Cretan Archers

Commonly deployed as mercenaries, Cretan archers are an iconic part of Greek armies.

Despite their fame, we know almost nothing about their appearance or how they fought!

Xenophon mentions their shields (although we are not sure he is talking about the archers), we know they carried Scythian style compound bows. Later depictions in art show a head band, dagger or short sword and a small pouch carried on the chest (maybe for bow strings, thumb rings or other archery equipment).

As Crete is in the ‘cross roads’ in the Mediterranean we have depicted them with a slight eastern influence in their appearance.