Peltast Anatolia and several contingents armed like this appeared in Xerxes I's army that invaded Greece in 480 BCE. For example, the Paphlagonians and Phrygians wore wicker helmets and native boots reaching halfway to the knee. They carried small shields, short spears, javelins and daggers. From the mid 5th century BCE onwards, peltast soldiers began to appear in Greek depictions of Persian troops. They were equipped like Greek and Thracian peltasts, but were dressed in typically Persian army uniforms. They often carried a light axe, known as a sagaris, as a sidearm. It has been suggested that these troops were known
Iphicrates Iphicrates Iphicrates () (c. 418 BC – c. 353 BC) was an Athenian general, the son of a shoemaker of the deme of Rhamnous, who flourished in the earlier half of the 4th century BC. He is credited with important infantry reforms that revolutionized ancient Greek warfare by regularizing light-armed peltasts. He was married to the daughter of the Thracian King Cotys and had a son with her. His son was named Menestheus, after the legendary King of Athens during the Trojan War. Iphicrates' other son, who was also called Iphicrates, was sent as the Athenian ambassador to the Persian