[1] They were especially valued in armies, such as those of the Greek city-states, (notably Athens, Sparta, Eretria, and Macedonia) and those of ancient Rome, which could not draw upon substantial numbers of skilled archers from their native populations.
These weapons, while difficult to string and use, gave the professional Cretan archers greater range than the simple wooden bows of the citizen levies of mainland Greece.
[3] Though Cretan archers could be theoretically outranged by Rhodian slingers,[4] they were widely recognized as being amongst the best light missile troops in the ancient world, and as such found employment as mercenaries in many armies, including Alexander the Great's and those of many of the Diadochi.
During the Retreat of the Ten thousand following the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC Xenophon's hoplites were able to hold off pursuing Persian troops, with the aid of the Cretan archers who formed part of the Greek mercenary army.
Following the conquest of Macedonia and of the independent Greek city-states, Cretan archers served as auxiliaries in the Roman army as reformed by Gaius Marius under the Republic,[6] and that of the Empire.