Immortals (Greek:ἈθάνατοιAthánatoi), orPersian Immortals, was the name given by the Greek historianHerodotus to a 10,000-strong unit ofelite heavy infantry in theAchaemenid army. They served in a dual capacity, operating as animperial guard and contributing to the ranks of thestanding army. The force mainly consisted ofPersians, along withMedes andElamites. Essential questions regarding the unit's history and organization remain unanswered due to the lack of authoritative sources.[2]
Herodotus describes the Immortals asheavy infantry led by the Persian military commanderHydarnes the Younger; they provided the professional corps of the Achaemenid army and numbered exactly 10,000 men. He stated that the unit's name stemmed from the fact that every dead, seriously wounded, or sick Immortal was immediately replaced with a new one, maintaining the corps as a cohesive entity with a constant strength.[3]
Xenophon (Cyropaedia 6.4.1; 7.1.2) describes the guard ofCyrus the Great as having bronze breastplates and helmets, while their horses worechamfrons and peitrels of bronze together with shoulder pieces that also protected the rider's thighs. Herodotus instead describes their armament as follows: wicker shields covered in leather, short spears, quivers, swords or large daggers,slings, and bows and arrows. They wore coats ofscale armour. The spear counterbalances of the common soldiery were of silver; to differentiate commanding ranks, the officers' spear butt-spikes were of gold.[3] The regiment was followed by a caravan of covered carriages, camels, and mules that transported their supplies, along withconcubines and attendants to serve them; this supply train carried special food that was reserved only for their consumption.[4][5]
The headdress worn by the Immortals is believed to have been a conical or rounded metal on top and scale or chains on the sides, resembling a ridge helmet orPhrygian cap; surviving Achaemenid coloured glazed bricks and carved reliefs represent the Immortals as wearing elaborate robes, hoop earrings, and gold jewellery, although these garments and accessories were most likely worn only for ceremonial occasions.[6]
The Persian denomination of the unit is uncertain.[7] This elite force is only referred to as the "Immortals" in sources based on Herodotus. There is evidence from Persian sources of the existence of a permanent corps, which provided a backbone for the tribal levies (raised bysatraps) who, together with increasing numbers of mercenaries, made up the bulk of the Achaemenid army.[8] However these do not record the name of "Immortals"; it is suggested that Herodotus' informant confused the wordanûšiya- (lit. 'companion') withanauša- (lit. 'immortal'),[3] but this theory has been criticized by German linguistRüdiger Schmitt.[2]
The Immortals played an important role in theAchaemenid conquest of Egypt underCambyses II in 525 BCE, as well as in theAchaemenid conquest of Indus Valley (western Punjab andSindh, now located inPakistan) andEuropean Scythia underDarius I inc. 518 BCE and 513 BCE, respectively. They also notably participated in theBattle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE during theGreco-Persian Wars and were amongst the Persian troops who occupiedGreece in 479 BCE underMardonius.[3]
During the final decades of theAchaemenid Empire, the role expected of the Immortals'hazarapatish (lit. 'one thousand overseer') was extended to include that of chief minister to theKing of Kings.[9] The provision of a bodyguard, in direct attendance of the monarch, had already been allocated to a select thousand-strong detachment of the unit.[9]
The first recurrence of the word "Immortals" is inRoman historians' description ofan elite cavalry unit in thearmy of theSasanian Empire. Primary sources suggest that they numbered around 10,000 men in accordance with tradition, with the main formational difference being that they wereheavy cavalry. However, recent scholarship has doubted the Roman description of the force, including their name, their size, and that they were modeled on the Achaemenid Immortals, although there may have been one or more of such distinct elite cavalry units during the Sasanian period. Their task was mainly to secure any breakthroughs and to enter battles at crucial stages.[7]
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The designation "Immortal" to describe a military unit was used twice during the era of theByzantine Empire: first as elite heavy cavalry underJohn I Tzimiskes (r. 969–976) and then later underNikephoritzes, the chief minister of Byzantine emperorMichael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1081), as the core of a new central field army following the disastrousByzantine defeat at Manzikert to theSeljuk Turks in 1071.
During the 19th-centuryNapoleonic Wars, many French soldiers referred toNapoleon's Imperial Guard as "the Immortals".[10]
UnderMohammad Reza Pahlavi, the lastShah of Iran, theImperial Iranian Army included an all-volunteer known as theJavidan Guard (Persian:گارد جاویدان,romanized: Gârd-e Jâvidân,lit. 'Immortal Guard'), named after the ancient Persian royal guard. The Javidan Guard was based at theLavizan Barracks inTehran. By 1978, this elite force comprised abrigade of 4,000–5,000 men, including a battalion ofChieftain tanks. Following the1979 Islamic revolution that ended theImperial State of Iran and thePahlavi dynasty, the "Immortal Guard" was disbanded.[11]
The signature shield of theAchaemenid Empire's Immortals has been adopted in the insignia of the65th Airborne Special Forces Brigade and the55th Airborne Brigade of theIslamic Republic of Iran Army.
Herodotus' account of two warrior elites—thehoplites ofSparta and the Immortals ofPersia—facing each other in battle has inspired a set of fanciful depictions of the battle, especially with regard to the Immortals:
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