ABSTRACT
If it is conceded that mounted raiders were indeed a threat to many parts of the civilized world through much of the seventh century BC, we shall also have to suggest why that threat was relatively short-lived. Part of the answer must lie in the defenses available to cities and kingdoms. As indicated in Chapter 5, the Neo-Assyrian armies featured an infantry formation (or line) of “archer-pairs,” the archer on the ground being protected by a shieldholding partner. The Persian sparabara continued this tradition, deploying a huge wicker shield that protected both himself and the archer. Such a formation would have taken a toll against mounted archers. Defenders could also hurl javelins against the horsemen. A vase painting of the early sixth century BC shows Hellenes using javelins against mounted archers, some of the javelineers being themselves mounted on horseback.1 And I shall suggest in Chapter 7 that elements of the hoplite armor that came into use in western Anatolia in the seventh century BC may originally have been intended for protection against Kimmerian or Skythian horsemen.
