Hippeis, not Hippies

[Paralus]

Jim Carozza's depiction of the Sciriate is interesting as is the argument to support it. Part of the rationale is that the Sciritae always held the left of the phalanx line and therefore were likely "missile troops" so as not to rob the homoioi of their glory. This because they face the "unguarded" right of the opposing line. Yet it is at Maniniea in 418 where we first unequivocally have them denoted as such and they are routed by the "normal" (according to Thucydides) crabbing of the respective lines to their right and the gap opened by Agis' orders. If this was normal - as Thucydides and common modern acceptance suggests - the Sciritae were more often than not in no mean danger of envelopment and hardly had the leisure to outshine their betters.

There is no need to go over the detail of Thucydides' description of the line that has been well covered in another thread but, if Thucydides excludes the Sciritae then he also excludes the "Brasideans and Neodamodeis as units prior to addressing the "Lacedaemonians themselves" who are then drawn up as deep as their commanders feel necessary. Carozza suggests, by quoting Thucydides as writing "the Sciritae were not drawn up in the same depth as the rest", that the Sciritae were clearly light infantry, not to be included amongst the hoplite numbers. What Thucydides actually writes says nothing about the depth of the Sciritae:

5.68.3
The first rank of the Enomoty was composed of four soldiers: as to the depth, although they had not been all drawn up alike, but as each captain chose, they were generally ranged eight deep; the first rank along the whole line, exclusive of the Sciritae, consisted of four hundred and forty-eight men.

Carozza is right in that the Greek writers were only interested in hoplite numbers - the light armed mostly reduced to "dismissive" side notices - and thus the Sciritae, clearly named as forming the left of the Lacedaemonian phalanx line, are most likely hoplite armed here.