Psiloi

In Ancient Greek warfare, Psiloi (Ancient Greek ψιλοί, singular ψιλός [Henry George Liddell & Robert Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=yi_lo/s ψιλός] .] , literally “bare, stripped”) were extremely light infantry who acted as skirmishers and missile troops.

[
hypaspists, elite heavy infantry, are mislabeled as elite heavy cavalry.]

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

By deploying "psiloi" tactically, that is, by keeping them at a distance from enemy hoplites, the Athenians were able to defeat the Spartans in the Battle of Sphacteria. ["Psiloi" used tactically, by keeping them at at distance from enemy hoplites: Thucydides, "History of the Peloponnesian War" [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=thuc.%204.32 4.32.4] –4.36.3.]

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