The Scythian archers were a hypothesized police force of 5th- and early 4th-century BC Athens that is recorded in some Greek artworks and literature.

The force is said to have consisted of 300 armed Scythians (a nomadic Iranic people living in the Eurasian Steppe) who were public slaves in Athens.

They acted on behalf of a group of eleven elected Athenian magistrates "who were responsible for arrests and executions and for some aspects of public order" in the city.

[5][6] The theory regarding the "police force" role of the Scythian archers in 5th- and early 4th-century BC Athens is mainly based on some possible evidence from Attic vase paintings and the works of the ancient Athenian playwright Aristophanes.

[8] Scholars are unsure why Athenians would employ "barbarians", although it's possible that foreign slaves far from home would compose a more faithful police force than locals would.

[14] To support this view, Loades points out that all ancient literary references to the "Scythian archers" describe them as beating up people, and never as them using bows.