Charrioteer

In the past, during the Bronze Age, war charriots were a common sight on the battlefields across Yeia. In the eastern continent of Karia this new weapon of war was introduced most likely by the Seris around 3000 BP. It soon was copied by many of the realms of the continent while in the neighbouring continent of Teria, war charriots were already present since centuries.

The role of the charrioteer

The main job of the charrioteer consisted in driving the carriot arround the battlefield while keeping the archer or spearmen on the charriot safe. The people in charge of driving these vehicules had to be experts in controling both the horses and the charriot. Charriots had often an inverted U shapewith the driver at the center and the archers or spearmen on both extremes of the charriot. The charrioteer was in a very vulnerable position, if it was killed then the charriot became useless. Because of that, the drivers of charriots were, in some cultures, heavily armoured with bronze plates or lamellar armour. They often carried an spear

Social background

The social background of the charrioteers was different in every bronze age state. In Unhellion, for example, charrioteers belong to the lower nobility (because the aristocracy was the only one that had horses and charriots were the vehicle that the nobility used for travelling). In the The proto-Davidovian culture and in the early stages of the Seris, Ikarian and Oronai cultures it seems that the aristocracy was the only one allowed to drive and go into battle in charriots. But things began to change in the second millenium BP when, for example in Seria we found armies with hundreds of charriots. This increasing number of war charriots meant that now, for the first time we find common people trained as charrioteers and also as infantry fighting from them, instead of the nobility. In neighbouring Ikaria a similar process took place after the 5th century BP (The ikarians were the last davidovian peoples that used war charriots, the last mention of them dates from the 1st century AP), where common legionaries where trained to drive war charriots and also take care of the horses.

Decline and dissapearance from the battlefields

The decline of the war charriots and the age of charriot warfare began after the 600s BP with the introduction of a new type of unit, more versatile, agile and deadlier that the war charriot; horse arches. They were cheaper to maintain and to train. Because of that war charriots began to dissapear from the battlefields across Yeia gradually until around the 1st century AP nobody used them anymore as weapons of war. Today the charriot and the charrioteer survived in some realms where charriots are still used in a ceremoniously way, normally to carry a monarch in procession through the city. These charrioteers are trusted members of the aristocracy and this office its a great honor for many of them.

Type

Military

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