page_title: History of infantry
section_title: Classical period
hierarchical_section_title: History of infantry / Classical period
caption_attribution_description: English: Persian warriors. Pergamon Museum/Vorderasiatisches Museum.
context_page_description: Although the term infantry dates from the 15th century, the foot troops of the previous eras in history who fought with a variety of weapons before the introduction of the firearms are also referred to as infantry. During the Ancient and Middle Ages Infantry were categorized by the types of weapons and armour they used, such as heavy infantry and light infantry. Since the introduction of firearms, classifications have changed initially to reflect their formations on the battlefield as line infantry, and later to reflect modes of transport and type of tactics used by specific units as Mechanized infantry or airborne infantry.
  The word infantry was borrowed into other Romance languages from the Latin infantem, a "foot soldier" who served in groups composed of those soldiers who were too-inexperienced or too low in rank for membership to the cavalry. As a meaning for an organised type of combat troops, the word dates to 1579 in the French infantrie and Spanish infanteria. However, in military history it has become a common English term to apply to troops from earlier historical periods.
context_section_description: Infantry was the primary combat arm of the Classical period. Examples of infantry units of the period are the Immortals of Persian Empire, the hoplites of ancient Greece and the legions of Imperial Rome and Auxiliaries (Roman military) troops. In contrast to the strictly organized immortals, phalanxes and legions, most armies of the ancient world also employed units of irregulars (often mercenaries) who wore less armor and fought in more open formations usually as skirmishers.
  As the Decline of the Roman Empire occurred, the huge swathe of lands under their sway became the territory of Germanic tribes, such as the Vandals, Goths, and Visigoths in the 5th century. The political and military resources necessary for the maintenance of such rigid-formation units largely disappeared until the later Middle Ages.
caption: Persian Immortals, detail from the archers' frieze in Darius' palace in Susa. 510 BC.
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