Th e Parthians organized their army into 1,000-man units
called dragons. Th e most important part of the army was its
cavalry. Th e Parthians were master horsemen who developed
the Parthian shot. A Parthian shot occurred when a horse-
man pretended to be fl eeing and then twisted in his saddle
to shoot backward at his enemy. Th e army combined unar-
mored horse archers with cataphracts—cavalry with heavy
armor and arms. Th e light cavalry harassed the enemy while
the cataphracts hammered enemy lines. Cataphracts were
recruited from the retainers of Parthian nobility. Sometimes
mercenaries were employed for other units.
Th e eff ectiveness of Parthian tactics and troops was
shown in the Battle of Carrhae in 53 b.c.e., in present-day Tur-
key. A Roman army invaded Parthia, led by Marcus Licinius
Crassus (115–53 b.c.e.). When he learned where the Parthian
army awaited him, he had a choice of two routes. He took the
route that crossed open land. Th e Parthians had anticipated
his taking the other route, and their main army was waiting
there for him. Mostly light cavalry was all the Parthian army
had to fi ght Crassus’s army in the open route. Th e Parthians
gamely attacked, harassing the Romans with arrows. Crassus
pulled his army into a square, open in the middle. Th e Par-
thian cavalry circled the Romans and fi red without taking
care to aim; the Roman formation was dense, and its troops
were easy targets. Aft er losing 20,000 men without ever com-
ing to grips with the enemy, the Roman army retreated.
Th e Parthian Empire eventually fell to an insider rather
than from invasion from the outside. Ardashir I (r. 224–241
c.e.) overthrew the last Arsacid king, founding the Sassa-
nian Empire (226–641 c.e.). Th e Sassanian army had infan-
try, horse cavalry, and war elephants. Th e infantry mostly
comprised spearmen who were ordered to hold their posi-
tions against attack. Th e cavalry were well armored and re-
sponsible for breaking up enemy formations. Th e elephants
carried towers containing archers. Before battle the army ar-
rayed itself into three parts. In the center, typically the largest
part, were archers and the elephants. Although horses were
armored, the elephants were not; they were protected instead
by an escort of infantry.ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
BY MICHAEL J. O’NEAL
Warfare in the modern world is typically waged between na-
tion-states. For various reasons one of these states, with its
own clearly defi ned borders, chooses to go to war with an-
other. While civil wars continue to plague some countries,
modern warfare has most oft en been between nations rather
than within nations.
Warfare in the ancient world, including Asia, oft en had a
diff erent purpose. Modern nations such as China, India, Ko-
rea, and Japan did not always exist as clearly defi ned nation-
states, with fi xed borders and a central government accepted
by the entire population. Th ese regions tended to be more in
the nature of collections of smaller kingdoms. Sometimesthese kingdoms united to form larger states. Just as oft en,
though, they fought with one another as one tried to extend
the reach of its authority and infl uence. While external en-
emies remained a threat, internal enemies oft en were the tar-
get of warfare and conquest. Th e result was a long, bloody
process of uniting regions into larger nations.CHINA
Th e dominant military power of ancient Asia was China. In
the absence of any records, little is known about war and con-
quest—or any other topic—in prehistoric China. China as a
nation began to emerge during the era called the Th ree Sover-
eigns and Five Emperors, followed by the Xia Dynasty. Most
of what is known about these eras is legendary, even mythical,
although archaeological fi nds have confi rmed that at least some
of what was written about them by later Chinese writers is prob-
ably based in fact. Th e known history of China begins with the
Shang Dynasty (sometimes referred to as the Yin Dynasty),
which ruled from about 1500 to about 1045 b.c.e. Much of the
history of the Shang and the dynasties that followed into the
Common Era is a history of internal warfare and rebellion.
Th e Shang Dynasty itself began in war, for historians be-
lieve that the dynasty’s founder was a rebel who overthrew
the earlier Xia Dynasty. Over the next several hundred years
the Shang emperors fought a series of wars to defend their
realm, which encompassed primarily northern China, from
invaders from the steppes (vast, open grasslands) of inner
Asia. At this point China as a nation was by no means fully
formed. Th e region consisted of numerous settlements and
city-states that did not coalesce into a unifi ed nation until
much later. Th us, warfare was typically a matter of confl ict
between neighboring city-states as they jockeyed for power
and tried to extend their authority over a broader region.
Th e Shang Dynasty was overthrown by the Zhou Dy-
nasty in about 1045 b.c.e. Th e Zhou were a people who had
settled to the west of the territories ruled by the Shang, and
for a long period they submitted to Shang authority. But as
the Zhou population grew, its region became more power-
ful than that controlled by the Shang, particularly since the
Shang were continually waging war with northern invaders.
Th us, the Zhou defeated the Shang and established a dynasty
that ruled 200 to 250 city-states until 256 b.c.e.
Th eir reign was not without complications, however. Bar-
barians from the north, particularly the Xiongnu, a nomadic
people who controlled a large central Asian empire, continued
to invade Chinese lands. (Th e Xiongnu are frequently referred
to in the literature as Huns, but they are not to be confused
with the Teutonic Huns of Europe.) In 771 b.c.e. they success-
fully overran the western portion of the Zhou lands, including
its capital city. Th e king was killed, and his son fl ed to the east.
Th us, the Zhou Dynasty is divided into two periods, the West-
ern Zhou (1045–771 b.c.e.) and the Eastern Zhou (770–256
b.c.e.) Th e Eastern Zhou is further divided into two periods.
Th e fi rst, called the Spring and Autumn Period, was a time
of great instability. Among the large number of Chinese city-1136 war and conquest: Asia and the Pacific0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1136 1136 10/10/07 2:31:12 PM