Ancient Infantry & Cavalry, Warfare on Land, 7th Century B.C.-10th A.D.

A Review of the History of Infantry, The Horse in History & A History of Cavalry from the 7th Century B.C. to the 10th Century A.D.The foot soldiers and horse-back warriors of the ancient armiesThis useful, thorough academic, work contains three overviews of the armies of the ancient world. Infantry formed the core of military forces throughout antiquity, evolving from loosely organised groups into highly disciplined tactical units. Heavy infantry in armour, carrying shields and close-combat weapons fought in formations which anchored the battle line, whilst mobile light infantry, often unarmoured, equipped with javelins, bows, or slings harassed the enemy prior to the main battle clash. Greek and Macedonian Phalanxes were comprised of disciplined hoplites, creating a virtual fighting wall. Roman Legions employed flexible maniples and cohorts which could manoeuvre independently to exploit gaps in enemy lines, whilst Persian 'Immortals' combined spear-fighting with archery. Ancient cavalry, a later development, became a decisive battlefield component as chariot warfare diminished. The Assyrians were among the first to use mounted troops in significant numbers. The Macedonians, innovated the first true "shock" cavalry, employing massed charges to break enemy formations, whilst the Parthians perfected fully armoured Cataphracts and light horse-archery tactics where riders fired backwards while feigning retreat. The Romans, always intuitively infantry recruited 'auxilia' from subject nations renowned for their equestrian abilities. This is a worthwhile collected assessment from three notable historians .Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.