The "Lance" is often mentioned as being the equipment of cavalry of various peoples. The term should be reserved for a weapon such as the heavy Kontos used by the Sarmatians and similar. In fact, there were very few "Lancers" as we understand them used by the Ancients, mainly because of the lack of stirrups, and more particularly, lack of a suitable saddle. The standard cavalry arm for a long time was a short spear plus in many cases a case of javelins and of course, sword, light axe, or other close action weapon, although the short spear was probably still the most effective weapon for close action against enemy cavalry. Phil Barker of the Birmingham Wargames Club carried out some interesting practical tests using his own horse and found the short spear handier on most counts. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 115 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com