Peltasts

A ''peltast'' ( grc-gre, πελταστής ) was a type of light infantryman, originating in Thrace and Paeonia, and named after the kind of shield he carried. Thucydides mentions the Thracian peltasts, while Xenophon in the Anabasis distinguishes the Thracian and Greek peltast troops.
The peltast often served as a skirmisher in Hellenic and Hellenistic armies. In the Medieval period, the same term was used for a type of Byzantine infantryman.

Description

''Pelte'' shield

''Peltasts'' carried a crescent-shaped wicker shield called a "''pelte''" (Ancient Greek grc, πέλτη, peltē, label=none; Latin: ) as their main protection, hence their name. According to Aristotle, the ''pelte'' was rimless and covered in goat- or sheepskin. Some literary sources imply that the shield could be round, but in art it is usually shown as crescent-shaped. It also appears in Scythian art and may have been a common type in Central Europe. The shield could be carried with a central strap and a handgrip near the rim or with just a central hand-grip. It may also have had a carrying strap (or '' guige''), as Thracian ''peltasts'' slung their shields on their backs when evading the enemy.

Weapons

''Peltasts'' weapons consisted of several javelins, which may have had straps to allow more force to be applied to a throw.

Development

In the Archaic period, the Greek martial tradition had been focused almost exclusively on the heavy infantry, or hoplites.

The style of fighting used by ''peltasts'' originated in Thrace, and the first Greek ''peltasts'' were recruited from the Greek cities of the Thracian coast. They are generally depicted on vases and in other images as wearing the typical Thracian costume, which includes the distinctive Phrygian cap made of fox-skin and with ear flaps. They also usually wore patterned tunics, fawnskin boots and long cloaks, called ''zeiras'', decorated with a bright, geometric, pattern. However, many mercenary ''peltasts'' were probably recruited in Greece. Some vases have also been found showing hoplites (men wearing Corinthian helmets, greaves and cuirasses, holding hoplite spears) carrying ''peltes''. Often, the mythical Amazons (women warriors) are shown with ''peltast'' equipment.

''Peltasts'' gradually became more important in Greek warfare, in particular during the Peloponnesian War.

Xenophon, in the '' Anabasis'', describes ''peltasts'' in action against Persian cavalry at the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC, where they were serving as part of the mercenary force of Cyrus the Younger.

Tissaphernes had not fled at the first charge (by the Greek troops), but had instead charged along the river through the Greek ''peltasts''. However he did not kill a single man as he passed through. The Greeks opened their ranks (to allow the Persian cavalry through) and proceeded to deal blows (with swords) and throw javelins at them as they went through.

Xenophon's description makes it clear that these ''peltasts'' were armed with swords, as well as javelins, but not with spears. When faced with a charge from the Persian cavalry, they opened their ranks and allowed the cavalry through while striking them with swords and hurling javelins at them.Xenophon. ''Anabasis''. .10.7

''Peltasts'' became the main type of Greek mercenary infantry in the 4th century BC. Their equipment was less expensive than that of traditional hoplites and would have been more readily available to poorer members of society. The Athenian general Iphicrates destroyed a Spartan phalanx in the Battle of Lechaeum in 390 BC, using mostly ''peltasts''. In the account of Diodorus Siculus, Iphicrates is credited with re-arming his men with long spears, perhaps in around 374 BC. This reform may have produced a type of "''peltast''" armed with a small shield, a sword, and a spear instead of javelins.

Some authorities, such as J.G.P. Best, state that these later "''peltasts''" were not truly ''peltasts'' in the traditional sense, but lightly armored hoplites carrying the ''pelte'' shield in conjunction with longer spears—a combination that has been interpreted as a direct ancestor to the Macedonian phalanx.Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, XV.44 However, thrusting spears are included on some illustrations of ''peltasts'' before the time of Iphicrates and some ''peltasts'' may have carried them as well as javelins rather than as a replacement for them. As no battle accounts actually describe ''peltasts'' using thrusting spears, it may be that they were sometimes carried by individuals by choice (rather than as part of a policy or reform). The Lykian sarcophagas of Payava from about 400 BC depicts a soldier carrying a round ''pelte'', but using a thrusting spear overarm. He wears a '' pilos'' helmet with cheekpieces, but no armour. His equipment therefore resembles Iphicrates's supposed new troops. Fourth-century BC ''peltasts'' also seem to have sometimes worn both helmets and linen armour.

Alexander the Great employed ''peltasts'' drawn from the Thracian tribes to the north of Macedonia, particularly the Agrianoi. In the 3rd century BC, ''peltasts'' were gradually replaced with ''thureophoroi'' infantrymen. Later references to ''peltasts'' may not in fact refer to their style of equipment as the word ''peltast'' became a synonym for ''mercenary''.

Anatolian

A tradition of fighting with javelins, light shield and sometimes a spear existed in Anatolia and several contingents armed like this appeared in Xerxes I's army that invaded Greece in 480 BC. For example, the Paphlagonians and Phrygians wore wicker helmets and native boots reaching halfway to the knee. They carried small shields, short spears, javelins and daggers.

