10 Horrifying Facts about Persian Immortals 10. The Name According to Greek Historian, Herodotus, the
Immortals always had 10,000 men in their unit, no more and no less. If one died, or got sick, or something else
went wrong, he was immediately replaced by another soldier. This gave the impression that the unit was
full of immortal beings, because their numbers never dwindled. In order to become an Immortal, the warrior
had to be Persian born and training started at an early age. When a space opened up in the Immortal unit,
the leaders picked from the best soldiers from the lower groups of warriors, which were
the Sparabara and the Takabara. Besides ranking below the Immortals, not much
is known about either group. 9. Their Size of the Persian Army Compared to some of their enemies, like the
Greeks, the Persians didn’t have the best weapons. While they did have scaled armor, they used
shields made from wood and wicker, which wasn’t much help against something like the Spartans’
swords and spears. Instead of relying on the strength of their
weapons, the Persians tried to intimidate their enemies with the sheer size of their
army, which Herodotus said was 3 million strong under Xerxes. However, modern day researchers do not think
that figure is anywhere close to correct. It was actually probably more like 70,000
infantry and 9,000 horsemen, which is still a massive number of soldiers. Also travelling with the army were caravans
with concubines and servants that the Immortals were allowed to bring along with them, which
would have made the advancing army look even bigger. Based on the size of their army alone, some
cities surrendered upon seeing the Persian forces advance towards them. 8. Training The training of Persian Immortals was difficult
and it started early. From birth, boys were kept separate from their
fathers until the age of five, then they would be taken to start their warrior training. It involved a wide range of skill development,
including archery, fighting, how to live off the land, they practiced standing guard, they
trained for arduous marches (Hikes?), and finally every Persian boy in training needed
to know how to tame a wild horse. They would enter military service when they
were 15-years-old and would remain a soldier until the age of 50 when they could finally
retire, providing they lived that long. Once they entered military service, they either
became foot soldiers or cavalry, but it wasn’t a permanent placement as the most skilled
veterans were able to serve in both units. The soldiers were also trained in both archery
and hand-to-hand combat, which maximized the effectiveness of their already overwhelmingly
massive army. 7. War Practice A big problem with the Persian army was the
logistics of moving everyone and sometimes that meant the soldiers had a lot of downtime. So what did they do to pass the time? How about hunt lions, panthers, and cheetahs? What’s interesting is that the Immortals
were allowed to bring caravans with them on their travels and these caravans would be
full of food, so they didn’t hunt the big cats because they were hungry. Instead, hunting the big cats was a form of
practice that kept their battle skills sharp, and they would have used the skins to decorate
their caravans and their uniforms. The skins would be a sign of the Immortal’s
bravery and skill. Since these hunts were so dangerous, they
were usually only performed by high ranking Immortals. 6. Cavalry While the Persians weapons didn’t help them
win their wars against the Greeks and the Macedonians, one definite advantage the Immortals’
weapons had over enemy forces is that most of their weapons were versatile and could
be used on horseback. This would make their light weapons incredibly
dangerous, because on horseback, it would allow them to get more force behind their
blunt force weapons and their razor sharp spears. Another innovative way that the Persians used
their cavalry was scythed chariots. Scythed chariots were invented in the early
days of the empire and was used all the way up until their downfall in 330 B.C. The scythed chariots were tall, so only a
small part of the driver was exposed above the rim. Attached to each axle were two-foot-long iron
blades that spun and it would cut through their enemies’ legs. It wasn’t a clean cut either, the blades
churned and ground through the skin, muscle, nerves, and bones of the legs. Besides chariots and men on horseback, the
Persians used camel riders and in one battle they brought 10 war elephants with them, but
not much was written about their animal war unit. 5. The Apple Bearers The weapon predominantly used by the Immortals
was their spears. They were often six feet long with a razor
sharp bronze or iron broad leaf-style spearhead at one end and a metal counterbalance at the
other end. This counter balance was also used as a blunt
force weapon. Often these counter balances were in the shape
