Shield#Prehistory and antiquity

Pelte ( πέλτη ancient Greek, Doric πέλτα pelta ) denotes an ancient shield (protection weapon); you owe to a Greek military unit its name: the peltasts. The Pelte is from the 4th century BC occupied, is about their place of origin but no consensus. Many researchers suspect Greece, where Pelten were also used later, but just as Thrace is possible because there is the Pelte in the Thracian and Scythian art. Also used Persian units it as a shield.

The Pelte was braided usually made ​​of branches, increasing its edge with leather and covered the entire plate with fur. She often had a leather strap to carry it on your back. The shape of the Pelte was not uniform, the Greek writer Xenophon describes them in the early 4th century BC as round, but Greek vase paintings also show oval shields. The Greek philosopher Aristotle mentions in the 4th century BC as a very light shield and therefore well suited for light-armed infantry and spearmen.