Anderson takes great care
to explain the gradual transition that the Roman Empire underwent from an infantry-centric
army to a cavalry-centric one. Pressed by the urgent need to protect its weakening borders
against barbarian incursions, the Roman army valued mobility as the primary attribute. The
book does a great job of clearly distinguishing different types of Roman armoured cavalry. It
goes an extra step further as to even cover the famed Byzantine cataphracts as well.

Kunwon Saw, Freelance

This book is aimed at the general reader, rather than the more academic audience. As a result we avoid too many deeply technical discussions, and instead focus on the battlefield use of the cataphract and the development of the equipment used by them over the millennium that the type was in use.

Read the complete review here.

History of War, John Rickard

I have read somewhere that cataphracts were the “Tiger Tanks” of the ancient empires…. Heavily armored, powerful, awesome, mobile but rather slow, and very expensive. Whether cataphracts were worth the cost is an ongoing debate.

This book is a detailed account of the known history and development of cataphracts. From their origins in central Asia, to the Parthians, the Persians, the Romans and finally, the Byzantines.

Every battle in which the cataphracts were known to have been involved, is described in detail, with emphasis on the contribution of the cataphracts. The battle descriptions are excellent, and I enjoyed Erich B Anderson’s writing style. My only regret is that there are no maps.

There are extensive notes and a bibliography for those who wish to delve deeper.

I am happy to recommend this very interesting book, and to add it to my own library.

Dr John Viggers

This volume, from independent scholar Anderson, is the first comprehensive survey of heavy armored cavalry – dubbed clibanarii, cataphracti, and more – that played a particularly important role in the military history of Late Antiquity… This is a good survey of the history of heavy cavalry in the ancient world, covering arms, equipment, organization, tactics, and battles

New York Military Affairs

This is a valuable study of one of the most interesting troop types of the ancient world.

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VaeVictis, March-April 2017

I found this book a little difficult to get into at first, but as the chapters pass I began to feel really engaged. There is more evidence in the archaeological record later on and therefore more descriptive analysis of artifacts. Also, I had no idea that there is apparently theoretical evidence of the Arthurian legend originating with a transfer of a Sarmation Cataphract to the british Isles? How cool is that! Overall Cataphracts is written really well and flows nicely. It does well to introduce and spark an interest in ancient “metal-encased horseman”.

Goodreads, Michelle McMenamin