Quote Originally Posted by Mr Frost
P.S. is it me , or is it sad the spell checker doesn't even know words like equiptment exist , let alone how to spell them ?
I guess that's you, since IIRC there's no such word. Equipment, now, that's another matter.

I wasn't being too serious about the Kataphraktoi; but one must understand that the comparisons you made are not only flawed (the English suffered quite a bit more from V2's than the OP apparently suffered from Cats...), they are completely beside the point as well: the Cataphract reforms, just like the Marians for the Romani, indicate a necessity to change a particular component of the army. It has not really anything to do with keeping up with the times, but it has everything to do with some serious military issues: in casu (the Seleukids) the trouble with the Nomadic/Semi-Nomadic Cataphracts or (the Romans) the lack of men capable of serving as the mainstay of the army.