of fruit and they denoted rank. The most common was pomegranates. However, the 1,000 most elite of the Immortals
had an apple counterbalance and these “Apple Bearers” were the bodyguards of the Emperor. These soldiers were the best warriors chosen
from the most elite military unit in the biggest army in Ancient history. They guarded the palace and their spears were
much longer, six-to-eight feet long. If the Emperor left the palace, they completely
surrounded him, making it nearly impossible to reach the Persian Emperor, thus guaranteeing
his safety. 4. Armed to the Teeth Most of the Immortals’ weapons were fairly
lightweight, which did have its downside, but one major benefit is that it allowed them
to carry multiple weapons at once. Foot soldiers carried at least a short sword,
a spear, a quiver full of arrows, a bow, and a shield. As for the horsemen, they carried a bronze
shield, 120 arrows, an iron mace, and two iron spears. For protection, the Immortals and other soldiers
wore scaled bronze and iron armor that would glitter in the sunlight. This would increase their visibility when
advancing on cities. 3. Battle Tactics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdDdHMwhU2s Persian arrows where thin and only really
effective within a 120 yard range. But again, this is where their numbers came
in handy because they would launch wave after wave of thousands of arrows. According to one Greek soldier who survived
a battle against the Persian army, their arrows “blacked out the sky.” How the Achaemenid army was usually formed
was archers were at the front, to their sides were the cavalry, and the archers were supported
by light and heavy infantry. The first wave of attacks bombarded the enemy
with arrows and men with sling shots would fling rocks, and later pieces of lead, at
the enemy’s frontline. This would frighten the enemy and then they
were simply overwhelmed by the sheer manpower of the Persian infantry units. Due to the size of their army and military
tactics, the Achaemenid Empire became the biggest empire of its time, spanning 3.4 million
square miles. It extended from Anatolia and Egypt across
western Asia to northern India and Central Asia. In fact, it holds the record for highest percentage
of the world population under its control. Out of the 112.4 million people alive in 480
B.C., 50 million, which is 44 percent of all humans on Earth, lived under the Achaemenid
Empire. 2. The Sagaris A favorite weapon of the Immortals was the
Sagaris, which was a slender handled war ax. On the head of the ax, there was a traditional
flat ax blade, but on the other side was a sharp point that could pierce iron and bronze
armor. Since the ax was so light, it could be used
with one hand, and it was usually swung overhand. Since it could be used one-handed it was popular
for fighting in hand-to-hand combat, as well as on horseback. In fact, a Sagaris almost killed Alexander
the Great at the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC, which was the first battle between
the Persians and the Macedonians. During the battle, Spithridates, a Persian
commander, and his brother happened upon Alexander who was on horseback. A fight ensued and Spithridates hit Alexander
in the head with the ax and it cut all the way down to Alexander’s scalp. When Spithridates raised the Sagaris again
to deliver the death blow, one of Alexander’s men drove a spear through Spithridates, killing
him. Alexander would go on to conquer the entirety
of the Achaemenid Empire within four years of nearly being killed by the Persian war
ax. 1. Psychological Warfare While often referred to as barbarians by the
Greeks, the Immortals were more interested in psychological warfare than winning through
force and brutality. One of their more famous uses of this psychological
warfare happened in 525 B.C. during the Battle of Pelusium, and it is believed that it all
started over a woman. Supposedly, Emperor Cambyses II of the Achaemenid
Empire wanted to marry the daughter of Amasis, the Pharaoh of Egypt. Amasis was worried that his daughter could
become his concubine instead of his wife and he didn’t want to hand over his daughter. Instead, Amasis disguised the daughter of
the previous ruler and sent her in place of his own daughter. When Cambyses discovered the fraud, he decided
to take over Egypt. Before attacking them, Cambyses hatched a
plan based on the fact that he knew that the Egyptians worshiped cats, specifically they
had a beloved cat goddess named Bastet. Cambyses ordered his men to paint cats on
their shields and when they went into battle, they had herds of cats walk in front of them. Supposedly, some Egyptian soldiers refused
to fight and they were slaughtered. 50,000 Egyptians in all were killed in the
battle, while the Persians only lost 7,000 men. It was a decisive victory for Cambyses and
the Persians easily took over the city and Cambyses installed himself as Pharaoh.
