Persian Immortals
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The Persian Immortals were an elite force of Persian soldiers who performed the dual roles of both Imperial Guard and standing army during the Achaemenid Empire's expansion and during the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus describes the Immortals as being heavy infantry led by Hydarnes that were kept constantly at a strength of exactly 10,000 men (also written as the "Ten Thousand Immortals") — every killed, seriously wounded or sick member was immediately replaced with a new one, maintaining the cohesion of the unit. [1] The regiment accepted only Median, Elamite or Persian applicants.
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[edit] The Immortals in history
The Immortals played an important role in Cyrus the Great's conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 547 BC, Cambyses' campaign against Egypt in 525 BC and Darius the Great's invasion of India and Scythia in 520 BC and 513 BC. Immortals participated in the Battle of Marathon 490 BC and the Battle of Thermopylae 480 BC[2] and were in the Persian occupation troops in Greece in 479 BC under Mardonius.
Herodotus describes their armament as follows: wicker shield, short spears, swords or large daggers, bow and arrow. Underneath their robes they wore scale mail coats, which, however, proved not as effective against the Greek weapons as the Greek linen or bronze cuirasses. The spear counterbalances of the common soldiery was silver; to differentiate commanding ranks, the officers' spear buttspikes were golden. [3]
A common piece of garment was a tiara. Its actual form is the discussion point of many digressing sources, especially in regard to the word's most common usage; many sources describe it as a cloth or felt cap which (according to some descriptions) can be pulled over the face to keep out wind and dust in the arid Oriental plains.[4]
[edit] Successors
The title of "Immortals" was first revived under the Sassanid army. The most famous of the Savaran units were the Zhayedan (Immortals) and numbered 10,000 men, like the Achaemenid predecessors, with the difference that they were cavalry. Their task was mainly to secure any breakthroughs and to enter battles at crucial stages.
The title of "Immortals" was again revived under the Byzantine Empire, under the Emperor Michael VII (1071–1081). His general Nikephoros reorganised the central field army ("Tagmata") of the Eastern Empire following the disastrous defeat of Manzikert by the Turks in 1071. The remnants of the provincial troops of the Eastern Themes (military provinces) were brought together in a new Imperial Guard regiment named after the Persian Immortals and reportedly also numbering about 10,000 men. These were however cavalry, like the remainder of the Byzantine field army.
Many centuries later during the Napoleonic Wars/Wars of the Coalitions, French soldiers referred to Napoleon's Imperial Guard as "the Immortals."[5]
The modern Iranian Army under the last Shah included an all volunteer Javidan Guard, also known as the "Immortals" after the ancient Persian royal guard. The "Immortals" were based in the Lavizan Barracks in Tehran. By 1978 this elite force comprised a brigade of 4,000–5,000 men, including a battalion of Chieftain tanks. Following the overthrow of the Imperial regime in 1979 the "Immortals" were disbanded.
[edit] The Immortals in popular culture
- Frank Miller's comic book 300, turned into a motion picture in 2007, presents a heavily fictionalized version of the Immortals at the Battle of Thermopylae. The Immortals depicted in the comic book wear all black clothing with stylized silver Kabuki masks and segmented plate cuirasses, and they wield silver shields and katanas.
- The 1962 film The 300 Spartans includes a far less fanciful depiction of the Immortals than the later film 300. They carry a spear and wicker shields, like the actual Immortals; however they are mostly dressed in black and other dark colors.
- In the History Channel documentary Last Stand of the 300 the tiara the Immortals habitually wear is depicted here as a full-face black cloth mask transparent enough to see through.
- In the computer game Civilization III, Immortals are an infantry unit uniquely available to the Persian player. However, in its sequel, Civilization IV, they are depicted as a mounted unit.
- The Drenai series, written by David Gemmell, features a military unit named the Immortals. Similar to the Persian Immortals, its number is maintained at a constant 10,000 soldiers.
- In his novel Executive Orders, Tom Clancy uses the name for the army of the United Islamic Republic (made up of Iran and Iraq).
- In Warhammer 40,000, Immortals are Necrons elite soldiers
- In the film 300, the Persian Immortals are depicted as demonic, sinister looking beings with supernatural/above average abilities in war.
[edit] References
- ^ 'Immortals' by Jona Lendering. Livius: Articles on ancient History. Retrieved 24 March.
- ^ Thermopylae (480 BCE) by Jona Lendering. Copyright 2005. Latest revision: 11 March 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ [1]. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- ^ [2]. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- ^ Georges Blond, La Grande Armée, trans. Marshall May (New York: Arms and Armor, 1997), 48, 103, 470
- "The Last Stand of the 300." History Channel
