Peltast more readily available to poorer members of society. The Athenian general Iphicrates destroyed a Spartan phalanx in the Battle of Lechaeum in 390 BCE, using mostly peltasts. In the account of Diodorus Siculus, Iphicrates is credited with re-arming his men with long spears, perhaps in around 374 BCE. This reform may have produced a type of "peltast" armed with a small shield, a sword, and a spear instead of javelins. Some authorities, such as J.G.P. Best, state that these later "peltasts" were not truly peltasts in the traditional sense, but lightly armored hoplites carrying the "pelte" shield in conjunction with
Ancient Greek art increasingly leading sculptors might become famous and rather wealthy, and often signed their work (unfortunately, often on the plinth, which typically became separated from the statue itself). Plutarch ("Life of Pericles", II) said "we admire the work of art but despise the maker of it"; this was a common view in the ancient world. Ancient Greek sculpture is categorised by the usual stylistic periods of "Archaic", "Classical" and "Hellenistic", augmented with some extra ones mainly applying to sculpture, such as the Orientalizing Daedelic style and the Severe style of early Classical sculpture. Surviving ancient Greek sculptures were mostly made of