hypaspist

Wiktionary EN

From Ancient Greek ὑπασπιστής (hupaspistḗs, “shield bearer”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἀσπίς (aspís, “shield”) + -τής (-tḗs, “suffix forming agent noun”).

• hypaspist: A type of lightly armoured foot soldier equipped with an aspis (shield) and spear.

The role and status of hypaspists changed over time:

• Initially, their role was that of shield bearer or squire.
• By the time of the historian Herodotus (5thC BCE), they had become high-status soldiers.
• Under Philip II of Macedon (4thC BCE), the hypaspists were considered an elite unit and were used to protect the flanks of the phalanx of phalangites, with their own flanks being protected by cavalry.
• Under Alexander the Great (4thC BCE), a special unit of hypaspists, recruited from the nobility, became the infantry component of the agema (the king's personal bodyguard).
• Among the Diadochi states of the Hellenistic period, hypaspists continued in name in the Seleucid, Ptolemaic and Antigonid armies, but with the roles of royal bodyguard and military administrator.
• In Macedonia, the title went into disuse; however, in terms of status, equipment and role, the peltast became virtually identical to what the hypaspist had been under Philip.