#still exists in fragments because of their terrified enemies! neat!

[falconfate]

And this is part of why the Scythians and other mounted warrior cultures freaked them out so much! They were DEVASTATING military forces, and it was also a blow to the Greek ego because the Greeks pretty solidly believed that any non-Greek was an uncivilized barbarian—the word barbarian is literally derived from an ancient Greek word for foreigner. These cultures are also probably at least some of the inspiration for mythical cultures like the Amazons, who were very un-Greek (wild warrior women) but also terrifying and supernaturally powerful.

I’ve also seen people talk about how ancient Greek horses were too small to carry warriors and could really only pull chariots in teams, but personally that doesn’t hold water for me because. just look at Mongolian ponies. Tiny little powerhouses of pure muscle and sheer determination.

One of the reasons the ancient Greeks relied on chariots for warfare is that saddles and especially stirrups had not been invented yet and sitting bareback (and bare-assed lbr) on a horse while trying to throw a spear at someone would have been exceedingly difficult.