Subject: āzād nobleman as cavalry
Culture: Sassanid Persian
Setting: early Sassanid empire, Persia 3-5thc
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
"The Sasanians probably inherited from the Parthians a four-part internal division of the nobility, including the šahrdārs, vassal kings and dynasts; wispuhrs, princes of the blood royal and members of royal families; wuzurgs, grandees; and āzāds, the gentry and the knights (for the lists in NPi, see Humbach and Skjærvø, III/2, p. 46; Lukonin, pp. 698-99; Christensen, Iran Sass., pp. 95-107). In the Paikuli inscription the āzāds were sometimes listed before and sometimes after kadag-xwadāys; according to the Kār-nāmag (par. 1), Persia had been ruled by 120 kadag-xwadāys at the time of Ardašīr’s birth. They must have been “tribal chieftains” (molūk al-ṭawāʾef the term by which Islamic historians referred to the Arsacid rulers; e.g., Ṭabarī, I, p. 706) equal in rank to the āzāds and the dehkāns “small landowners.” These internal subdivisions were further elaborated under the Sasanians."
* Chaumont/Toumanoff 2016-10-10 online
"According to Classical and Armenian authors a cavalry regiment was picked from the āzāds both under the Parthians and the Sasanians. Flavius Josephus (Bellum Judaicum 1.13.3) says that a regiment consisting of eleutheroi was under the command of Prince Pacorus, son of Orodes II during the invasion of Judea in 40 B.C. Justinian (History of Trogus Pompeius 41.2) is less clear, stating that among the 50,000 horsemen confronting Antony’s army (36 B.C.) only 400 were liberi “free.” In Sasanian times, we are told that the royal bodyguard at the court of Šāpūr II was composed mainly of an “army of free men” (Pʿawstos Biwzand, History 4.53, Venice, 1933, p. 171 = V. Langlois, Collection des historiens arméniens I, p. 269: azatagund puštipan zawracn). To designate these regiments of free men, the Armenian authors used the terms azatagund, azatakoyt, and azatazawr.
"In Sasanian Iran the āzāds seem to have included, at least in later centuries, the šahrīgs “heads of districts” and the dehqāns “heads of villages” (Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser, pp. 446-47; Christensen, Iran Sass., pp. 112, 138, 140 n. 3). The Arab authors sometimes use the term banu’l-aḥrār or aḥrār to designate this class."
* Matyszak 2004 p242-243
"Persian noblemen of Shapur's time were cultured individuals who were expected to have a knowledge of literature and the arts. Many played chess, polo, or an early form of tennis. But the chief occupation of the aristocracy was war. The army was commanded by a member of the royal family, though not the king himself. The national battle standard was a massive banner called the Kaviani, embroidered with gems and gold and silver thread. Its presence indicated the presence of the King of Kings himself. Other soldiers rode to war under a more portable standard which displayed the orb and wings of Ahuramazda.
"As with the Parthians, the main striking arm of Shapur's army was its armoured cavalry. It is unknown at what point 10,000 such cavalrymen were formed into an elite unit known as 'The Immortals', but this too might date to the reign of Shapur. Ammianus Marcellinus gives us a good description of these cavalrymen:
The Persians lined up against us, the serried ranks of mail-clad cavalrymen so closely formed that the bodies covered with close-fitting plates of armour gleamed as they moved, dazzling those who watched them, while all of the mass of horses were protected by leather coverings.
Ammianus Marcellinus 24.6.8
The horses were also armoured, though some of this covering as only leather. The obvious disadvantage of wearing this armour in a climate where the temperature could reach fifty degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) meant that these troops had to be deployed with care, especially as the infantry tended to be a conscript rabble of peasants. These were reduced to the level of serfs in the Sassanid Empire and their fighting ability was about as poor as their morale, which was generally rock-bottom. They made useful camp servants however, and no Sassanid general felt his army was complete without them.
"Also, as with the Parthians, the heavy cavalry were supported by a host of horse archers, both native Persians and tribesmen brought in from the steppe and the area about the Black Sea. The entire force was highly mobile and sufficiently different from the general run of Rome's enemies to make fighting them something of a specialist art."
Armor
* Richardson 2015 p6
"The Sassanids continued the Parthian military system, with changes in emphasis: armoured knights (fursan) became more important and numerous, and infantry (rijjala) became more significant too. In a 6th-century review of Khusrau Anushirvan's army (jund), 'Each knight was to have horse armour (tajfaf), mail armour (dir'), a lamellar coat (jawshan), leg defences (saq), a sword (saif), a lance (rumh), a shield (turs), either an axe (tabarzin) or a mace ('amud), a bowcase with two bows and their strings, thirty arrows and two extra bowstrings which the knight should attach to the rear of his helmet.'" [QUESTION: Why are Arabic terms used here to describe pre-Islamic Persia, which used the Middle Persian language?]
