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"Why Was the Chariot Abandoned?" Topic


13 Posts

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337 hits since 6 Jul 2015
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Comments or corrections?

Winston Smith06 Jul 2015 2:07 a.m. PST

Cavalry did a better job, and cheaper.

Who asked this joker06 Jul 2015 4:55 a.m. PST

+1 Winston!

Gennorm06 Jul 2015 5:23 a.m. PST

Made possible by stronger horses.

Frederick Supporting Member of TMP06 Jul 2015 5:30 a.m. PST

Absolutely

The evolution of battlefield mobility is entirely tied to the evolution of the horse – the first chariot armies used horses that were too small and not hardy enough to carry mounted warriors for any length of time; as selective breeding produced bigger and healthier horses, cavalry developed as being more versatile (you need very flat ground for chariots), more useful and also cheaper

Personal logo miniMo Supporting Member of TMP06 Jul 2015 7:14 a.m. PST

Yup, cavalry only became a better option once the horses became strong enough to carry riders through a battle.

Yesthatphil06 Jul 2015 8:32 a.m. PST

Chariots pre-date cavalry and I believe pre-date the specialisation of cavalry types into what we think of a skirmishing and combat types (and 'shock' – although I think 'shock' is a fairly anachronistic concept and am not really sure their is much 'shock' before, say, Alexander at the earliest … ) …

Chariots can do all of skirmishing, intimidating, shooting, battle taxi-ing, command post-ing etc. But, with some exceptions, it does none of them as well as an accomplished rider on a well bred horse.

Accomplished riders with specialised skills on better bred horses, over time, render most chariot types obsolete.

The inept survivor was the scythed chariot which occasionally makes a recurrence every few of generations or so (no, I don't buy the continual usage nonsense) as a sort of ancient truck bomb: like truck bombs, generally useless, but a possible way to intimidate and wrong foot a superior enemy (and like most useless terror weapons, with very rare 'spectacular' successes).

So … Accomplished riders with specialised skills on better bred horses … I ticked the 'Scythians' box rather than the cavalry box because I think the steppe peoples probably had a hand in all of those changes but it is virtually impossible to put the evolutions in an order.

Phil

Maddaz11106 Jul 2015 9:52 a.m. PST

cavalry did a better job, and were more economic in terms of fighting power per man employed, but this was only possible with better stronger horses..

TheBeast Supporting Member of TMP06 Jul 2015 11:32 a.m. PST

I thought the crowning achievement was stirrups.

Doug

Buff Orpington06 Jul 2015 11:42 a.m. PST

The wheels fell off mine.

Cerdic06 Jul 2015 11:52 a.m. PST

Weren't stirrups developed a long time after chariots fell out of use, though?

Or maybe someone said "I reckon that in a few hundred years time they'll invent a thing to put your foot in while riding a horse. It'll make our chariots pointless. Let's chop 'em up for firewood right now!"…

skippy000106 Jul 2015 4:18 p.m. PST

They couldn't pass the emissions test.

Skeptic06 Jul 2015 5:54 p.m. PST

Stirrups? What, centuries later, in some reverse chronology effect?

Tom Bryant07 Jul 2015 7:40 p.m. PST

All of the above.

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