Peltast the late 11th and 12th centuries. Although the peltasts of Antiquity were light skirmish infantry armed with javelins, it is not safe to assume that the troops given this name in the Byzantine period were identical in function. Byzantine peltasts were sometimes described as “assault troops”. Byzantine peltasts appear to have been relatively lightly equipped soldiers capable of great battlefield mobility, who could skirmish but who were equally capable of close combat. Their arms may have included a shorter version of the "kontarion" spear employed by contemporary Byzantine heavy infantry. Peltast A peltast (Ancient Greek: πελταστής "peltastes") was a type
Thracian clothing and fawnskin boots called "embades" (Ancient Greek: Εμβάδες). Thracian clothing was sometimes decorated with intricate patterns. While patterned clothing was not unique to Thracians, the "zeira", "embades" and the "alopekis" probably originated from them. Clothing was made from hemp, flax or wool. The Dacians and the Getae wore pantaloons called bracae (Ancient Greek,""ἀναξυρίδες"" or ""θύλακοι"").These loose pants were described in Euripides work as “variegated bags” (Ancient Greek,""τοὺς θυλάκους τοὺς ποικίλους"") and may have appeared highly ridiculous to the Greeks, although Ovid mentions the adoption of them by the descendants of some of the Greek colonists on the Euxine.These trousers were