The 10,000 Persian Immortals, a Model for the Special Indoeuropean Troops

The history of humanity got from the Persians the first imperial organization, the first process of integration of the conquered ones, the first postal service, the most effective means of communication at the dawn of Antiquity, and also the best organized militarized services.

The most special of the Indo-European Antiquity troops was the Royal Guard, founded by Darius I, one of the great kings of humanity, a political titan, and equally an extraordinary general through his institutional creations of force. The Royal Guard of Darius I, known in history as the 10,000 immortals, is the subject of our study, as it is one of the most complex special militarized structures in human history of all time, inspiring the military structures of all the Indo-Europeans, whether the Hoplite revolution, the organization of the Macedonian phalanx or the Roman Praetorian Guard and more than that.

The 10,000 immortals combined not only the heroic character (while multiplying it), which appeared for the first time with the Greeks of the Homeric period, but also strict discipline, in the Spartan sense, contemporary with this troop, the organization and the well-developed logistics, which would inspire the Roman army, the military brotherhoods characteristic of all the Indo-Europeans, but this totally special troop, in particular, imposed the model of the educated (even intellectual) military man, a soldier of the supreme god of the Good, faithful first of all to the Good and to his king, a military man who used all the weapons of the time.

This special troop was a true institution that also provided information to the Persian king, information being one of the most effective weapons. Moreover, the Persians through this Royal Guard used for the first time psychological impact as a weapon, this being the first case of effective manipulation by the number that was kept constant, but also by name. Only the gods were immortal, and the very large number of soldiers who made up this special troop is impressive even today. The armament of this extraordinary troop comprised all the weapons of the time, the bow above all, which the Aryans considered the favourite weapon of Indra, the most warlike god of the Indo-European gods.