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Short description

Getic Peltasts were skirmishers well suited to using ambush tactics.

Description

Like all Thracians, the Getai have a strong tradition in light infantry warfare. Their peltasts follow the same patterns as their southern Thracian counterparts in terms of weaponry and deployment. Their ranks are made up of komati, the poorer class of the Getic society, so the Getai peltastai is lightly armed, usually carrying several javelins and knife or a sword for close combat. They wear no armour except their shields, so it puts them in a great disadvantage if used as front line troops. These warriors have a greater degree of mobility and that makes them ideal for hit and run tactics or ambushes.

This style of fighting had first emerged in Thrace, from where the first "Peltastai" were hired as foreign mercenaries, and hence the "Peltast" took his name from the pelte, the characteristic Thracian light shield. Greeks themselves soon adopted this style of combat: the pelte itself had disappeared by the Hellenistic Period, replaced by a stronger round shield, but nonetheless the name endured. The Peltastai were more effective skirmishers than other skirmishers because they were better equipped, with a small shield, and so were less vulnerable to defensive barrages of javelins and arrows.