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
Ancient Macedonians Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians (, "Makedónes") were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios in the northeastern part of mainland Greece. Essentially an ancient Greek people, they gradually expanded from their homeland along the Haliacmon valley on the northern edge of the Greek world, absorbing or driving out neighbouring non-Greek tribes, primarily Thracian and Illyrian. They spoke Ancient Macedonian, a language closely related to Ancient Greek, perhaps a dialect, although the prestige language of the region was at first Attic and then Koine Greek. Their religious beliefs mirrored those of other