Parthian shot

The Persian king Hormizd II hunts a lion by a Parthian shot.

Relief from the "Hephthalite bowl", depicting a Parthian shot

The Parthian shot is a light cavalry hit-and-run tactic made famous by the Parthians, an ancient Iranian people. While performing a real or feigned retreat at full gallop, the horse archers would turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy. The maneuver required superb equestrian skills, since the rider's hands were occupied by his composite bow and his body was twisted around. As the stirrup had not been invented at the time of the Parthians, the rider relied solely on squeezing pressure from his legs to stay mounted and guide his horse.

History

Pursuit of Cuman horsemen (right) by the Hungarian King Ladislaus I (left), church of Kraskovo, Slovakia, 14th century

In addition to the Parthians and their successors, the Sasanians, this tactic was used by most nomads of the Eurasian Steppe, including the Scythians, Xiongnu, Huns, Turks, Magyars, Koreans, Mongols, as well as the Urartians and the Comanche.

The Parthians used the tactic to great effect in their victory over the Roman general Crassus in the Battle of Carrhae.

A tactic similar to the Parthian shot was attributed to the Phoenicians from Sidon by Silius Italicus.

The tactic was also used by Muslim conqueror Muhammad of Ghor in the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 against Indian elephants, heavy cavalry and heavy infantry, by Alp Arslan in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 against the Byzantines, and by Subutai in the Battle of Legnica in 1241 against Polish knights.

As metaphor

The term "Parthian shot" is also used as a metaphor to describe a barbed insult, delivered as the speaker departs.

With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.

— Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1886)

His Parthian shot reached them as they closed the doors. 'Never mind darlings', they heard him say, 'we can all sleep soundly now Turner's here.'

— John le Carré, A Small Town in Germany (1968)

You wound, like Parthians, while you fly,
And kill with a retreating eye.

— Samuel Butler, An Heroical Epistle of Hudibras to His Lady (1678)

That last Parthian shot went home.

— Agatha Christie, The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)

Leaving this Parthian shaft to rankle in Anne’s stormy bosom, Marilla descended to the kitchen, grievously troubled in mind and vexed in soul.

— L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (1908)

Gallery

• 
  Korean(Goguryeo) Horse Back Archery in 5th-century.

See also

• Feint
• Pyrrhic victory
• Caracole, a similar cavalry maneuver
• Cantabrian circle
• L'esprit de l'escalier, also called staircase wit

Further reading

• Overtoom, Nikolaus (2020). Reign of Arrows: The Rise of the Parthian Empire in the Hellenistic Middle East. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197680223.
• Colburn, Henry P. (2021). "A Parthian Shot of Potential Arsacid Date" (PDF). Dabir. 8 (8). University of California, Irvine: Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture: 35–40. doi:10.1163/29497833-00801004.