The weapons of the Asiatic horseman will be covered under Horses and Hulls. The weapons on this list that were common civilian items are marked with an ‘*’. Most Hellenic communities—indeed any walled community with sense—would absolutely not permit xenos [strangers], and the root for our word xenophobia, [stranger-fear], nor in most cases even their own citizens, to bear military arms within the community precinct. Note that some of the civilian tools permitted might be very effective in one-to-one combat, such as the net, which a tyrant of Lesbos used to slay an Athenian hero during this period.

Strictly barbaric weapons that would not be encountered among a Hellenic force are marked with an ‘^’.

*Makhairis: a knife or razor, is one of a handful of terms for small blades, marking knives as common, which they should be in a world knitted together by sailing ships, whose sailors would use knives for shipboard duties involving rigging, netting, fishing, and carpentry.

*Baktron: a staff

*Rapis: a rod or stick

^Pelekus: a double-headed axe

*Khermas: “sling-stone”

*Akrobolo: sling

Pelte (peletae, plural): a crescent-shaped Thrakian light shield, primarily for deflecting. If tied into a pack, or worn on the back with a sling, this would be permitted.

Belemnon: a dart or javelin

Koruni club/mace

^Parma: a round Thracian punching shield, sometimes spiked

^Sica, a Thracian cutlass with sharply bent point for stabbing around shields

^Rumpia: a Thracian two-handed sword, of soft iron with a long wooden haft, which in medieval terms would not have been regarded as a sword but rather as a type of ‘pole-arm.’

*Drepanon: a sickle, sometimes a term for a curved sword as well

*Dyktyon: “net”

*Thrinax: a three-pronged fork or harpoon, a trident, used by fishermen and perhaps carried by priests of Poseidon

Skytalon: a fighting stick or club, used by civic forces charged with policing the community, and not likely to be tolerated in the hands of a visitor