Long ago I had a Sassanid Persian miniatures army. As I recall the "Levy Spearmen" where moral class "D" ( "A" being the best) one article said that in many cases these where slaves or bound men whose morale was so poor that they where in some instances chained together !

I remeber a unit of cataphracts rated as "Super" heavy Cavalry and elephants of course. The meat of the army was an "Extra" heavy Cavalry archer/lancer the rider had chain mail and the horse was armored on the front.