Peltast

"Pelta" redirects here. For the suffix "-pelta", see List of commonly used taxonomic affixes. For Peltæ, see Peltae.

Agrianian peltas. This peltast holds three javelins, one in his throwing hand and two in his pelte (shield) hand as additional ammunition.

A peltast (‹See Tfd›Greek: πελταστής, peltastes) was a type of light infantry originating in Thrace and Paeonia and named after the kind of shield he carried.[1] Thucydides mentions the Thracian peltasts, while Xenophon in the Anabasis distinguishes the Thracian and Greek peltast troops.[2]

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.

  1. ^ Williams, Mary Frances. "Philopoemen's special forces: Peltasts and a new kind of greek light-armed warfare (Livy 35.27)." Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte H. 3 (2004): 257-277.
  2. ^ James A. Towle, Commentary on Plato: Protagoras James A. Towle, Ed.