In the Persian army

From the mid-5th century BC onwards, ''peltast'' soldiers began to appear in Greek depictions of Persian troops. They were equipped like Greek and Thracian ''peltasts'', but were dressed in typically Persian army uniforms. They often carried light axes, known as '' sagaris'', as sidearms. It has been suggested that these troops were known in Persian as ''takabara'' and their shields as ''taka''. The Persians may have been influenced by Greek and Thracian ''peltasts''. Another alternative source of influence would have been the Anatolian hill tribes, such as the Corduene, Mysians or Pisidians. In Greek sources, these troops were either called ''peltasts'' or ''peltophoroi'' (bearers of ''pelte'').

In the Antigonid army

In the Hellenistic period, the Antigonid kings of Macedon had an elite corps of native Macedonian ''peltasts''. However, this force should not be confused with the skirmishing ''peltasts'' discussed earlier. The ''peltasts'' were probably, according to F.W. Walbank, about 3,000 in number, although by the Third Macedonian War, this went up to 5,000 (most likely to accommodate the elite ''agema'', which was a sub-unit in the ''peltast'' corps). The fact that they are always mentioned as being in their thousands suggests that, in terms of organization, the ''peltasts'' were organized into '' chiliarchies''. This elite corps was most likely of the same status, of similar equipment and role as Alexander the Great's '' hypaspists''. Within this corps of ''peltasts'' was its elite formation, the Agema. These troops were used on forced marches by Philip V of Macedon, which suggests that they were lightly equipped and mobile. However, at the battle of Pydna in 168 BC, Livy remarks on how the Macedonian ''peltasts'' defeated the Paeligni and of how this shows the dangers of going directly at the front of a phalanx. Though it may seem strange for a unit that would fight in phalanx formation to be called ''peltasts'', ''pelte'' would not be an inappropriate name for a Macedonian shield. They may have been similarly equipped with the Iphicratean hoplites or ''peltasts'', as described by Diodorus.

Deployment

''Peltasts'' were usually deployed on the flanks of the phalanx, providing a link with any cavalry, or in rough or broken ground. For example, in the ''Hellenica'', Xenophon writes 'When Dercylidas learned this (that a Persian army was nearby), he ordered his officers to form their men in line, eight ranks deep (the hoplite phalanx), as quickly as possible, and to station the ''peltasts'' on either wing along with the cavalry. They could also operate in support of other light troops, such as archers and slingers.

Tactics

When faced with hoplites, ''peltasts'' operated by throwing javelins at short range. If the hoplites charged, the ''peltasts'' would retreat. As they carried considerably lighter equipment than the hoplites, they were usually able to evade successfully, especially in difficult terrain. They would then return to the attack once the pursuit ended, if possible, taking advantage of any disorder created in the hoplites' ranks. At the Battle of Sphacteria, the Athenian forces included 800 archers and at least 800 ''peltasts''. Thucydides, in the ''History of the Peloponnesian War'', writes

They (the Spartan hoplites) themselves were held up by the weapons shot at them from both flanks by the light troops. Though they (the hoplites) drove back the light troops at any point in which they ran in and approached too closely, they (the light troops) still fought back even in retreat, since they had no heavy equipment and could easily outdistance their pursuers over ground where, since the place had been uninhabited until then, the going was rough and difficult.

When fighting other types of light troops, ''peltasts'' were able to close more aggressively in melee, as they had the advantage of possessing shields, swords, and helmets.

Medieval Byzantine

A type of infantryman called a ''peltast'' (''peltastēs'') is described in the ''Strategikon'', a 6th-century AD military treatise associated with the early Byzantine emperor Maurice. ''Peltasts'' were especially prominent in the Byzantine army of the Komnenian period in the late 11th and 12th centuries. Although the ''peltasts'' of Antiquity were light skirmish infantry armed with javelins, it is not safe to assume that the troops given this name in the Byzantine period were identical in function. Byzantine ''peltasts'' were sometimes described as "assault troops". Byzantine ''peltasts'' appear to have been relatively lightly equipped soldiers capable of great battlefield mobility, who could skirmish but who were equally capable of close combat. Their arms may have included a shorter version of the ''kontarion'' spear employed by contemporary Byzantine heavy infantry.Dawson, p. 59.

See also

*Ancient Macedonian military
*Toxotai
*Velites
*Takabara

References

Bibliography

*Best, J. G. P. (1969). ''Thracian Peltasts and their influence on Greek warfare''.
*
* Connolly, Peter (1981). ''Greece and Rome at War''. Macdonald (Black Cat, 1988).
*
*Diodorus Siculus. History.
*Head, Duncan (1982). ''Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars''. WRG.
*Head, Duncan (1992). ''The Achaemenid Persian Army''. Montvert.
*Herodotus.'' The Histories''
*"Light Infantry", special issue of ''Ancient Warfare'', 2/1 (2008)
*Sekunda, Nicholas V (1988). ''Achaemenid Military Terminology''. Arch. Mitt. aus Iran 21
*Sekunda, N (1992). ''The Persian Army 560–330 BC''. Osprey.
*Thucydides. '' The History of the Peloponnesian War''.
*Xenophon. '' Anabasis''.
*Xenophon. ''Hellenica''.

External links

Picture of a peltast

{{Ancient Greece topics

Military units and formations of ancient Greece
Military units and formations of the Hellenistic world
Ancient Greek infantry types
Infantry
Mercenary units and formations of antiquity
Infantry units and formations of Macedon
Combat occupations