What is a war chariot, how is it arranged? What did the chariots of antiquity look like? Battle chariots are ...

In ancient times, fighting chariots were extremely important on the battlefield. Often in the confrontation wins exactly the army that had such vehicles. In the Middle East and in the Mediterranean, chariots were used up to 500 BC. E. By the beginning of a new era, they disappeared in Western Europe. The longest chariots existed in China and Southeast Asia, where they remained in demand until the late Middle Ages.

The Importance of Chariots

During the battle, the chariots played the same role that the tanks had in the future. They had to make a mess in the ranks of the enemy. It was with the help of wagons that the enemy's thick ranks broke through. On chariots there were spearmen, throwers of darts or archers. They destroyed the living force of the enemy.

Like the cavalry, the chariots shocked and frightened the infantry unprepared for this confrontation. Often the militiamen fled in horror from the carts, without waiting for the approach of death.

Combat chariots are also an important indicator of the social stratification of society. They were owned only by the privileged residents of the country. To advance to the place on the gig, it was necessary to make a lot of effort. In addition, battle chariots are a good incentive for the development of horse breeding in a single state.

Chariots in the Middle East

Researchers agree that the greatest efficiency gigos achieved in the Middle East. They came here because of the penetration of the tribes of the Indian and Iranian language groups into the region.

In the III millennium BC Syrian and Mesopotamian chariots appeared. They featured a typical rectangular shape with an elongated platform. Their width was about half the length. From here they got to Ancient Egypt, where they were especially popular.

The Battle of Megiddo

In this regard, it is important to mention the battle of Megiddo. This was the first documented battle in human history. It took place in 1468 BC. The opponents were the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III and the Canaanite kings. What is a war chariot for that era? This is an elite unit of troops. Pharaoh himself headed a gigantic column. He shot arrows on Syrians and Palestinians, who eventually suffered a crushing defeat.

The arrows were an important part of the Egyptian squad. Under Thutmose, they received the most effective bows that a man could produce at that time. They were distinguished by high accuracy and mobility. No light armor could withstand them. Ancient war chariots allowed archers to rise above the infantry and seek out the necessary goals.

The Battle of Kadesh

It was the golden age of the carts. The most massive use of chariots was recorded in the battle of Kadesh. In it, the forces of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II and the Hittite king Muwatali II clashed. The battle took place in the XIII century BC.

In the battle, both sides in total used about 7,000 chariots. It began with the fact that the Hittites suddenly attacked the Egyptian camp, which remained practically defenseless because of enemy maneuvers. Already hundreds of chariots were used in this attack. The Hittites managed to win at this initial stage.

However, the main Egyptian army under the guidance of the Pharaoh himself was several kilometers from the camp. This army moved in a retaliatory attack. The Egyptians also had chariots that sowed terror among the infantry. The Hittites did not have any spearmen to oppose this type of army. Nevertheless, in their army the infantry had iron armor. This metal was a military and state secret. The Egyptians could not smelt it. In fact, it was the last battle of the Bronze Age.

The battle did not reveal the winners. The number of chariots on both sides was approximately equal, which led to parity. As a result, the Egyptians and Hittites agreed to sign a peace treaty. At the same time, each country attributed victory to itself. Nevertheless, it was here that the Egyptian invasion of the Middle East was stopped. This is largely contributed to the fighting chariots of the Hittites.

The development of horse riding and the decline of chariots

At the end of the second millennium BC, the decay of chariots began. He was associated with the fact that a person mastered riding a horse. Initially, this did not cancel gigs. However, economically maintaining the cavalry was much cheaper than the wagons. Therefore, in time, the war chariots began to disappear from the armies because of their inefficiency. Expensiveness was caused by the need to create a variety of equipment.

How is the chariot built? For her, first of all we need harnesses. They were too expensive for widespread use. The strike was especially strong among nomads. At the same time, an example of Ancient China is indicative. During the battles in the Huanghe Valley, six thousand infantrymen had only about two hundred harnesses.

Socio-economic reasons for abandoning chariots

The use of wagons was still justified from a military point of view. However, a knockout blow fell on them after the social stratum of people who were brought up to become chariot owners disappeared.

It came to know it. In many societies, the chariot also had a sacred meaning as a sign of power and might. Therefore it is not surprising that the Roman emperors triumphed after triumphant victories in the capital on a two-wheeler. With the advent of new types of metal, as well as other types of troops, the chariot has come to naught. It was successfully replaced by cavalry.

Weighted harness in Assyria

Many nations created their own modifications of this type of troops. For example, the Assyrians began to use new shock harnesses. In such vehicles there were 4 horses and the same number of warriors. One of them always had a shield with him to protect the neighbors in the crew from the attacks of the spearmen. This "weighting" over time has become characteristic of other states.

