Immortals
Sign in to saveAlso known as Persian Warriors, Persian Immortals
elite force of soldiers who fought for the Achaemenid Empire
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- elite troops
- Subclass of
- imperial guard
- Country
- Achaemenid Empire
- Image
- Bust of an Immortal royal guard (Achaemenid soldiers) from the palace of Susa, Iran.- SB 33177 - (Fragment) Louvre -Lens.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Immortals (Achaemenid soldiers)
- described by source
- Description of Greece
- different from
- immortal
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
Depiction of the "Susian guards" from the Palace of Darius in Susa. Their garments match the description of the Immortals by ancient authors.
Immortals (Greek: Ἀθάνατοι, Athánatoi), or Persian Immortals, was the name given by the Greek historian Herodotus to a 10,000-strong unit of elite heavy infantry in the Achaemenid army. They served in a dual capacity, operating as an imperial guard and contributing to the ranks of the standing army. The force mainly consisted of Persians, along with Medes and Elamites. Essential questions regarding the unit's history and organization remain unanswered due to the lack of authoritative sources.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Immortals” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.