Toxotai

Toxotai (Ancient Greek: τοξόται, romanized: toxotai, lit. 'archers'; singular: τοξότης, toxótēs) were Ancient Greek archers armed with a short Greek bow and a short sword. They carried a little pelte (or pelta) (πέλτη) shield. Cretan archers used nearly the same type of equipment except that they used a long bow.

This article is about Greek archers. For the fish with genus Toxotes, see Archerfish.
Herakles wielding a bow

Hippotoxotai were mounted archers and rode ahead of the cavalry.

The name Toxotes was used to describe the mythic Sagittarius, a legendary creature thought to be a centaur.[1]

References
  1. Stephen Trzaskoma, R. Scott Smith, Stephen Brunet, and Thomas G. Palaima. Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation. Hackett Publishing: 2004, ISBN 0-87220-721-8, p. 106.


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