"Were the Scythian archers used in combat outside Athens?" Topic

Andocides says that "It was at this time (after the Battle of Salamis) that we first enrolled three hundred cavalry and purchased three hundred Scythian archers", which seems to imply that they were part of the regular military, but I can't recall coming across any reference to them being used in battle. Are there any explicit references to them being used in the field, and even if not, would it have been possible?

As I recall the Scythians were mainly used as a kind of police force. Athens did make use of mercenaries. One named example was a force of Thracians hired for the attack on Syracuse who actually arrived too late to take part. I would say that archers would have been very useful when setting up their post-war empire.

There is no indication that the Scythian archers were the same guys as the archers used in battle. The article at PDF link thinks they were not.

Ctesias claims that the archers on the Athenian ships at Salamis were Cretans ( link ) – though of course Ctesias is writing some decades later, and was regarded as a notorious inventor of fictions…

Worth pointing out that Atrhens in the years post-Salamis was a completly different place to pre-Salamis. After the war, Athens basically developed as an empire – as such, mercenary use would increase naturally, and being a naval empire would be more likely to draw in mercenaries from a wider area than before.

My understanding was always that they were police.

Had crossed my mind to wonder if they did get sent to battle, though.

PDF link

Scythian Archer: But what's your name?
Euripides: Artemisia.
Scythian Archer: I will remember it. Artemuxia.