The Scythian archers were a hypothesized

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

force of 5th- and early 4th-century BC

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

that is recorded in some Greek artworks and literature. The force is said to have consisted of 300 armed

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

(a nomadic Iranic people living in the

Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...

) who were public slaves in Athens. They acted on behalf of a group of eleven elected Athenian

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

s "who were responsible for arrests and executions and for some aspects of public order" in the city. Despite being called "archers", the Scythian police probably did not use bows and arrows. One of Aristophanes's comedies has a Scythian archer as a character, and he speaks broken Greek with an accent.

Name

The Scythian archers were called ''toxotai'' (, literally " hearchers"), ''Skythai'' (, literally " he

"), and ''Speusinioi'' (), which was named after a certain Speusinos, the alleged founder of the force. Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham), “Scythians”, in: Brill's New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 13 January 2019

Theory

The theory regarding the "police force" role of the Scythian archers in 5th- and early 4th-century BC

is mainly based on some possible evidence from Attic vase paintings and the works of the ancient Athenian playwright

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

. The force is said to have consisted of 300 public slaves ('' demosioi''), who wore Scythian dress and were equipped with bows and arrows in '' gorytos'' (the Scythian people were skilled archers). As portrayed on Attic vase paintings, the Scythian archers were distinguished by high pointed headdresses and wide trousers. They were said to have been used to maintain order in the Assembly and the council, though they had little authority themselves. They acted for the Eleven (''οἱ ἕνδεκα''), a group of eleven elected

s in Athens, "who were responsible for arrests and executions and for some aspects of public order".

Analysis

Scholars agree that a Scythian police force of some sort existed in Athens in the 5th century, although no one knows when it was first established or how long it lasted. The evidence for Scythian archers as early as the 6th century BC is inconclusive. The Scythian archers that appear to be attending to the

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( ) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the sold ...

s on the Attic vase paintings of the 6th century BC are not necessarily related to the Scythian "police force" of the 5th century BC. The police force, the number of which is said to have swelled to 1,200 at some point, may have been involved in wartime conflicts as well. Balbina Bäbler points to archeological evidence for Scythians in the 4th century, including the stele of Getes, buried Scythian arrowheads, and other Greek-style grave stelae. It is impossible to know whether these Scythians represent a continuation of the police force known earlier or whether Scythian women also lived in Athens. Scholars are unsure why Athenians would employ "barbarians", although it's possible that foreign slaves far from home would compose a more faithful police force than locals would. It is also not clear why bows and arrows were appropriate weapons for the cramped city of Athens. In the comedy works of

, the dialects of various Greek people are imitated. In his '' Thesmophoriazusae'', the Scythian archer speaks broken Greek, consistently omitting the final ''-s'' ( -ς) and ''-n'' ( ν), using the lenis in place of the aspirate, and once using ''x'' ( ξ) in place of ''s'' ( σ). These have been noted by John William Donaldson to discuss the largely unknown Scythian languages.

Equipment

Despite their name and the presence of archers in Athenian art, researchers have questioned whether the Scythian police would have actually used bows and arrows. Archery expert Mike Loades argued that the Athenian vase paintings do not depict realistic Scythian

composite bow A composite bow is a traditional bow made from horn, wood, and sinew laminated together, a form of laminated bow. The horn is on the belly, facing the archer, and sinew on the outer side of a wooden core. When the bow is drawn, the sinew (s ...

s, quivers, and clothing, especially compared to those known from original Scythian art. Accordingly, he has described the vase paintings as "fantasy 'dress-up by artists who wanted to depict the Scythians as exotic, but had probably never seen a Scythian bow beforehand. In this case, the term "archers" for the Athenian police force would be a byword for the police's ethnic composition, not its actual equipment. To support this view, Loades points out that all ancient literary references to the "Scythian archers" describe them as beating up people, and never as them using bows. Archaeological evidence also points at the Scythian police having used horse-whips with wooden handles on duty, similar to those used by some modern police units.

References

Works cited

External links

Scythian Archers
stoa.org {{Scythia Classical Athens Crime in Athens Military archers Slave soldiers Government of ancient Athens Ancient Greek vase painting Scythian people Historical law enforcement occupations 5th-century BC establishments in Greece 4th-century BC disestablishments in Greece 5th-century BC Greek art 5th-century BC Athenians 4th-century BC Athenians 5th century BC in law 4th century BC in law Ancient soldiers Expatriate military units and formations