Marksmen's Range

Although Hellenistic armies used archers more than earlier Greek ones, they still relied on close-combat infantry. In early times archers had only been used to defend city walls or to cover hoplites in battle; they were never the main attack force. Bowmen were only about 10% of the Greek army in the Peloponnesian War. The Greeks learned from their battles with the Persians and, by the time of Alexander, some mounted archers had been introduced. They also often used skilled Cretan or Scythian mercenary bowmen who used the more powerful 'three-fingered grip' rather than just the thumb and forefinger to pull the string back. Other missile troops included peltasts: lightly-armed, skirmishing troops with a brace of javelins; and slingers who could hurl a stone beyond arrow range with pin-point accuracy.