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Short description

Cretan Archers are the best bowmen of the Greek world, rightly famous for their range, accuracy and firing power.

Description

By far the most famous of Greek archers, the Cretan Archers are renowned throughout Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. With their composite bows, they outrange most other archers, and due to their experience and skills learned from childhood they are some of the best bowmen of the ancient world. In this period, the Hellenistic era, they were protected by light Linothorakes with Pteryges, bronze helmets or Petasos hats, boots, as well as small round Pelte shields. Should these Cretan Archers be forced into a melee, they can defend themselves with curved Machaira swords.

On the battlefield, they are most efficient when attacking unarmoured enemy units or shooting from an elevated position, while their equipment even allows them to fend off the enemy’s light units in melee.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Cretans had a dubious reputation in the ancient world. Their military virtue was not doubted: Polybios even claims they introduced the salpinx, the bugle, into Greek warfare (Polyb. IV, 20, 6). However, he indirectly contrasts their skills as skirmishers with the bravery of the Greek Hoplite: “The Cretans both by land and sea are irresistible in ambuscades, forays, tricks played on the enemy, night attacks, and all petty operations which require fraud, but they are cowardly and down-hearted in the massed face-to-face charge of an open battle” (Polyb. IV, 8, 12). Worse, on the grounds of the endemic warfare on the island and their activity as pirates, he dismisses the value of their political organisations: “So much in fact do sordid love of gain and lust for wealth prevail among them, that the Cretans are the only people in the world in whose eyes no gain is disgraceful” (Polyb. IV, 46, 3).

The constant fighting among the Cretans themselves was one of the key reasons for the ubiquity of Cretan archers as mercenaries. They were trained with the bow from childhood and often had to fight their neighbours, while at the same time the common destruction of crops and towns meant that mercenary service abroad appeared as an attractive alternative to staying on the island. Cretan cities even encouraged the recruitment of their people as mercenaries overseas, signing treaties with foreign rulers, e.g. the Antigonids, to facilitate the activities of mercenary recruiters (Chaniotis, Die Verträge, 1996; Polyb. XXIX, 10, 6 implies a similar treaty between Rhodes and the Cretan cities). They appear in the service of all major Hellenistic kingdoms. Aside from Macedon (Besides the treaties: Polyb. III, 66, 6; IV, 67, 6), the Ptolemies (Polyb. V, 36, 4; 65, 7; XXXI, 17, 8) and the Seleucids (V, 97, 10; VIII, 15, 4; X, 29, 6) often used them. Other Greek states also paid for them, e.g. Syracuse (Liv. XXIV, 30, 13; Polyb. III, 75, 7), the Achaian League (Polyb. IV, 55, 5; XXXIII, 16, 6) or the Aitolian League (Polyb. V, 14, 1-3). In Sparta they were hired by the tyrant or king Nabis (r. 207-192 BC) (Polyb. XIII, 6, 8; 8, 2), but a small contingent had already been employed in the preceding years (IV, 80, 6). Finally, the Roman Republic (Liv. XXIV, 30, 13; Polyb. III, 75, 7) had a permanent force of Cretan mercenaries under arms (Keppie, Army and Navy (1996), p. 373).

On a Hellenistic grave relief from the White Mountains of Crete, archers are shown wearing white chiton tunics and headbands. As mercenaries, however, they probably wore bronze Pilos helmets and Petasos hats on their heads as well as Linothorakes over their clothes. This is also depicted for the Greek bowmen on the 4th century Nereid Monument from Xanthos in Lycia, which is presently held by the British Museum (Mausolos of Mylasa: ‘surprise, surprise’). Additional protection in skirmishing or melee was afforded by the Peltai. These small, round bronze or bronze-covered shields were a distinctive feature of the Cretan Archers (Xen. An. 5.2.29-30). They were strapped to the forearm so as to enable both arms to be free to work the bow. Cretans used the composite bow, a bow of a \\"Scythian\\" type, able to fire quickly and powerfully. Arrows were made of wood, and the arrowheads were large and heavy, with 4.25 inch bronze heads, often barbed or hooked (Du Plessis, Seleucid Army (2022), fig. 31). On the campaign of the 10,000 in the Persian Empire, they picked up the reed arrows of the Persians to shoot further, but the superior power of the heavier wooden arrows would usually have been preferred (Xen. An. 3.4.17). On their feet they wore either standard Greek military boots or the so called Endromis shoes that were laced over a broad tongue at the front and can be seen on many contemporary vases.

Cretan archers were popular mercenaries throughout antiquity and beyond. They are still attested in Venetian armies of the 15th century AD (Bartusis, Late Byzantine Army (1997), p. 152). Their exceptional skills were matched by few other ancient bowmen (e.g., Persian archers) and they were therefore a valuable addition to any army.