Hellenistic Cavalry Notes

Cavalry Shields in AMPW

Type	Images	Page	Shield	Notes
Tarantine	44	115	Yes	4th century onwards
Hellenistic	45 & 46	117	Yes	3rd century
Thracian	69	127	Yes	3rd century
Seleucid	50 & 51	118	Yes	2nd century

Notes

• AMPW = Armies of the MAcedonian and Punic Wars, D. Head,WRG Publications, 1982.
• Greek cavalry were generally shieldless before the 3rd century except for Tarantine mercenaries.
• Shields became more prevelant after 275 BC for all cavalry.
• Latter may be associated with a switch from spears to javelins.
• Hellenistic cavalry shields in AMPW are all round.
• Illyrian (73), Thracian (66), Thureophoros (41), and Thorakites (42) foot are the only ones shown in period with oval shields (=> cavalry use?).
• See Steven Thomas's Timeline of Graeco-Macedonian Military Innovation for more discussion (begins in the 3rd century BC).

AI Summary

Period	Cavalry Shield Use	Shield Type
Pre-3rd century BC	Rare	None
3rd century BC onwards	Common	Large round or oblong
2nd & 1st centuries BC	Widespread (thureos)	Large round, thureos-type

Notes

• Taken from the answer to "When did cavalry shields become common in the Hellenistic period?"
• The answer also covers the introduction of thureos-type shields in a little more detail, but this is likely a later adoption.
• See also Sekunda, N.V. (2006) 'The Introduction of Cavalry Thureophoroi into Greek Warfare,' Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae, Vol. 19, pp. 9-14.

Hellenistic Army Timeline (ADLG)

Army	ADLG	Dates (BC)	Century
Classical Greek	60	650-275	7th to 3rd
Alexandrian Macedonian	39	355-330	4th
Alexander the Great	40	330-320	4th
Early Successors	41	320-260	4th to 3rd
Seleucid	42	320-64	4th to 1st
Ptolemaic	43	320-30	4th to 1st
Phyrric	44	306-272	4th to 3rd
Later Macedonian	45	260-168	3rd to 2nd
Hellenistic Greek	61	275-146	3rd to 2nd

Notes

• From the Art de la Guerre (ADLG) V4 lists.
• Seleucid list has Agema & Xystophoroi heavy cavalry which become cataphracts after 205 BC. Also has Galatian medium and heavy cavalry after 245 BC (=>Thracian?) and City militia, medium cavalry after 167 BC.
• Phyrric list has Xystophoroi heavy cavalry & Greek medium & heavy cavalry.
• Late Macedonain list has Macedonian, Greek, Thessalians, Galatian & Thracian cavalry options (medium & heavy).
• All three lists have light cavalry javelin. The Selucid list also has light cavalry bow.

Hellenistic Army Timeline (MeG)

Army	MEG	Dates (BC)	Century
Classical Greek	2401	670-275	7th to 3rd
Tharcian Hill Tribes	2402	670-26 AD	7th to 1st AD
Spartan	2403	668-394	7th to 4th
Early Macedonian	2404	500-357	5th to 4th
Illyrian	2405	500-20 AD	5th to 1st AD
Mercenary Greek	2406	401-298	5th to 3rd
Later Spartan	2407	393-228	4th to 3rd
Alexandrian Macedonian	2408	356-323	4th
Alexandrian Expeditionary	2409	334-324	4th
Epirote	2410	334-167	4th to 2nd
Thraco-Macedonian	2411	323-281	4th to 3rd
Macedonian Successor	2412	323-280	4th to 3rd
Coalition against Antigonus	2413	302-301	4th
Phyrric	2414	294-272	3rd
Early Ptolemaic	2206	280-200	3rd
Early Seleucid	2811	279-167	3rd to 2nd
Later Macedonian	2415	279-168	3rd to 2nd
Hellenistic Greek	2416	275-146	3rd to 2nd
Hellenistic Spartan	2417	227-195	3rd to 2nd
Ptolemaic	2207	199-55	2nd to 1st
Seleucid	2812	169-129	2nd
Late Seleucid	2814	128-63	2nd to 1st
Late Ptolemaic	2209	55-31	1st

Notes

• From the Mortem et Gloriam (MeG) lists version 2025.01, dated 01 January 2025.
• Includes all Greece & Macedon lists (17) and Seleucid (3) & Ptolemaic (3) lists from the Syria & Asia MInor, and Egypt & Judea documents respectively.