Kontos (weapon)
   HOME
*





Kontos (weapon)
The kontos ( el, κοντός) was the Greek name for a type of long wooden cavalry lance used by the Iranians, especially Achaemenid successors' cavalry, most notably cataphracts (''Grivpanvar''). It was also used by the Germanic warriors of the south as a pike. A shift in the terminology used to describe Sarmatian weapons indicates the ''kontos'' was developed in the early to mid 1st century AD from shorter spear-type weapons (which were described using the generic terms for "spear"—''longhe'' or ''hasta''—by Greek and Roman sources, respectively), though such a description may have existed before the Battle of Carrhae, in which Parthian cataphracts, in conjunction with light horse archers, annihilated a Roman army of over three times their numbers. As shown by contemporary artwork, the kontos was about long, though longer examples may have existed; later Parthian and Sassanian clibanarii (Middle Persian: Grivpanvar) reportedly used kontoi of longer lengths; only highly ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tabriz Sasanian Plate 2
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quru River valley in Iran's historic Azerbaijan region between long ridges of volcanic cones in the Sahand and Eynali mountains, Tabriz's elevation ranges between above sea level. The valley opens up into a plain that gently slopes down to the eastern shores of Lake Urmia, to the west. With cold winters and temperate summers, Tabriz is considered a summer resort. It was named World Carpet Weaving City by the World Crafts Council in October 2015 and Exemplary Tourist City of 2018 by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. With a population of over 1.7 million (2016), Tabriz is the largest economic hub and metropolitan area in northwest Iran. The population is bilingual, speaking Azerbaijani and Persian. Tabriz is a major heavy industries hub for automobiles, machine tools, refineries, petrochemicals, textiles and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Greek ''hippeis'' and '' hoplite'' (ἱππεῖς) and Roman '' eques'' and ''centurion'' of classical antiquity. In the Early Middle Ages in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. Knighthood in the Middle Ages was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust) from its origins in th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Military History Of The Sasanian Empire
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Indo-European Warfare
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch, and Spanish, have expanded through colonialism in the modern period and are now spoken across several continents. The Indo-European family is divided into several branches or sub-families, of which there are eight groups with languages still alive today: Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Celtic, Germanic, Hellenic, Indo-Iranian, and Italic; and another nine subdivisions that are now extinct. Today, the individual Indo-European languages with the most native speakers are English, Hindi–Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese, German, and Punjabi, each with over 100 million native speakers; many others are small and in danger of extinction. In total, 46% of the world's population (3.2 billion people) speaks an Indo-Eu ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Iranian Warfare
Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian languages, a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages * Iranian diaspora, Iranian people living outside Iran * Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia * Iranian foods, list of Iranian foods and dishes * Iranian.com, also known as ''The Iranian'' and ''The Iranian Times'' See also * Persian (other) * Iranians (other) * Languages of Iran * Ethnicities in Iran * Demographics of Iran * Indo-Iranian languages * Irani (other) * List of Iranians This is an alphabetic list of notable people from Iran or its historical predecessors. In the news * Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran * Ebrahim Raisi, president of Iran, former Chief Justice of Iran. * Hassan Rouhani, former president o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sarmatians
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD. Originating in the central parts of the Eurasian Steppe, the Sarmatians were part of the wider Scythian cultures. They started migrating westward around the fourth and third centuries BC, coming to dominate the closely related Scythians by 200 BC. At their greatest reported extent, around 100 BC, these tribes ranged from the Vistula River to the mouth of the Danube and eastward to the Volga, bordering the shores of the Black Sea, Black and Caspian Sea, Caspian seas as well as the Caucasus to the south. In the first century AD, the Sarmatians began encroaching upon the Roman Empire in alliance with Germanic peoples, Germanic ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Polearms
A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantly melee weapons, with a subclass of spear-like designs fit for both thrusting and throwing. Because many polearms were adapted from agricultural implements or other fairly abundant tools, and contained relatively little metal, they were cheap to make and readily available. When warfare would break out and the belligerents had a poorer class who could not pay for dedicated military weapons, leaders would often appropriate tools as cheap weapons. The cost of training was comparatively minimal, since these conscripted farmers had spent most of their lives using these "weapons" in the fields. This made polearms the favored weapon of peasant levies and peasant rebellions the world over. Polearms can be divided into three broad categories: those ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Xyston
