03-03-2004, 09:18 AM
The peltast didn't really emerge until the early 4th century BC and their creation is often attributed to the Athenian general Iphicrates (Xenophon, Hellenica 4:5(11-17), who was said to be the first to arm mercenaries with light armor, light shileds and javelins in the early 4th century. These were the soldiers who defeated the Spartans in the battle in 390BC near Corinth. Their main weapon was their speed and they won their battles by staying out of range of the slower, armored hoplites (Diodorus, 14:91). Before the 4th century the Greeks did use light infantry but they were definietly not high quality or professional. They probably consisted of poorer men, without armor, armed with slings, javelins, etc. who were used to harrass the enemy before battle, but who took no actual part in the battle themselves. They probably went out in front of the phalanx, lobbed a few missles and then went away before the armies had even started advancing. For a good description of this see Hanson, The Western Way of War. These types of soldiers, without any armor, would have been wiped out by Persian archers and therefore probably did not play any kind of major role in the Persian Wars (some scholars have argued that they were not even present at the Battle of Marathon). But this would not have been a problem for the Greek hoplites as the Persian archers which are mentioned probably would not have been able to peirce the shield/armor of a hoplite (if they had them Thermopoylae wouldn't have lasted very long at all!). The hoplites, if they maintained a resonable order in their advance would have been able to weather the storm of arrows fairly easily, even without light infantry support. <p></p><i></i>
