The thyreophoroi or thureophoroi (Greek: θυρεοφόροι; sg.: thureophoros/thyreophoros, θυρεοφόρος)[1] were a type of infantry soldier, common in the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, who carried a large oval shield called a thyreos which had a type of metal strip boss and a central spine. They were armed with a long thrusting spear, javelins and a sword. They also usually wore an iron or bronze Macedonian helmet.
The thureos was probably originally an adapted form of a Celtic shield. Thracian and Illyrian infantry probably adopted the shield before the Greeks. However, it has been suggested that the thureos was brought to Greece after Pyrrhus of Epirus' campaigns in Italy, as his Oscan allies and Roman enemies used the scutum.
- ^ Also thyreaphoros: θυρεαφόρος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project