Description
Eastern hillmen tended to be light infantry skirmishers that excelled in mountainous and difficult terrain, as a result of defending their homelands against outsiders. Many hill tribes, including the Bithyni - after whom Bithynia was named - were descended Thracian migrants who crossed the Bosporus into Asia Minor; each had a fierce attachment to their own lands and a suspicion of plains folk and outlanders. Equipped in much the same manner as peltasts, they carried spears, javelins and daggers and their only protection was a shield, made from wicker, wood or hide. As a fighting force, they were fast moving and extremely manoeuvrable and not above trickery and deceit.
