peltast
Sign in to savethumb|Agrianes|Agrianian peltas. This peltast holds three javelins, one in his throwing hand and two in his pelte (shield) hand as additional ammunition. A peltast (, ) was a type of light infantry originating in Thrace and Paeonia and named after the kind of shield they carried. Thucydides mentions the Thracian peltasts, while Xenophon in the Anabasis distinguishes the Thracian and Greek peltast troops.
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Description
- ''Pelte'' shield
- Weapons
- Development
- Anatolian
- In the Persian army
- In the Antigonid army
- Deployment and role
- Tactics
- Medieval Byzantine
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
thumb|Agrianes|Agrianian peltas. This peltast holds three javelins, one in his throwing hand and two in his pelte (shield) hand as additional ammunition. A peltast (, ) was a type of light infantry originating in Thrace and Paeonia and named after the kind of shield they 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 Hellenistic armies. In the Middle Ages, the same term was used for a type of Byzantine infantryman.