Chariots in China

What is a war chariot for the Chinese? Eastern civilization began to use it for defensive purposes (and not offensive, as was customary in other societies). To do this, a detachment of 5-7 chariots lined up in the form of a tower, which was surrounded by dense infantry. In the event of an enemy attack, such defensive redoubts fired upon the approaching enemies. Also in the east one more feature was revealed. Instead of bows used here slingshots.

Nevertheless, lightweight wheelchairs were still used in the volatile attacks on the enemy system. If the heavy chariots were effective in defense, then mobile and fast small gigs were rapidly advancing on the rival.

The use of carts in China was also due to the neighborhood of the steppe people. It was from them that the Han people received the first horses, which, by the way, adapted themselves for a long time to the new conditions of life. The owners of the wagons were the military elite of the Chinese principalities. Each small local state had about 200-300 chariots in the army.

Over time, the wagons gradually increased in size. Became more and their crew. In parallel, the number of accompanying infantry fell (from 80 to 10). This meant that the battles between armies turned into huge clashes of chariots. In such battles, the role of infantry became ever more insignificant. This ratio is similar to the situation in which in the medieval Europe the troops began to be formed by detachments of armed knights.

Steppe trees

For the steppe, the chariots became an advantage, which allowed numerous wild peoples to make deafening raids on vast territories. From the Mediterranean to the Pacific, invasions led to the decay of sedentary crops. Chariots allowed the steppe to gain an advantage on the battlefield.

They had the most hardy and strong horses in the whole world. Animals that fed high-quality forage and steppe grasses became a formidable force, including in the cart of chariots.

Especially strong blow fell on the Chinese, who lived in the valleys of Mesopotamia. For several millennia, the struggle continued between landowners and nomads. In it, the presence of chariots was one of the important trump cards.

The impact of the inhabitants of the steppes fell even in ancient Egypt. However, the people of this great civilization were more fortunate than the Chinese. They were farther from the steppe regions. In addition, they managed to effectively adopt the technology of chariots from the nomads.

Infantry tactics

For several centuries of wars with chariots the infantry managed to work out several tactics against this type of enemy. One of the most common tactics was that the wagon was allowed to enter the rear, where it choked and became easy prey for land warriors.

The Romans in the era of Julius Caesar managed to nullify the advantage of chariots with braids. Infantry began to operate in a loose order, in which such weapons became useless. Because of this, the Romans won wars with the Seleucids, in whose armies the wagons occupied a significant place.

In Greece and Rome

In Greece, the battle chariots of antiquity lasted particularly long until the Persian wars in the IV century BC. E. The use of such phalanges was necessary to increase the maneuverability of the army. In addition, in ancient Greece, chariots were preserved in sports competitions. At the Olympic Games, wheelchair races were met by the public with particular impatience.

What is a war chariot for Ancient Rome? The attitude towards her in this society was similar to that of the Greek. This was due to the fact that the Romans never destroyed the orders of conquered peoples. On the contrary, they often adopted all the best in the culture and achievements of their neighbors.

Therefore it is not surprising that the Romans had their own chariot. The definition of its role in the war depended on a particular case. Especially many wheelchairs were used in the Punic Wars against Carthage.

The Romans built hippodromes for chariot races. Cirque Maximus could accommodate up to 150 thousand spectators. Julius Caesar rebuilt it and expanded it. This, in turn, means that the Romans continued to use war chariots until the era of our era. It is interesting that in the course of the technical evolution, the Europeans began using old strollers as a carriage for mobile ballistae.

What is a war chariot? It is also a symbol of antiquity. By the time the Roman Empire surrounded the Mediterranean, the chariots began to disappear from the legions. They were ineffective against numerous northern barbarians. In return for the old wagons the cavalry customary for the Middle Ages came.

Chariots with braids

Among the numerous modifications, combat chariots with iron braids were especially noteworthy. They first appeared in the Assyrians. These inhabitants of the Middle East decided to perfect the old chariots. Long wheels were attached to the wheels. They wounded the numerous enemy infantry that surrounded the wagons during the fierce battles. The fearsome scythes frightened off the warriors, who eschewed them and fled in panic.

Later, other technical solutions appeared. What did the chariots of this type look like? To the drawbar of such wagons, braids were also added, which allowed them to ram the cavalry of the enemy in a head-on collision.

Such chariots were popular in Persia. They harnessed 4 horses. The crew consisted of 3 people. One of them was a charioteer. The other two were warriors who razed the enemy.

The braids helped destroy the order in building infantry. If the system did not dissipate completely, then at least noticeable gaps appeared. They were rushed by friendly soldiers who did not allow the enemy to close the defeated ranks. What does the chariot in such a situation mean? She was the guarantor of success in the head-on collision of the armies.

Unlike conventional cavalry, carts with braids allowed literally to cut through the ranks of the enemy. Against this background, ordinary mounted warriors were weak against the dense Greek phalanx. In addition, the oldest cavalry did not have comfortable saddles, spurs and other useful things, which appeared only in the Middle Ages. Therefore, up to our era, chariots successfully competed with riders on horses, despite the comparatively high cost.