Units in the Persian army of Xerxes during the invasion of Greece

For his revenge in Greece, the Achaemenid king mobilised men from all over the empire. Not only did the Persians themselves fight, but also units from each of their subjects, armed and dressed in their own traditional way.

The ancient writer Herodotus provides a detailed description of what these diverse troops looked like. He writes, “Firstly, the Persians; for their equipment, they wore loose caps called tiaras on their heads, and on their bodies sleeved tunics of diverse colours, with scales of iron resembling fish scales, and breeches on their legs. For shields, they had wicker bucklers with quivers hanging beneath them. They carried short spears, longbows, arrows made of reed, and daggers hanging from the girdle by the right thigh” (Her. VII, 61).

This gear highlights the Persian emphasis on mobility and ranged combat, fitting their tactics against similarly lightly armoured opponents in the East.

Herodotus also describes the Assyrians in the army: “The Assyrians wore helmets of twisted bronze made in a unique fashion not easy to describe. They bore shields and spears, daggers in the Egyptian style, and wooden clubs studded with iron. They wore linen breastplates” (Her. VII, 63).

Other notable units included the Bactrians and Scythians, who were similarly armed with bows and spears and primarily used bows and axes. The Indians, described as wearing garments of tree wool and carrying bows and iron-tipped arrows, and the Thracians, with fox-skin caps, colourful mantles, fawn-skin shoes, javelins, little shields, and daggers, further illustrate the army’s diverse equipment (Her. VII, 65, 75).

In conclusion, the Persian army was a melting pot of various cultures and fighting styles. Almost no unit was heavily armoured, reflecting the Persian strategy of relying on the versatility and range of their troops.

The article first appeared in the Roman World. 

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