Costume
* Matyszak 2004 p240
"Marcellinus, sometimes called 'the last historian of Rome', gives us a good account of the Persians, though unsurprisingly he is mainly concerned with their military capabilities. When they were not in armour, Persian aristocrats wore
... shining robes of many lustrous colours, so many that though the robes be left open on the front or on the sides, the person remains covered from head to foot. They are fond of golden bracelets, necklaces and pearls. Ammianus Marcellinus 23.6.84
In appearance the Persians were
Slender, rather swarthy with leaden features, and eyes as grim as goats' ... they have splendid beards and long shaggy hair ... they are a sensual people, seldom satisfied even by a host of concubines, though they do not indulge in boys... they also abstain from overly sumptuous feasts, and avoid heavy drinking as though it were poison. Mealtimes are not fixed. They eat when they please, and finish after a moderate meal... one might regard their fastidiousness as womanly were they not such good fighters, though cunning rather than brave, and therefore most to be feared at long range. They are vain and abrasive in their manner, no matter what their circumstances, and are generally haughty and cruel. Skinning men alive, especially slaves and peasants, is by no means unknown. Ammianus Marcellinus 23.6 passim"
"3rd-4th centuries. The earliest representations of Sasanian male dress date from the reign of Ardašīr I (226-41); they are found at Fīrūzābād, Naqš-e Rajab, and Naqš-e Rostam. The king, his god, and the accompanying courtiers are all clad in heavy, smooth tunics shaped like coats, which fall to the knees over trousers (Herrmann, 1969, pp. 68 fig. 3, 70 fig. 4, pls. II, III, IV); that of the king at Naqš-e Rajab has elaborately folded sleeves (a style peculiar to this relief; plate lxxiv). This type of heavy tunic was worn in slightly different forms throughout the Sasanian period and had a long tradition in Persia and western Asia. It was descended from the candys of Achaemenid times (6th-4th centuries b.c.e.), described by Xenophon in the Cyropaedia (1.3.2., 8.1.40, 8.3.10) as a long Median coat draped over the shoulders with pendant sleeves, except when worn by the cavalry during royal inspection (G. Thompson, p. 122). When combined with a shorter tunic and trousers it was fastened by cords or lappets at the breast (Ghirshman, 1964, pp. 157, 158 fig. 209; Survey of Persian Art IV, pl. 108A-B). This fashion was probably brought into northwestern Persia by the Medes at the end of the early 1st millennium b.c.e. (Knauer, p. 23; see ii, above). In the 1st century b.c.e., at Nimrud Dagh, the Persian ancestors of Antiochus I were represented in embroidered fur-lined coats, without pendant sleeves, tied at the breast with ribbons and two circular clasps (Knauer, fig. 18). The nomadic Parthians and Kushans adopted this attire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries c.e. (Ghirshman, 1962, pp. 78 fig. 90, 89 fig. 100; Kawami, pl. 26; Rostovtzeff, 1938, pl. XXIII; Rosenfield, pls. 2, 23, 94, 98a; see iii, above), and it is not surprising that the Sasanians wore it in their turn. The earliest Sasanian depictions of this coat are in two graffiti at Persepolis showing Bābak (Pāpak), father of Ardašīr I, and another royal figure clad in long quilted coats tied with ribbons at the breast and ornamented at the shoulders with radial medallions (Herzfeld, p. 309 fig. 402; Harper, 1978, p. 123 fig. N). This shoulder decoration had a long history on both male and female clothing in Sasanian Persia. A lighter variation of the coat was worn open over a long tunic and leggings, though fastened at the breast with circular clasps and sometimes tied with ribbons. It was favored by courtiers and princes and appears on reliefs of Šāpūr I and Bahrām II, as well as on metalwork of the 3rd century (Ghirshman, 1962, pp. 153-54 fig. 196, 169-70 fig. 212; Herrmann, 1969, pl. VIII; Harper, 1978, pl. 88), but it seems to have gone out of fashion by the early 4th century. The fastening, consisting of two circular clasps and ribbons, is close in form to those at Nimrud Dagh (Rosenfield, pl. 152).
"The most common types of headdress for Sasanian nobles also made their appearance in the early years of the empire. They were the rounded tall hat, with or without neck guards, borrowed from royal Parthian fashion, and the soft “Phrygian” cap, with a point falling forward; both styles were sometimes tied with long fillets or decorated with devices of rank (Kawami, pls. 26, 30; Colledge, 1977, pls. 13/a, 29, 38/k, 38/u, 38/w, 47/a; Ghirshman, 1962, p. 90 fig. 102). These two headdresses, the pointed cap sometimes ending in the head of a bird or animal, were worn by nobles and princes (and queens) in scenes of investiture and victory on reliefs dating from the period of Ardašīr I through the reign of Šāpūr II (309-79; plate lxxv; Ghirshman, 1962, pp. 131 fig. 167, 132 fig. 168, 153-54 fig. 196, 158 fig. 200, 161 fig. 205, 169-70 fig. 212, 172 fig. 214, 173 fig. 215, 176 fig. 218, 184 fig. 225; Herrmann, 1969, pls. III, VIII, XI, XIIA, XVI). The appearance of these headdresses on silver “hunting” plates and on late seal portraits demonstrates their continued widespread use in the later Sasanian period (Harper, 1981, pp. 50, 51, pl. 9; Frye, 1973, D.a, D.2, D.91, D.93, D.101, D.103)."
Sword
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