240 Chinese Clay Figures 



resist the blows of the Greeks, as the blows falling upon the breastplate 

 of Masistius had no effect. Only a certain portion of the Persian army- 

 was shielded by armor, for in the battle of Plataea they perished in 

 great numbers owing to their light clothing, contending against the- 

 heavily armed Greeks (Herodotus, IX, 63). Ammianus Marcellinus 

 (XXIV, 6; XXV, 1) informs us that the Persians opposed the Romans 

 with such masses of mailed cavalrymen, that the iron scales of their ar- 

 mor suits, following the movements of the body, reflected a glaring splen- 

 dor, and that their helmets, representing in front a human face, covered 

 their heads completely, openings being left only for the eyes and nos- 

 trils, — the only spots where they were vulnerable. l 



The iron scale armor of early times was retained in the age of the 

 Arsacides and Sassanians. Then, also, the force of the Persian army was 

 the cavalry, consisting of the nobles. The horsemen occupied the first 

 place in the order of battle, and success depended chiefly on their 

 strength and bravery. On the Sassanian rock-carvings, chain mail 

 appears beside scale armor. A bas-relief, probably from early Sas- 

 sanian times, represents such a Persian horseman clad with chain 

 armor reaching almost down to his knees, and provided with sleeves;, 

 his neck-guard is so high as to envelop his head completely; he wears a 

 helmet with floating ribbons, and carries a lance nearly two metres 

 long in his right hand and a small shield in his left, a quiver being 

 attached to his belt. Head, nape, and chest of the horse are likewise 

 protected by chain armor. 2 At the time of the Khusrau, the complete 



1 Contra haec Persae objecerunt instructas cataphractorum equitum turmas sic 

 confertas, ut laminis coaptati corporum fiexus splendore praestringerent occursantes 

 obtutus. — Ubi vero primum dies inclaruit, radiantes loricae limbis circumdatae ferreis, 

 et corusci thoraces longe prospecti, adesse regis copias indicabant. — Erant autem om- 

 nes catervae ferratae, ita per singula membra densis laminis tectae, ut juncturae 

 rigentes compagibus artuum convenirent: humanorumque vultuum simulacra 

 ita capitibus diligenter apta, ut imbracteatis corporibus solidis, ibi tantum incidentia 

 tela possint. haerere, qua per cavernas minutas et orbibus oculorum adfixas parcius 

 visitur, vel per supremitates narium angusti spiritus emittuntur. 



2 Christensen (L'empire des Sassanides, p. 60, Copenhague, 1907), who describes 

 this armor, says that it is scale armor. The monument to which he refers seems to 

 be identical with the one illustrated by J. de Morgan (Mission scientifique en 

 Perse, Vol. IV, p. 319) after a bas-relief of Takht-i-Bostan, and identified with Khos- 

 rau II Purwez (591-628). De Morgan, however, interprets this armor as chain 

 mail, which plainly appears on the helmet as reconstructed by him, enveloping the 

 entire face and neck, two almond-shaped openings being left for the eyes; this coif 

 of mail attached to the iron calotte of the helmet, according to de Morgan, is joined 

 to the mail of the armor. Sarre and Herzfeld (Iranische Felsreliefs, p. 203, Berlin, 

 1910), in their description of this bas-relief, give the same interpretation of chain 

 mail. According to the same authors (p. 74), the costume of a king on a Sassanian 

 relief of Naqsh-i-Rustam consists of scale armor, and ring mail for the protection 

 of arms and legs. On another relief (p. 83) the same kind of armature is pointed out, 

 scale armor reaching down to the hips, while arms and legs seem to be enveloped with 

 ring mail. In two other places (pp. 203, 249), however, chain mail reaching down 

 to the knees is pointed out. I am under the impression that de Morgan and Sarre, 



