Cardaces

The Cardaces (or Kardakes) were a professional heavy infantry mustering of the Achaemenid Persian army. They were formed some time before the Macedonian invasion (334 BCE).

There are debates among historians about the armament and tactics utilised by the Cardaces. The Persian army had earlier become heavily dependent upon Greek mercenaries and it may have been intended that the Cardaces – as Persian subjects – would complement the mercenaries. However, another theory suggests that the Cardaces were themselves Kurdish mercenaries, rather than conventional, hoplite-style heavy infantry.

The Cardaces took part in the battles of Issus and Gaugamela, without much success.

Sources

• Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Especially pages 1036-1037.
• Jeff Jonas, Kardakes or Cardaces: AtG Designer's notes. (Contains a letter by Duncan Head).
• Duncan Head, The Achaemenid Persian Army. Montvert Publications, 1992. pp. 42-43.