The xyston ( grc, ξυστόν "spear, javelin; pointed or spiked stick, goad (lit. 'shaved', a derivative of the verb ξύω "scrape, shave")), was a type of a long thrusting spear in ancient Greece. It measured about long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands, although the depiction of Alexander the Great's xyston on the Alexander Mosaic in Pompeii (see figure), suggests that it could also be used single handed. It had a wooden shaft and a spear-point at both ends. Possible reasons for the secondary spear-tip were that it acted partly as a counterweight and also served as a backup in case the xyston was broken in action. The xyston is usually mentioned in context with the '' hetairoi'' (), the cavalry forces of ancient Macedon. After Alexander the Great's death, the ''hetairoi'' were named ''xystophoroi'' (, "spear-bearers") because of their use of the xyston lance. In his Greek-written '' Bellum Judaicum'', the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus uses the term ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sarissa
The sarisa or sarissa ( el, σάρισα) was a long spear or pike about in length. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in his Macedonian phalanxes as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. These longer spears improved the strength of the phalanx by extending the rows of overlapping weapons projecting towards the enemy, and the word remained in use throughout the Byzantine years to sometimes describe the long spears of their own infantry. Composition and utility The sarissa, made of tough and resilient cornel wood, was very heavy for a spear, weighing approximately .Markle 324 It had a sharp iron head shaped like a leaf and a bronze butt-spike, which could be anchored in the ground to stop charges by the enemy. The spike was sharpened well enough to pierce an enemy shield. The bronze material of the butt-spike prevented it from rusting. The spike also served to balance out the spear, making it easier for soldiers to wield, and co ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hungarian Language
Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian communities in southern Slovakia, western Ukraine ( Subcarpathia), central and western Romania (Transylvania), northern Serbia (Vojvodina), northern Croatia, northeastern Slovenia (Prekmurje), and eastern Austria. It is also spoken by Hungarian diaspora communities worldwide, especially in North America (particularly the United States and Canada) and Israel. With 17 million speakers, it is the Uralic family's largest member by number of speakers. Classification Hungarian is a member of the Uralic language family. Linguistic connections between Hungarian and other Uralic languages were noticed in the 1670s, and the family itself (then called Finno-Ugric) was established in 1717. Hungarian has traditionally been assigned to the Ugric alo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Aswaran
The Aswārān (singular aswār), also spelled Asbārān and Savaran, was a cavalry force that formed the backbone of the Military of the Sasanian Empire, army of the Sasanian Empire. They were provided by the aristocracy, were heavily armored, and ranged from archers to cataphracts. Etymology The word comes from the Old Persian word ''asabāra'' (from ''asa''- and ''bar'', a frequently used Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid military technical term). The various other renderings of the word are following; Parthian language, Parthian ''asbār'', Middle Persian ''aspabārak'', New Persian, Classical Persian ''suwār'' (), ''uswār''/''iswār'' (), Modern Persian ''savār'' (). The Arabic word ''asāwira'' (), used to refer to Asawira, a certain faction of the Sasanian cavalry after the Muslim conquest, is a broken plural form of the Middle Persian ''aswār''. However, the word ''aswār'' only means "horseman" in Middle Persian literature, and it is only the late Arabic term that has a m ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Book Pahlavi
Pahlavi is a particular, exclusively written form of various Iranian languages, Middle Iranian languages. The essential characteristics of Pahlavi are: *the use of a specific Aramaic script, Aramaic-derived script; *the incidence of Aramaic language, Aramaic words used as heterogram (linguistics), heterograms (called ''Frahang-i Pahlavig, hozwārishn'', "archaisms"). Pahlavi compositions have been found for the dialects/ethnolects of Parthian language, Parthia, Middle Persian language, Persis, Sogdian language, Sogdiana, Scythian language, Scythia, and Khotanese language, Khotan. Independent of the Variety (linguistics), variant for which the Pahlavi system was used, the written form of that language only qualifies as Pahlavi when it has the characteristics noted above. Pahlavi is then an admixture of: *written Aramaic language#Imperial Aramaic, Imperial Aramaic, from which Pahlavi derives its script, logograms, and some of its vocabulary. *spoken Iranian languages, Middle Irania ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]