Kardakes translated means “foreign mercenaries”. The Kardakes are a part of the Persian army that also appears towards the later empire, it is uncertain what they really were. Some say that they were mercenaries, others that they were influenced by the Greek Hoplites and that we should assume that they were a Persian attempt to reform the army in a Greek way.

The Kardakes are described by historians as "Hoplites", Slingers and "Peltasts". This may illustrate that Kardakes most likely were not a specific troop type, like a heavy infantryman or a skirmisher but rather a specific group which supplied several kinds of soldiers. This means that the Kardakes would have been equipped differently. At the battle of Issus Arrian calls them Hoplites, and Kallisthenes as Peltasts.

KARDAKE LIGHT INFANTRY

There has always been some debate over the armament and how the Kardakes were employed as a fighting force. As previously mentioned several historians have described them as peltasts. Modern scholars seem to deduce from this that there was an attempt to produce a native Persian close fighting infantry to support the mercenary Greek hoplite, and Kardakes Hoplites, against the Macedonian phalanx.

Xenophon describes the Kardakes as carrying two javelins, and using a Kopis or a Sagaris ( the bronze pick-like Saka battleaxe, which was adopted by the Persians) and a wicker shield. It is also confirmed that many would also have used bows. The Alexander sarcophagus shows Persian infantry not only carrying Hoplite shields, but many with crescent shaped shields similar to the Greek peltai.

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Released Date: March 2025