Battle Report #11 - Thymbra 547 BC.

[AUSTERLITZ]

Battle of Thymbra 547 BC.



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Western Asia mid 6th century BC.On the ashes of the assyrian empire of mesopotamia four powers dominate west asia and the middle east.In asia minor the empire of lydia,apparently small in size but the wealthiest of all due to its populous cities and trade.The wealth of king croesus of lydia is legendary.[Croesus is credited with issuing first standardized gold coins]

Egypt is a pale shadow of its former glory,but a native pharaoh still reigns there.
Mesopotamia is contested between the neo-babylonians and the median empire.
The region of Persis[or persia],till now a vassal of the medes has rebelled under its young prince cyrus.Cyrus is the grandson of the median king.He defeats the medes and secures persia's independence and eventually gains control of the median territories.However the lengthy struggle has resulted in a mutual respect between the former enemies,and they also share ethnic,linguistic and matrimonial bonds.Cyrus treats his new subjects same as the persians,appointing them to high positions and begins the process of their fusion into one entity.



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On learning of the median internal struggles,and the rise of cyrus,Croesus senses an oppurtunity to extend his domains at the cost of his erstwhile median rivals.To this end he concludes and alliance with egypt and babylon who too are wary of the rising persian threat and want the balance of power preserved.Next he also secures the support of sparta,the most powerful greek city-state.Having consulted the oracle at delphi ,he is told if he marches against the persians ,a great empire will be destroyed.Elated at this,[though the oracle was ambigious on which empire] he crosses with his vast army into persian territory.Cyrus responds and intercepts this invasion force at the halys river in anatolia.A bloody and inconclusive battle takes place at Pteria in which no side gains a definite advantage.With winter upon them,Croesus returns with his army to his capital at sardis and disbands its partially.[This being standard practice to not have to pay the large number of mercenaries].In those days War was seasonal and summer campaigns were waged.



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However Cyrus doesn't oblige croesus and to his surprise follows him across the mountains in winter.Croesus is forced to hastily recall his soldiers and mercenaries,even so he manages to gather a force roughly twice the size of that of cyrus .A victory would crush cyrus in unknown territory ,a defeat would mean disaster as the battlefield is only a few miles from croesus's capital sardis and there is nowhere left to regroup or retreat.The 2 armies collide on the battlefield of thymbra.

Next: Armies and Tactics.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

The Persian Army -



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Strength - 49,000 men, 5-6 siege towers and 500-700 scythed chariots.
Commander - Kurush or Cyrus of Persia.

The persian achaemenid army under Cyrus was mobile and reknowned for the striking power of its archers.The standard battle array was a screen of light infantry and light cavalry ahead.Then the main body of heavy spear infantry with wicker shields,with the best of these in the centre.On the flanks the elite heavy cavalry.Behind these would be the foot archers.The spear infantry fought in phalanx like formation,but their principal job was to create solid barrier behind their spears and shields, from behind which the archers could release volley after volley.



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Persian Heavy infantry.On the left is a 'sparabara'[Shield bearer]infantryman.With wooden flat rectangular shield and quilted leather armour.
On the right is an elite Persian 'Immortal'-A corps of 10,000 men founded by cyrus.The personal bodyguards of the achaemenid kings,these men were recruited exclusively from among the persians and medes.He wears a scale armour corselet and gold akinake short sword.



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Light infantry and archers from mesopotamia around this time.Both armies would have had a number of these.Croesus was aided by large numbers of mercenaries and his babylonian allies provided him with soldiers.



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Though outnumbered 2 to 1,cyrus's one advantage was in his scythed chariots which outnumbered those of croesus.These were potentially lethal machines which could disrupt an enemy formation by mowing down its ranks with the deadly blades on its wheels.



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Persian cavalry.Fought with javelins,axes and swords.Not shock cavalry in the true sense, but very good horsemen.



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Curiously Cyrus had 5-6 siege towers at Thymbra in perhaps one of the earliest uses of field fortifications.Above is a recreation of achemaenid wheeled siege tower.The protection and elevation it offered to archers made it a powerful platform.

The Lydian Army:

Strength-105,000 men and 300 chariots.
Commander-Croesus of Lydia.



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Croesus was the richest man in asia and his army contained various national contingents and mercenaries.Babylon and egypt had also sent considerable numbers of troops to aid him.But the cream of his forces were the famed lydian heavy cavalry.In the picture above u can see some of the troops of this time period.Middle eastern swordsmen and a nubian bowman.



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An egyptian mercenary spearman.These fought in the phlanx formation with interlocking shields and were croesus's most reliable heavy infantry.[This picture is of a little earlier date,and by this time the shields would have been rounder and perhaps made of metal]



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Lydian lancers.Considered the finest heavy cavalry in the world at that time.These formed the cream of croesus's force.

Unfortunately no data survives on lydian tactics.

