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Maximus · 06-17-2006, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDonT

You need to re-check your history.

1.) Roman tower sheild, armor, and the testudo cannot stop a recurved bow. According to Plutarch at the battle of Carrhae: "Parthian arrows nail their hands to their sheilds." 10,000 cavalry defeated 40,000 army that included 7 Legions. Only after when Parthia was politically weak that Rome, under Trajan, made its greatest incursion east. So yes, Mongol composite recurve bow will defeat the testudo.

2.) The Mongols have more advance seige weapons, thanks to the Chinese. Afterall, how else could they have laid seige to the hundreds of Chinese, Arabian, and Russian cities.

Rome do not stand a chance against a force that is 1,000 years ahead of them in tactics and technology. Rome could not even defeat the Parthia, which uses the same horse-archer/heavy cavalry combo. What hope could they have against the Mongols which uses the same combo but weilded it with discipline, stirrups, more powerful bows, and superior generals.

Battle of Carrhae took place in 53 BC. That is almost 1500 years before Mongols existed.

There was no such thing as a gunpowder in that era(which BTW Chinese invented), so your point of Mongols having better seige capability is obvious & worthless.

Also quality of armour itself was very different in

1. 53 BC(Battle of Carrhae) - when only leather and bronze armour was used;

2. 450 AD(approx time of Western Roman Empire's decline) - when chain mail was used along with leather armour; and,

3. 1206 AD(The time of Mongol Unification) - the use of plate armour became more pronounced.

You are comparing armies from two completely different eras.

It is very obvious that a very bad army from today would be able to defeat the best army of 1500 years ago.

The point is, assume that the Roman Army from 150 A.D. having technologies from the time of Mongols. And then compare.