Cretan archers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cretan archers were a well known class of warrior whose specialist skills were extensively utilized in both ancient and medieval warfare.[1] They were especially valued in armies, such as those of the Greek city-states, (such as Athens, Sparta, Eretria, and Macedonia) and those of ancient Rome, which could not draw upon substantial numbers of skilled archers from their native populations.
Normally Greek archers fought unarmored, yet some sources show archers wearing Linothorax or leather armor (like on the Nereid Monument), helmets, or even a cuirass. Ancient Cretan archers were said to also wear small shields, which implies, that they were capable of defending themselves in close combat. This also implies that they were probably also equipped with swords. Due to the mass of Cretan archers in use during the Hellenistic era it is possible, that at least in some cases, "Cretan" means "in the Cretan fashion", like "Tarantine" in Tarantine cavalry often denotes a type of tactics and equipment, rather than actual cavalry from Tarantas. At least some other Hellenes tried to imitate Cretan archers, as some sources talk about archers "armed in the Cretan style".[2]