Psiloi

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Psiloi

In Ancient Greek warfare

Ancient Greek warfare

This article aims to give an overview of warfare in the Ancient Greece Archaic period in Greece and Classical Greece periods ; dealing with the history, the changing nature of warfare and the developments in tactics and strategy during these periods....
, Psiloi (Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
?????, singular ?????, literally “bare, stripped”) were extremely light infantry who acted as skirmishers and missile troops.

Psiloi were irregular conscripts -- perhaps sometimes even slaves -- and were generally too poor to afford even basic defensive equipment.

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In Ancient Greek warfare

Ancient Greek warfare

Ancient Greek

Psiloi were irregular conscripts -- perhaps sometimes even slaves -- and were generally too poor to afford even basic defensive equipment. Unlike peltast

Peltast

A peltast was a type of light infantry in Ancient Greece who often served as skirmishers....
s, who were capable of engaging enemy infantry directly when their skirmishing weapons were depleted, psiloi carried no mêlée accoutrements, and had to rely on superior mobility to avoid incoming infantry. They had no shields, and only the most rudimentary armor, relying more on the ability to run behind heavier troops to stay alive. While peltasts were generally well-trained (e.g. the Agrianians were allowed the honor of deploying at the right flank of Alexander's battle line), psiloi were not, and occupied a different and distinct position on the battlefield. Psiloi occupied the lowest position in the Greek and Macedonian military hierarchies, and are generally equivalent in every way to the velites

Velites

Velites were a class of infantry in the Polybian legions of the early Roman republic. Velites were light infantry and skirmishers who were armed with a number of light javelins, or hastae velitares, to fling at the enemy, and also carried short thrusting swords, or gladius for use in melee....
of the Roman army of a somewhat later time.

Note that a soldier is not a psilos merely by virtue of being a skirmisher or an archer. It is more a statement of social standing combined with skirmishing ability than just one or the other. As already mentioned, peltastes were not psiloi, and neither were toxotai

Toxotai

Toxotai were Greeks archers armed with a short Greek bow and a short sword. They carried a little pelte shield. Cretan Greek archers used nearly the same type of equipment except that they used a long bow....
.

By deploying psiloi tactically, that is, by keeping them at a distance from enemy hoplites, the Athenians were able to defeat the Sparta

Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
ns in the Battle of Sphacteria

Battle of Sphacteria

The Battle of Sphacteria was a land battle of the Peloponnesian War, fought in 425 BC between Athens and Sparta. It resulted from the failure of peace negotiations after the earlier Battle of Pylos....
.