the Classical and Roman era simply because most armies in this period were primarily heavy infantry, so someone on horseback could easily escape the battlefield when things went south. One of the most common complaints of ALL Roman generals was, "All my cavalry ran away!"
The real reason a decade of service was required was because most light and medium cavalry didn't serve in the army that long. Turnover was high for horsemen in general. Auxilia typically joined for single campaigns or seasons, while mercs would drop out long before a decade of service was over. Only the most dedicated horsemen - those actually interested in Roman citizenship - had any reason to stay and consistently serve in the army.
Great video.
Brilliant !
Thank you 🙏🏻
great work
This is boss! In content, context & publicity!! Well done👏mbros.! bravo..!! 👏👏👏💯
Banger units, what else can I say? Imagine if these guys had a proper saddle
yooo Gonna re watch the constantine edit you made
The four horned saddle already helps keep the rider in place well enough. The invention of the stirrups and how their efforts contribute to a perfected heavy cavalry is honestly exaggerated. It was a decent upgrade to the Kataphractarii’s arsenal, but it wasn’t such a game changer that western medieval historians like to constantly tout about. Especially in regards to the normans.
@@althesian9741
Stirrups are very effective. They increase balance and decrease the danger of being thrown off/pushed or pulled off your horse.
They also make mounting much easier ;)
Here`s some CHAD Orthodox Chant
czcams.com/video/bOxJRTFZswE/video.html
Thank me later , ☦and Embrace Orthodoxy☦
@@althesian9741 yep many believe that the Normans invented everything in terms of heavy cavalry which is absolutely wrong
That "and they won" gave me a flood of shivers
The protection against caltrops that is mentioned seems to be the Roman horse sandals. Which, given we are talking about a time before modern horse shoes were really implemented were little iron/steel sandals(i can't think of a better term) that slide over the hoof from the front and are tied at the back amd over the top of the hoof. These are seemingingly the universal Roman answer to travelling on surfaces too rough and damaging to your horse's hooves.
Love it 😊
Great video. Fantastic.
Is the pronunciation of Palmyra in the video the official one?
Feels illegal watching this for free
Love this Episode
Finally, my favourite unit from history. The cataphract.
I love this series!
good videos
Basically a direct copy of Parthian and Sassanid cataphracts
The works of doctor Khaveh Farroukh have shed quite a light over the sassanid cataphracts, the savaran knights.
very good
Exelent video
The triumph of Iranian cavalry versus the Roman infantry manifests itself quite clearly. It would be exactly this model that ensured the survival of Rome as the former superceded the latter - Not only militarily, but politically too. By the end of the transformation, the Eastern Romans were virtually indistinguishable from their Iranian rivals and role models to their East.
The most immediate and long-term consequence of the battle of Carrhae was the demise of the Roman republic, (which already was moribund and had to be supplemented by a triumvirate), and the beginnings of a Roman monarchy.
The Iranian factor is understated, but it is there in plain sight. The cataphract is ancient Iran's contribution to military warfare, as is the idea of a unified, central monarchy. Prototypes certainly existed, however, those are not evoked by the Romans in their own writings - It is to the Persians (and Parthians, later retconned as Persian in later Roman sources) that the Romans principally saw as the earliest example of an effective empire, certainly an impression they picked up from Herodotus and later seminal writings from Xenophon, particularly the Cyropaedia, which served as a mirror for princes.
Throughout 721 years of protracted conflict with the Iranians, the Romans found out that imitation of the real article was the most efficient way to protect their holdings in the East Mediterranean. This is remarked upon by Procopius who notes that the armies of Justinian were virtually identical in overall characteristics to that of the armies of Khusro Anushiravan. With generals largely of Isaurian, Armenian and Thracian origins, the Byzantine army and political elite had helped to transform the remnant Roman empire into an Oriental and Asiatic power. This did not occur out of a vacuum.
I mostly like your analysis, but I'd suggest that while the *armies* started looking a lot alike, their political and social systems still had many large differences...
For the caltrop protection look up "hipposandal" it was a standard piece of Roman equestrian kit. I think that is exactly what you're talking about.
Loved it...and yes the heavy horse units do have their place.
I kinda like the scholae unit more and if I had a choice between the heavy early units vs something lighter...
I would take the Scholae gentiles unit first and then later on upgrade to the palitinae or better equivalent.
This shit is tight af.