When did cavalry first appear?

[Hurin_Rules]

Just interested. I think I spotted some people riding horses in the trailer to Troy, but I thought cavalry didn't appear till considerably later. Anyone know more?

[Leet Eriksson]

Some sources indicate as early as 1200 BC.They become more developed in 400 BC and Became dominant in 400 AD till 1600 AD,where effective counter cavalry tactics were developed.

[Rosacrux]

in the Troy timeframe there was probably no cavalry. Horses were used but usually for dragging chariots. The cavalry first appeared in Mesopotamia and was actually a "chariot on a horse" (two men, one steering the horse, the other firing arrows... poor horse). The Assyrians seem to have developed the first solo horse-archers, and then the Lydians created the first shock cavalry in history. The very early cavalry was not actually cavalry: elite warriors used horses to move faster on the battlefield and then dismounted and fought on foot. Later they figured that fighting mounted could provide some interesting advantages and developed several relevant strategies.

The first effective shock cavalry in history appeared in Thessaly, and the first true-single-purpose shock cavalry that could decide the outcome of a large battle was the companion cavalry of Macedonia, allegedly the best cavalry of the antiquity.

The best horse archers of the early antiquity came from Skythia, while great light cavalry came from the northern Balkans (Paeonians, various Thracic or Illyrian tribes) Medea and later Nubia. In the late antiquity the best cavalry was the Parthian (cataphract heavy cavalry and horse-archers).

Cavalry prevailed pretty late in the ancient world because the weapon of choice in most areas was the spear, and horses do not love spears particularly. Frontal charge against a wall of spears is a no-no. So the early cavalry was used in recon, skirmishes and flanking. Withe the adoption of more flexible tactics and very long spears-lances (like the 3-4 meters Hippiki sarissa or the 3 - 3 1/2 meters Xyston used by Thesalian, Macedonian, Theban and other Greek cavalry) the cavalry started to actually charge head on, when the circumstances were favorable.

Absolutely true and massively effective heavy shock cavalry didn't develop until the arrival of the stirrup and then the couched saddle and lance.

Those are just some basics from the top of my head.

[Oleander Ardens]

I agree mostly with you although you don't mention the part the Cimmerians and kingdom of Urartu played in the history of cavalry...

Sorry that I may comment further, but now I have to help to cook http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Hurin_Rules]

So, if it was the Assyrians who developed the first true cavalry, we're talking like 8th-7th century BC?

[Oleander Ardens]

It seems that the Kingdom of Urartu had the first strong cavalry arm of a "civilized" nation. Most of their country was not suited for chariots and they had strong contacts with the iranian tribes in the East and North, fought against the Cimmerians in the North and were also famous for their horses - at least the Assyrians were proud of the horses taken from them and registered them very carefully...

Later on a great part of their former territory became known as Armenia...

I would put the timeframe around 9th-8th century BC...

[The Wizard]

Quote[/b] (faisal @ May 17 2004,05:46)]Some sources indicate as early as 1200 BC.They become more developed in 400 BC and Became dominant in 400 AD till 1600 AD,where effective counter cavalry tactics were developed.
Well, the ancient Assyrians after their great reformer-king Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th and 7th centuries BC used cavalry as their most mobile force, and the only force capable, at the time, of what we consider to be tactical manouevres. The rest of the Assyrian army couldn't be expected to handle such manouevres.

The first civilization to rely on the horse entirely was the Skythian one. While having some interesting progress in wars, they didn't really make an impression AFAIK. The Skythian civilization fell in one of the periodical domino effects on the steppes.



~Wiz

[Hakonarson]

Donkeys, small horses and similar equids had been ridden since before 2000BC - but they probably don't qualify as cavalry as it's presumed they were scouts and messengers.