Steelback | 08 Dec 2008 8:37 a.m. PST |
Hi guys I am building a Successor army, and am wondering if anybody out there can tell me what happened to the Silver Shields,I have read somewhere that they followed one of his generals after his death,but I do not know which..and is it true that most of these veterans were over sixty,or is that another ancient myth
much appreciated.. Regards
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Nik Gaukroger | 08 Dec 2008 8:40 a.m. PST |
Eumenes (of Kardia) is the chap you are looking for – try seaching for him and argyraspides and you should find something useful. |
louboy06 | 08 Dec 2008 8:52 a.m. PST |
If you read Plutarchs Sertorius-Eumenes that will explain all. |
TERMINATOR | 08 Dec 2008 9:15 a.m. PST |
They were indeed that old at the end of the career. The Argyraspides or Silvershields followed Eumenes who was the most loyal of the Royalist faction in wars following the death of Alexander the Great. At the Battle of Gabiene (316 BCE) the Argyraspides betrayed Eumenes to Antigonus when he captured their baggage train. Antigonus never trusted them, so he had them posted to Arachosia where they could cause little mischief. The Seleucids had a corps 10,000 strong who used the same title. They were the standing part of the Seleucid foot, versus the main Phalanx who campaigned on a more seasonal basis. The Seleucids were the only one of the Successors states who had a unit so named. They ended up holding the eastern part of Alexander's Empire. Maybe they ended up with the last of the Argyraspides and their Standards, etcetera. This may have given them rights to the name, so to speak. |
John the OFM  | 08 Dec 2008 10:19 a.m. PST |
Mary Renault has a marvelous description of them in "Funeral Games", the last in her "Alexander" trilogy. She calls them "terrible old men". Perhaps Prachett's Silver Horde are based on them?  |
Natholeon | 08 Dec 2008 6:17 p.m. PST |
Further to the posting to Arachosia, it is my understanding that they were split into penny packets and assigned difficult missions, in the hope that they wouldn't come back. At the very least they wouldn't all be together as a potential threat. |
JJartist | 08 Dec 2008 9:16 p.m. PST |
The argyraspides were Alexander's old guard by the time he ruled at Babylon. After Alexander's death they served under Perdikkas, and were in Egypt when Ptolemy defeated him. Perdikkas was assasinated by his officers and the unit was involved in the negotiations at Triparadisus. Later they were part of Eumenes army against Antigonos Monopthamus. The drawn battle of Gabiene shifted in Antgionos' favor when the Silver shields gave up their officers and Eumenes in return for their baggage. They were then disbanded by Antigonos. All these events are described in much greater detail by Arrian and Plutarch. Arrian Events after Alexander link Plutarch Eumenes link JJ |
Steelback | 09 Dec 2008 1:02 p.m. PST |
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xenophon | 09 Feb 2012 8:31 a.m. PST |
How have others depicted the "infamous" silver shields? Did you paint silver shields with patterns on them or some other variation? |
Stuart at Great Escape Games | 09 Feb 2012 9:04 a.m. PST |
For indeed [the Argyraspides] were the oldest of Philip's and Alexander's soldiers, tried men, that had long made war their exercise, that had never been beaten or foiled; most of them seventy, none less than sixty years old. And so when they charged Antigonus's men, they cried out, "You fight against your fathers you rascals," and furiously falling on, routed the whole phalanx at once, nobody being able to stand them, and the greatest part dying by their hands.' Plutarch on the Battle of Gabiene (316 BCE) Doubtless there is artistic licence utilised here
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DeanMoto | 12 Feb 2012 3:03 p.m. PST |
I found most intriguing the passage that on Antigonus' orders they were sent in two's and three's on dangerous missions with the intent of their eventual demise. This after they'd been sent out Bactria way after their treason against Eumenes. What wonderful exploits some of them must've managed possibly the precursors to "The Man Who Would Be King." |