Shirtless Parthian General?!?!

**Steppe Merc** · 09-04-2004, 17:34

I was watching Canhae last night on Desisive battles, and the Parthian General was shirtless!

Huh? Heck, even the incredibly dumbed down Celts and Germans don't have shirtless Generals!

**Maedhros** · 09-04-2004, 20:22

He wasn't just shirtless, I think it was the character used as either th Roman or barbarian leader in the promo movies

**Colovion** · 09-04-2004, 20:48

common give him a break, he had a porn shoot right before that

**octavian** · 09-04-2004, 21:18

Originally Posted by Colovion

common give him a break, he had a porn shoot right before that

rofl!

actually, iirc, being shirtless might not be so totally incorrect, as far as the Historical standpoint (at least as far as the barbarians are concerned). after all, being shirtless, and therefore unarmoured, was a sign of bravery. others know better than me though, so will leave it at that and let them have there say.

**crazyviking03** · 09-04-2004, 21:47

Its pretty hot in the desert, I may have been shirtless aswell. With sunblock. SPF 80

**Steppe Merc** · 09-04-2004, 22:04

actually, iirc, being shirtless might not be so totally incorrect, as far as the Historical standpoint (at least as far as the barbarians are concerned). after all, being shirtless, and therefore unarmoured, was a sign of bravery. others know better than me though, so will leave it at that and let them have there say.

Dude, the Parthians weren't barbarians.

Its pretty hot in the desert, I may have been shirtless aswell. With sunblock. SPF 80

I'd still rather have a cataphract armor on. Besides, it isn't the deep desert.

**biguth dickuth** · 09-05-2004, 02:20

Originally Posted by octavian

rofl!

actually, iirc, being shirtless might not be so totally incorrect, as far as the Historical standpoint (at least as far as the barbarians are concerned). after all, being shirtless, and therefore unarmoured, was a sign of bravery. others know better than me though, so will leave it at that and let them have there say.

Actually, some celts would indeed fight nude (like the Gaesati) as a way of portraying their bravery and disdain towards the enemy. However, this was not a "unanimous" practice but one that applied to a minority. Most of the fighters who weren't wealthy enough to afford their own armour would fight with their regular clothes on, often with very warm, woolen ones in the winter.
This is even more so with the Germans.

**Steppe Merc** · 09-05-2004, 16:35

Well that's fine, just not the Parthians!

**Jacque Schtrapp** · 09-05-2004, 16:52

My biggest complaint was over the simple fact that they pronounced Carrhae differently almost every time they opened their mouths. Say it however you like, just please try and be consistent!

**The Wizard** · 09-05-2004, 17:43

Sure some barbarians fought naked, but come now, the Parthians wouldn't fight shirtless unless all the shirts in Persia would be burned. Persians (and the Parthians, who eventually adopted the Persian customs) knew that it is better to wear multiple layers of clothes which cover all your body in heat rather than shorts and short sleeves and only one layer.

And what is this bullshit about Parthians coming from the desert in the Parthian intro movie? Great... the Parthians come from Arabia... might as well have the Romans come from Londinium. -_-;

~Wiz

**Leet Eriksson** · 09-05-2004, 18:52

Originally Posted by The Wizard

Sure some barbarians fought naked, but come now, the Parthians wouldn't fight shirtless unless all the shirts in Persia would be burned. Persians (and the Parthians, who eventually adopted the Persian customs) knew that it is better to wear multiple layers of clothes which cover all your body in heat rather than shorts and short sleeves and only one layer.

And what is this bullshit about Parthians coming from the desert in the Parthian intro movie? Great... the Parthians come from Arabia... might as well have the Romans come from Londinium. -_-;

~Wiz

I beleive the area the parthians occupied was pretty cold, i mean compared to other regions, so it was pretty easy to operate while wearing heavy armour.

**Steppe Merc** · 09-06-2004, 02:23

I think different parts were different climes. I have heard the dessert thingy, but I'm pretty sure it's more of an really arid steppe than Arabia esque desert.

**ick_of_pick** · 09-06-2004, 06:13

The Parthians come from the steppes east of the caspian, so it's very likely that the weather is just right for wearing tons of armor, though the diddn't really start the whole cataphract thing until they moved west, it was mostly horse archers until then. But they are definitely NOT from the arabian desert.

Ick

**SpencerH** · 09-06-2004, 13:42

I saw a piece of the show (first time I've caught it) and I noticed that the spears/lances carried by the Parthians disappeared in some shots (kinda like some people have noticed in the demo).