Cardaces

The Cardaces (or kardakes) were a unit of the Persian Achaemenid army. They were formed some time before the Macedonian invasion as a professional heavy infantry unit, intended probably to supplement the Greek mercenaries the Persian armies became heavily dependent upon.

The Cardaces took part in the battles of Issus and Gaugamela, without much success.

There is much debate among the historians about the armament and mode of operation of the Cardaces.