The Argyraspides ( mkd, Аргираспиди, translation=Silver Shields) were elite

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. Th ...

ian soldiers who carried silver-plated shields, hence their name. The original unit were

hypaspists A hypaspist ( el, Ὑπασπιστής "shield bearer" or "shield covered") is a squire, man at arms, or "shield carrier". In Homer, Deiphobos advances "" () or under cover of his shield. By the time of Herodotus (426 BC), the word had come ...

serving in the army

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. During the

Wars of the Diadochi The Wars of the Diadochi ( grc, Πόλεμοι τῶν Διαδόχων, '), or Wars of Alexander's Successors, were a series of conflicts that were fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule h ...

, they initially served

Eumenes Eumenes (; grc-gre, Εὐμένης; c. 362316 BC) was a Greek general and satrap. He participated in the Wars of Alexander the Great, serving as both Alexander's personal secretary and as a battlefield commander. He later was a participant in t ...

, but betrayed him to Antigonus I Monophthalmus at the Battle of Gabiene in 316. After their dispersal under Antigonus, later units of the Seleucid Empire and

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

would be modeled after them.

Alexander the Great

They were a division of the

ian army of

. They were picked men commanded by Nicanor, the son of

Parmenion Parmenion (also Parmenio; grc-gre, Παρμενίων; c. 400 – 330 BC), son of Philotas, was a Macedonian general in the service of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. A nobleman, Parmenion rose to become Philip's chief milita ...

, and were held in high honor by Alexander. They were

, having changed their name to the Argyraspides whilst in India under Alexander.

Wars of the Diadochi

After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, they followed

. They were veterans, and although most of them were over sixty, they were feared and revered due to their battle skills and experience. At the Battle of Gabiene in 316 BC, they settled with Antigonus I Monophthalmus after he managed to take possession of their baggage train (consisting of their families and the result of forty years of plunder). One of their commanders, Teutamus, negotiated with Antigonus to obtain the return of their possessions, but in exchange delivered their general Eumenes to him. Antigonus soon broke up the corps, finding it too turbulent to manage, also executing their other commander, Antigenes. Over the course of the

, Antigonus had developed a severe hatred of the veteran unit due to almost dying in a mutiny caused by them, and also being crushed in battle by them multiple times. He sent them to

Sibyrtius Sibyrtius ( grc, Σιβύρτιος ''Sivyrtios''; lived 4th century BC) was a Greek officer from Crete in the service of Alexander the Great, who was the satrap of Arachosia and Gedrosia shortly after the death of Alexander until about 303 BC. ...

, the Macedonian satrap of

Arachosia Arachosia () is the Hellenized name of an ancient satrapy situated in the eastern parts of the Achaemenid empire. It was centred around the valley of the Arghandab River in modern-day southern Afghanistan, and extended as far east as the ...

, with the order to dispatch them by small groups of two or three to dangerous missions so that their numbers would rapidly dwindle. However, others may have been retired to live in Macedonian settlements in Asia.

Polyaenus Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...

write that Antigonus liberally rewarded the Argyraspides who brought him Eumenes as prisoner. But, in order to protect himself from future acts against him, he ordered a thousand of the Argyraspides to serve under Sibyrtius, while he isolated others by having them remain in garrisons in remote, uncultivated countries, eventually managing to get rid of them all this way.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

wrote that after Antigonus killed Eumenes, he sent the Argyraspides to Sibyrtius and ordered him to destroy them in every possible way.

Seleucid Empire

The

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

kings of Syria employed an infantry phalangite corps of the same name. At the

Battle of Raphia The Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king and pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire durin ...

in 217 BC, the 10,000 men-strong Argyraspides took up positions opposite the Ptolemaic phalanx. They were men chosen from the whole kingdom and armed in the Macedonian manner. Their position beside the king at the

Battle of Magnesia The Battle of Magnesia took place in either December 190 or January 189 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting forces of the Roman Republic led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and the allied Kingdom of Pe ...

in 190 BC suggests that they were the premier infantry guard unit in the Seleucid army. At the Daphne parade held by

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his dea ...

in 166 BC, the Argyraspides were 5,000 strong. However the corps of men described by Polybius as being armed and dressed in the "Roman fashion" numbered 5,000,Polyb. 30.25.3 and Bar-Kochva suggests that these men, who are described as being in the prime of life, might have also been a division of the Argyraspides, putting the number of the corps back up to 10,000 strong.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

mentions a cavalry corps called ''argyraspides'' as a royal cohort in the army of

Antiochus III the Great Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the res ...

at Magnesia.

Rome

The Roman Emperor

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

, among other ways in which he imitated Alexander the Great, had in his army men who were called ''argyraspides'' and ''chrysaspides'' (i.e. "golden shields").

Alexander the Great

Wars of the Diadochi

Seleucid Empire

Rome

Notes

References

Further reading