Next: The battle of thymbra.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Battle of Thymbra



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Both armies deploy.Lydians in blue,Persians in Red.On the flanks of both armies is the cavalry.[rectangle with diagonal slash],in front chariots[Circle with cross].In the centre Croesus deploys his packed egyptian phalanx.The broad triangles denote the siege towers.The smiley represents the persian's secret weapon-an improvised camel corps.A persian officer noted that the lydian horses can't stand the secnt of the camels and with cyrus's permission a newly organized camel corps is established with animals from the baggage train.
The lydian army advances,with the cavalry on its flanks advancing faster than the slow moving phalanx in the centre.Cyrus observes that the lydian army stretches far beyond his and is likely to outflank him.He therefore orders his centre to move forward and the flanks remaining behind and gradually adopts a refused flank formation.



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1.Initially croesus calls a halt of his wings for his infantry in the flanks to catch up,but as the persians adopt a box like formation a gap develops between the again advancing lydian wings and the centre.
2.The lydian cavalry sees a oppurtunity to get into the rear of the persian box and begins to wheel inwards.In their haste and due to the large dust clouds risen by the horses hooves they do not detect cyrus's held back wings.
3.The initial lydian infantry and cavalry attack proceeds but is bogged down by constant archery fire from the towers and the persian archers inside the box.
4.Both the persian cavalry wings and chariots now charge under cyrus on the right and hystaspas on the left.They take the lydian cavalry by surprise in the flank.
5.Seeing the wings charge,persian commander in the centre-Abradatas,charges with his scythed chariots his opposing lydian chariots.The lydian chariots taken aback by the impetous charge are unable to build up momentum timely and routed.Some flee and others are driven back into their own infantry where they cause chaos and disorder.
6.Abradatas presses on the attack into the ranks of the egyptian phalanx.He initially causes heavy losses with the wheel blades mowing men down ,but eventually the long line of spears bring the chariots down and abradatas is killed with his men.However ,crucially this attack has kept the egyptians away from the main fight for a considerable time.



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1.The lydian horses are unable to withstand the unfamiliar scent of the camels and are thrown into total confusion.On top of this they are taken by surprise in the flanks.The horsemen dismount to fight but find their long lances ineffective and are mowed down by chariots or cut down by the persian cavalry.The survivors flee the battlefield.
2.With the lydian cavalry routed,the persian cavalry and chariots wheel inwards and strike the lydian infantry on the wings from the flanks and rear.



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3.Meanwhile the egyptian phalanx has resumed its steady advance and engages the centre of the persian line.
4 and 5.The egyptians with their spacious oval metal shields push back the persians with their flat rectangular shields[something that would be repeated in the graeco-persian wars] and it looks however that a rourt of the persian centre is likely.However the persians make a stand at the siege towers which block their retreat.Here the egyptians are brought to a temporary halt by devastating volleys of arrows from the siege towers.
6.The lydian flanks are crushed from all sides.
7.The survivors of the lydian wings flee in total disarray.Seeing the rout of his wings,croesus leaves the battlefield.



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1.The survivors of the lydian army are pursued by a part of the persian cavalry.
2.Cyrus now surrounds the egyptians from all sides and rains missiles on them.However they continue to resist.Impressed by their tenacity cyrus offers them to join his service.They accept his offer on the condition that they wouldn't have to fight croesus and surrender.

Aftermath: -

Persian losses had been light,yet cyrus had won an exemplary victory.With the destruction of the lydian field army,cyrus proceeded to besiege sardis where croesus was penned up with the remnants of his army.Sardis fell shortly afterwards.Lydia was annexed to the persian empire.The fate of croesus is unknown.

Thymbra marks as one of the most decisive battles in history.It began the process of the rise of the achaemenid empire.With the fall of lydia cyrus next turned his attention to babylon which he conquered.His son cambyses later conquered egypt.By uniting the 4 major empires under one authority,persia emerged as history's first superpower.The legacy left by cyrus was an immense one,the achaemenid empire was fundamentally different from the earlier ones of the region.Unlike the assyrians who based their empire on terror,cyrus based his on toleration and federalism.This legacy would be followed as a model by all later empires of the region like the seleucids,the parthians and the sassanids.Cyrus also gave shape to the iranian national identity that has persisted ever since.


BATTLE ANALYSIS :

1]Do the unexpected-The lydians were caught unprepared for cyrus's unconventional formation refusing his flanks.They attempted to fight a traditional linear battle and as a result overextended their flanks.

2]Ingenuity -The persians showed excellent application of mind in use of the camels.That they understood the lydian cavalry as the main threat shows their knowledge of their adversaries.

3]Surprise- Cyrus achieved tactical surprise against the flanks of the lydian cavalry leading to their rout.His dispositions in this regard were briliant.He had already caught croesus by surprise once by his march in winter.

4]Use of field fortifications - The use of siege towers in a field battle[probably the first time in history] was a total success,albeit another unconventional one.


Ok,this was a quickie.I'll follow up soon with a very big one.The first of the napoleonic era battle reports.

 

[jeniferjane]

ok

this is really an interesting post

forum

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

ok

this is really an interesting post

forum

This is the old defunct thread with no pics,the newer version is in the sticky threads above.
https://defence.pk/threads/battle-report-11-thymbra-547bc-rise-of-persia-re-post.413447/