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Short description

Thureophoroi were versatile medium infantry, capable of both skirmishing and standing in the line of battle when needed.

Description

The Aitolian Thureophoroi were a necessary development for the Aitolian League, which was famed for its peltasts but lacked a solid infantry contingent. Thureophoroi are a combination of light-footed infantry and skirmishers that can both fight in close-order combat as well as ambush or harass the enemy from afar. Their principal weapon is the javelin, and they go into battle with a bundle of these, but also carry spears and swords as secondary weapons. Thureophoroi are protected by the oval thureos, from which they derive their name. The thureos was modelled after the standard Celtic shield, which the Greeks encountered during the Galatian invasion of Greece and Asia Minor in 280-275 BC. Especially the Aitolians presented themselves as the main vanquishers of the Celts, which they portrayed in various statues, coins, and monuments. After these events, the Thureos became popular among Greeks and Illyrians, but its use later spread as far as Nabataea (Trophy Tomb of Maghar al Nassara, ca. 100 BC). The shield was usually painted white, with a spined boss and central handgrip. Some Thureophoroi wear armour, usually the standard Hellenistic linen cuirass (Linothorax) with pteryges, and some wear cloaks. A variety of helmets completes their defensive equipment.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

At the centre of the scholarly debate on Thureophoroi has always been the question if they evolved from Peltasts or Hoplites. While authors like Gabriele Esposito (Armies (2019), repeated mentions), Duncan Head (Armies (1982), p. 113) or Simon Elliot (Greeks at War (2021), p. 21) interpret them as light skirmishers who used their pace and agility to their advantage; others like Richard Taylor (Greek Hoplite Phalanx (2021), p. 472), Edward Anson (Land Warfare (2021), p. 51) or Myke Cole (The Bronze Lie (2021), p. 351) assume that they replaced the traditional Hoplite, offering more flexibility as the main heavy infantry of Greek armies. The question cannot ultimately be resolved, but Serrati (World at War (2017), p. 186) is right in pointing at their double function: since Thureophoroi were able to fight both as mobile spearmen who defended the flanks of the phalanx, and as skirmishers who could support quick attacks, they were an extremely valuable asset on the battlefield.

Overall, the Thureophoroi are not directly attested for the Aitolians, though both their direct contact with the Celts and their keenness for skirmishing tactics would have made this type of infantry a perfect fit for the armies of the League. When the Celtic host under Brennus entered Greece in 280/279 BC, a Greek coalition assembled their armies at Thermopylai to put an end to the invasion. The Aitolians contributed “every class of fighting men”, including 790 light and more than 7,000 heavy infantry forces under Polyarchus, Polyphron, and Lacrates (Paus. X, 20, 4). As a distraction, Brennus sent 40,000 infantry and 800 cavalry to plunder Kallia in Eastern Aitolia, to lure the Aitolian forces away from the Greek coalition. When a combination of a quickly raised Aitolian home levy, made up of skirmishers, and the Aitolian forces caught up to the Celts, they ambushed, harassed, and drove them out of Greece. In honour of this victory, the Aitolian League dedicated Gallic shields to the god Apollo in his temple (Paus. X, 19, 4) and they started to mint coins depicting Aitolos seated on a pile of Gallic shields (BMC 4ff). After this contact with the Celts and their thureoi, the Aitolians may have adopted this shield type themselves.

The preferred usage of the thureos shield for skirmishers can be explained by its shape and construction. The large oval frame covers a larger part of the body, reaching down much further to the feet, while the centre grip allows the wearer to hold the shield further away than a classic aspis that is strapped to the lower arm. In a skirmish this would have lowered the chance of javelins hitting the legs or the arm, when penetrating the shield (Burns, The Cultural and Military Significance (2006) p. 233; Lumsden, Ante Bella Punica (2016), p. 112). Before Philopoimen reformed the Achaian army into a heavily armed pike phalanx, the infantry was armed as thureophoroi and thorakitai, carrying thureos shields and short spears (Paus. VIII, 50, 1; Plut. Phil. IX, 2). These types of soldiers were also present at the battle of Kaphyai against the Aitolians in 220 BC, during the Social War (220 – 217 BC). The Aitolian light infantry and cavalry alone had routed the Achaian light infantry along with their thorakitai, whom the light troops were supposed to fall back to (Polyb. IV, 11 - 12). Though Polybios does not describe the Aitolian troops in more detail, they might have used the thureos at that point as well.