Psiloi

In Ancient Greek armies, the psiloi (Ancient Greek ψιλοί, singular ψιλός, psilos, literally "bare, stripped")^[1] were the light infantry who usually acted as skirmishers and missile troops, and who were distinguished from the armored hoplitai (heavy infantry) by their light weapons and lack of armor.

In Classical Antiquity and Late Antiquity and throughout the existence of the Byzantine Empire, the lightest-armed troops, typically equipped with ranged weapons, and which fought irregularly in a loose formation, were deemed 'the psiloi'. Numbered among the psiloi were archers, the toxotai armed with a bow (toxa), and slingers, the (sphendonetai) who hurled stones or metal bullets with slings (sfendonai).^[2] Others, the akontistai, used the throwing javelin (akontia).^[3] Some psiloi simply threw stones at the enemy and were referred to as lithoboloi.^[4][5]

The psiloi were the least prestigious military class deployed by the ancient world. A member of the psiloi was normally a man or boy from the lower ranks of his society, unable to afford the shield and armor of the hoplites, let alone the horse ridden by the socially elite cavalryman, the hippeus (ἱππεύς). Another term for a member of the psiloi was gymnetes, (γυμνῆτες) literally: "naked".^[6] Light infantry might also be called euzonoi ("active", "light armored"; a name shared with modern Evzones), though these might be any troops lightly armed, such as hoplitai deployed without their shields, who would not rank as psiloi.^[7] The peltastai (bearers of light shields, targeteers) were an intermediate infantry class, better armored than the psiloi but more lightly equipped than the hoplitai - the heavy infantry armed to fight at close quarters in the phalanx.^[8]