What does psiloi mean?
Definitions for psiloi
psiloi
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word psiloi.
Did you actually mean psylla or psychical?
Wikipedia
Psiloi
In Ancient Greek armies, the psiloi (Ancient Greek ψιλοί, singular ψιλός, psilos, literally "bare, stripped") were the light infantry who usually acted as skirmishers and missile troops, and who were distinguished from the armored hoplitai (heavy infantry) by their light weapons and lack of armor. In Classical Antiquity and Late Antiquity and throughout the existence of the Byzantine Empire, the lightest-armed troops, typically equipped with ranged weapons, and which fought irregularly in a loose formation, were deemed 'the psiloi'. Numbered among the psiloi were archers, the toxotai armed with a bow (toxa), and slingers, the (sphendonetai) who hurled stones or metal bullets with slings (sfendonai). Others, the akontistai, used the throwing javelin (akontia). Some psiloi simply threw stones at the enemy and were referred to as lithoboloi.The psiloi were the least prestigious military class deployed by the ancient world. A member of the psiloi was normally a man or boy from the lower ranks of his society, unable to afford the shield and armor of the hoplites, let alone the horse ridden by the socially elite cavalryman, the hippeus (ἱππεύς). Another term for a member of the psiloi was gymnetes, (γυμνῆτες) literally: "naked". Light infantry might also be called euzonoi ("active", "light armored"; a name shared with modern Evzones), though these might be any troops lightly armed, such as hoplitai deployed without their shields, who would not rank as psiloi. The peltastai (bearers of light shields, targeteers) were an intermediate infantry class, better armored than the psiloi but more lightly equipped than the hoplitai - the heavy infantry armed to fight at close quarters in the phalanx.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
psiloi
Among the Greeks, were light-armed men who fought with arrows and darts, or stones and slings, but were unfit for close fight. They were in honor and dignity inferior to the heavy-armed soldiers.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of psiloi in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of psiloi in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Translations for psiloi
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- psiloiGreek
Get even more translations for psiloi »
Translation
Find a translation for the psiloi definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"psiloi." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Jul 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/psiloi>.
Discuss these psiloi definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In