Prodromoi

In ancient Greece, the prodromoi (singular: prodromos) were skirmisher light cavalry. Their name (ancient Greek: πρόδρομοι, prοdromoi, lit. "pre-cursors," "runners-before," or "runners-ahead") implies that these cavalry 'moved before the rest of the army' and were therefore intended for scouting and screening missions. They were usually equipped with javelins, and a sword. Sometimes they wore either linen or leather armour, as well as bronze helmets.

==Athenian prodromoi== The prodromoi of Athens were mounted javelineers, raised between 395 and 360BC as a replacement for the hippotoxotai, who were horse archers. The introduction of the prodromoi may have formed a part of the military reforms of Iphicrates. The Athenian prodromoi, were raised from the Thetes, the lowest of the four census classes of Athenian citizens. Their members were, therefore, considerably poorer than the citizens who made up the Hippeis, the heavy cavalry, who were drawn from the second census class. The cavalrymen of the hippeis provided their own equipment, the prodromoi, however, were equipped by their phylarchs. Xenophon exhorts the phylarchs to equip their prodromoi well and to drill them in the use of javelins. Circumstantial evidence suggests that this unit was 200-strong (the hippotoxotai are recorded as being 200-strong, the prodomoi, being their immediate successors, are assumed to have had the same strength). By the 3rd century there is evidence that the term prodromos was used in reference to the aides attached to cavalry officers.