Editing Cataphract (section)

{{Short description|Type of heavy cavalry originating in Persia and used throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa}}

[[File:Ancient Sasanid Cataphract Uther Oxford 2003 06 2(1).jpg|thumb|[[Historical reenactment]] of a [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian-era]] cataphract, complete with a full set of [[scale armour]] for the horse. The rider is covered by extensive [[chain mail|mail armour]].]]

A '''cataphract''' was a form of [[body armour|armoured]] [[heavy cavalry]] that originated in [[Sasanian Empire|Persia]] and was fielded in [[ancient warfare]] throughout [[Eurasia]] and [[Northern Africa]].

Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armoured horseman, with both the rider and mount almost completely covered in [[scale armour|scale]] or [[lamellar armour]] over [[chain mail]], and typically wielding a [[kontos (weapon)|kontos]] ([[lance]]) as his primary weapon.

Cataphracts served as the elite cavalry force for most empires and nations that fielded them, primarily used for [[Charge (warfare)#Cavalry charges|charges]] to break through opposing heavy cavalry and [[infantry]] formations. Chronicled by many historians from the earliest days of [[classical antiquity|antiquity]] up until the [[High Middle Ages]], they may have influenced the later European [[knights]], through contact with the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]].<ref name="Nell, Grant S. 1995">Nell, Grant S. (1995) ''The Savaran: The Original Knights''. University of Oklahoma Press.</ref>

Peoples and states deploying cataphracts at some point in their history included: the [[Scythians]], [[Sarmatians]], [[Alans]], [[Medes]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]], [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]], [[Saka]]s, [[Indian people|Indians]], [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenians]], [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]], [[Attalid kingdom|Attalid]], [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]], [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Greco-Bactrian]], [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanids]], [[Roman Empire|Romans]], [[Goths]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgians]], [[Imperial China|Chinese]], [[Goguryeo|Koreans]], [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]], [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]], [[Tangut people|Tangut]]s and [[Songhai Empire|Songhai]].

In Europe, the fashion for heavily armoured [[Roman cavalry]] seems to have been a response to the Eastern campaigns of the Parthians and Sasanians in [[Anatolia]], as well as numerous defeats at the hands of Iranian cataphracts across the steppes of Eurasia, most notably in the [[Battle of Carrhae]] (53 BC) in upper [[Mesopotamia]]. Traditionally, Roman cavalry was neither heavily-armoured nor decisive in effect; the Roman [[equites]] corps comprised mainly lightly-armoured horsemen bearing spears and swords and using [[light cavalry]] tactics to [[skirmisher|skirmish]] before and during battles, and then to pursue retreating enemies after a victory. The adoption of cataphract-like cavalry formations took hold among the [[late Roman army]] during the late 3rd and 4th centuries. The Emperor [[Gallienus]] ({{reign | 253 | 268&nbsp;AD}}) and his general and putative [[usurper]] [[Aureolus]] (died 268) arguably contributed much to the institution of Roman cataphract contingents in the [[Late Roman army]].