The Persian Immortals: the precision killers in a massive war machine who forged the largest empire the middle east has ever seen. They were the heavy infantry for the Persian army, their name stemmed from the fact that if one of the Immortals was to fall in battle, he would be instantly replaced by another warrior. The name was coined by Herodotus, the Greek Historian. It was always at its full complement of 10,000 soldiers. While the Persian army was a multi-ethnic force, the Immortals were all from the empire's Persian provinces, people of Iranian origin.
"The Persian Immortals were the special forces of the ancient world. They were trained from the age of five to do nothing but kill and destroy other soldiers."
- Ardeshir Radpour, Persian historian/equestrian
These were the elite troops of the Persian Empire. They had several different functions besides taking on Spartans. One was to act as heavy infantry while on duty with the standing army and the other was to act as part of the Imperial Guard. Because the unit was expected to act as infantry in the standing army they were outfitted as such. The Immortals carried shields and weapons such as spears, swords, bows and arrows and daggers. These allowed them to be very versatile in combat. Unlike other troops, the Immortals were allowed to bring women and servants with them. These non-combatants travelled in covered wagons and were dressed very elaborately. The Immortals even received special food that was not given to the remainder of the army.
In addition to the battle of Thermopylae, the Immortals also participated in other battles. In 547, they participated in the conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire by Cyrus the great and took part in the Egyptian campaign mounted by Cambyses in 525 BCE. In 520 BCE and 513 BCE, the Immortals also took part in fighting in Scythia under Darius the Great.
“As we marched towards the fields of battle, there was an excitement in the air of our hazarabam, the haivarabam today had with it a company of Immortals. The last time this had happened our success was high, our losses were low and the fear the Immortals pushed into teh hearts of our enemy was worth two haivarabam. Even when closing to the battlefield our spirits were not dampened, the Immortals were not only our best fighers, but our best phychological weapon too” - a Persian General.
Although the Persians were nomadic originally, they settled on a plateau in southwest Iran which includes the present day Sistan & Balochistan and Balochistan (Pakistan) regions. From there, they expanded outward until finally, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great, the empire stretched from the Indus Valley (present day Sindh in Pakistan - the eastern boundary of the empire) to the north eastern border of Greece.
The TIME magazine has chosen The Immortals as one of the Top10 Special Forces of all time!
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