Ancient Greek military personal equipment event of a broken spear, or if close melee combat was necessary. Hoplites mounted on horseback likely used a heavier, curved sword known as the "kopis", meaning "chopper" in the Greek language. Hand-to-hand, light support troops such as the "psiloi" were often armed with ranged weapons. Popular ranged weapons were the bow ("toxa"), javelin ("akontia") and sling ("sfendonai"). While the bow was a relatively uncommon weapon (the wooden stave bow used had a limited range), some troops treated their arrows by thrusting them into rotting corpses, thus creating a crude form of biological weapon. Peltast troops commonly used javelins, and
Ancient Greek mercenaries me master and great king". Greek hoplites were widely admired for their skill as soldiers. The demand led many Greeks who faced poverty or exile to enlist as mercenaries in the pay of another state. Others, not so burdened with worry, became mercenaries through a desire for loot and adventure. In many Greek states, including Athens, the threats from Persia and Macedon required strong defensive forces. One of the main problems in creating and maintaining military strength was that peasant citizens could not afford to abandon their smallholdings for long periods of service and so the demand for professional soldiers