Kyrenaian Ephebic Archers
Missile Infantry(0.6.7)Side / Back
Short description
Young, relatively well-protected and eager to prove themselves, these Kyrenaian Ephebic Archers are potentially mortal missile infantry!
Description
These Ephebic Archers from the city of Kyrene are youngsters who are being drilled and educated in the local gymnasium. There, they will be groomed into proper citizens. Given their social status, these boys from the higher middle classes and the elite are not dressed in a simple tunic, like the average archer. Their status affords them lavishly coloured linothorakes with pteryges, capes, as well as a fancy combination of various types of hats. Young, relatively well-protected and eager to prove themselves, these Kyrenaian Ephebic Archers are potentially mortal missile infantry!
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Throughout the Hellenistic world, cities knew an institution called ‘ephebeia’, which entailed the general education of elite and upper middle-class youngsters in gymnasia. While during the Roman era, the original military aspect dwindled or transformed into para-military ceremonies, the academic consensus is that in the third century BC the focus of ephebes’ training was clearly athletic and military. Intellectual pursuits seem to have been present, but of comparatively minor importance (Pleket, Ephebes and Horses (2012), pp. 324-325).
The city of Kyrene possessed such a gymnasium in the timeframe of RIS, both physically and administratively situated in the centre of the polis. The boys would have been trained by ‘those who teach in archery, horse riding, and training with weapons’ (SEG 9.1 Il. 43-5). As Pleket (2012, p. 325) argues, it is clear that they had a military function. It may come as a surprise that the Ephebes did not train any formation warfare when most of them were destined to serve either in the royal phalanx or the regiment of the Hypaspists. It seems as if the tradition, the ritual and religious meaning of the Ephebeia was stronger than any practical concerns (Chankowski, Violence (2017), p. 44). In our mod, Kyrenaian Ephebes fighting on horseback are represented by the ‘Triakatioi’, whereas this unit represents those excelling at archery, instead.