Late Roman Cataphracts

We use the term Cataphract to describe a heavily armoured cavalrymen, covered from head to foot in armour of mail, scales and plates, sitting on a fully armoured horse.

Scale armour was often of metal scales such as iron or bronze but could also be made of horn, bone or hardened leather which could be in various colours such as red and green.

The horses often had an elaborate head piece to protect its face and a mesh to defend the eyes. These could be of various metals or leather.

The first regiments of Cataphractarii were introduced by the Emperor Trajan in the early 2^nd Century.

We see a marked increase in Regiments of Cataphratarii in the Roman army from the reign of the Emperor Constantius II during the early to middle 4^th Century as they came more and more into conflict with the Sassanid Persian empire who employed large numbers of Cataphracts and Clibanarii.

Cataphracts would go into combat at the trot rather than the charge, as they were so heavy, charging would tire the horse out quickly. This also helped keep the advancing line steady for maximum impact of the long Kontos (lance) They would joust and fence with the long Kontos and revert to sword or axe when the Kontos broke. The are records of kontos blades decapitating heads with a thrust or a swipe!

Infantry feared the Cataphract charge and had to form dense defensive blocks to prevent them breaking through.

These fabulous figures can be made with either Kontos upright or Kontos levelled and have numerous head variants. The horses are in trotting poses and covered in wonderfully crisp scale armour with various head options. The whole effect will give you a varied and dynamic regiment of Cataphracts to strike fear into the opponents.

What you get in the set

• 16 x Riders and horses

• 8 x Different horse head options. Separate tails to add a little more movement to the models.

• 13 x head options for the riders.

• 16 x axes to hang from the right of the saddle and 16 x swords in scabbards.

• Draco standard bearer arm option.

• The rider bodies are depicted in various armour styles including mail, lamellar and scales. The arms and legs are covered in flexible, tubular metal rings.

• Each rider has two arm pose options. Either upright Kontos or Kontos at the level.