The kontos ( el, κοντός) was the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name for a type of long wooden

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...

used by the Iranians, especially

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

successors' cavalry, most notably

cataphract A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalryman that originated in Persia and was fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa. The English word derives from the Greek ' (plural: '), literally meaning "armored" or "co ...

s (''

Grivpanvar The ''Grivpanvar'' (literally: neck-guard wearer) were an elite late Parthian and Sasanian division who fought as heavy cataphract cavalry. According to Roman sources, the Grivpanvar had the ability to impale two men on the long, heavy spears th ...

''). It was also used by the Germanic warriors of the south as a

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

. 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 A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

-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 The Battle of Carrhae () was fought in 53 BC between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire near the ancient town of Carrhae (present-day Harran, Turkey). An invading force of seven legions of Roman heavy infantry under Marcus Licinius Cra ...

, 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 trained cavalrymen such as those fielded by the Arsaco-Sassanian dynasties could have used such weapons. It was reputedly a weapon of great power compared to other cavalry weapon of its time, described by Plutarch as being "heavy with steel" and capable of impaling two men at once. Its length was probably the origin of its name, as the word ''kontos'' could also mean "oar" or "barge-pole" in Greek. Thus, it had to be wielded with two hands while directing the horse using the knees; this made it a specialist weapon that required a lot of training and good horsemanship to use. In addition, most Parthian cavalry (even possibly including cataphracts) carried bows, so this meant daily practice with the weapons. The

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

s adopted a variation of the ''kontos'' transliterated as ''contus''. The Roman contus was also wielded two-handed. The later

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

''kontarion'' was used by Byzantine cataphracts, from c. 1100 it was used single-handed couched under the armpit, as was the contemporary

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 Gr ...

ly lance. The Sasanian lance, known as ''nēzak'' (

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

), used by the ''

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, a ...

'' cavalry, was derived from the Parthian ''kontos''. The Parthian version was a lance featuring a sword-like iron-made blade in length socketed onto the shaft. The name is the stem of many words for cavalry lances in languages of the region, like ''gönder'' ( Hungarian, meaning "Roman lance"), and ''quntariya'' ( ar, قَنْطَرِيّة).

References

Polearms Sarmatians Iranian warfare Indo-European warfare Military history of the Sasanian Empire Military history of the Parthian Empire Greek words and phrases {{Weapon-stub

See also

References