later Achaemenid Persian archers

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wybesse
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later Achaemenid Persian archers

Post by wybesse » Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:34 am

I'm working to Triumph-ize and fill out my Later Achaemenid Persians, and while looking for something else, I noted in Duncan Head's (?venerable?) Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars that he says "...now [at the time of the Macedonian wars] the bulk of the Persian infantry was now skirmishing archers and slingers" (p.88, figure 85).

Even assuming he is talking just about the literally Persian portion of the larger army, this seems to contrast strongly with the Meshwesh list for Later Achaemenid Persians, which allows only for up to 2 Skirmishers as Persian bowmen and no slingers, but 2 to 6 takabara Light Foot, up to 4 kardakes Heavy Foot, and unspecified "throng" as up to 4 Horde.

Has the view of the composition of the Persian foot changed substantially since 1982? Or is there something else I'm not taking into account?
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