Margiana

Margiana, about 300 BC e.

Margiana ( Avest . Mouru ; other Greek Μαργιανή , Margianḗ ; other Persian Marguš ; pehl. Marv ) is one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid empire mentioned in the Behistun inscription . It was named after the main city - Merv . Corresponds to the territory of East Turkmenistan . To the east of Margiana were the satrapies of Sogdiana and Bactria . In 521 BC e. the Frada- led Margians raised an unsuccessful rebellion against Darius Gidasp . In 53 BC e. after the Battle of Carra (Harran), the remains of the defeated Roman legions of Crassus were transported to Margiana.

A few years later, the first case of contact between the Romans and Greeks with the Chinese occurred in this area. The Chinese History of the Early Han used to a large extent the information from some of the drawings depicting the battle sent by Chen Tan to the imperial court. There is an extraordinary remark in this report that at the start of the assault near Shipga there were "more than a hundred foot soldiers, lined up on each side of the gate and built in the form of fish scales." "Building in the form of fish scales" is a maneuver, not at all easy to do. These soldiers had to group together and cover themselves with their shields. This maneuver, requiring simultaneous action by the entire group, especially if it was carried out just before the attack, required high discipline, which is possible only in a professional army. The only professional soldiers of that time, organized into regular units, of which there are data, were Greeks and Romans, and nomadic and barbarian tribes rushed into battle in disordered crowds.