Amrtaka Immortal, an elite line infantryman who fought early on as a sparabara. Whether the later Achaemenids employed Amrtaka or not is controversial. Arstibara Spearbearer, an elite guardsman, picked from either the ranks of the Amrtaka or from the Huvaka..

Baivarabam (unattested, conjecture by Sekunda) Persian term for a myriad, i.e. 10,000, used to designate a division.

Drepanon An Anatolian sickle sword, a large-bladed slashing weapon, i.e. falchion

Gerrhon a wicker shield, of (apparently) varying sizes, such that a spara is a gerrhon, but not all gerrha are spara. Used below to indicate a shield smaller than the spara, but of indeterminate size and shape relative to the taka.

Hazarabam A unit of 1,000, i.e. a regiment

Huvaka A kinsman of the king, if not literally true, then an honorific for a member of the noble class. There were upwards of 15,000 huvaka.

Kardaka The term kardaka (Greek form kardakes) has taken multiple meanings in the literature. The meaning preferred and used here is an Asian (i.e. non-Greek) mercenary who has been settled into crown lands. Many kardaka employed their native weapons, which here is taken to mean takabara kit. Other kardaka were taken into cavalry service, as in the "colonist" cavalry in the last list below. There was an apparent late developing attempt to train large numbers of kardaka into a Greek-style close order infantry, so that option also exists in the last list.

Sagaris the traditional Persian war hammer, frequently depicted in Greek and Persian sources. It appears to be perfectly designed with its long iron spike for punching killing holes through metal helmets, especially (relatively soft) bronze ones (recall the cut scene in Braveheart where Wallace is punching a war hammer not unlike the sagaris through an English helmet). In AW, it counts as an axe.

Satrap The governor of a province in Persia.

Satrapy A province in the Persian Empire.

Spara In AW, a spara is a mantlet. Having a very large surface area, the spara was constructed of hardened leather and wickerwork. Spara were carried into position by the file leaders - sparabara - and fixed in place, forming a barrier defense. Occasionally, they may have been entrenched (Herodotus re: Mykale)

Sparabara Sparabara were mixed units of mostly archers fronted by fileleaders who manned the spara. The sparabara proper is the spearman carrying the spara, but in the following list the entire unit is referred to as type sparabara.

Taka Personal wickerwork shield, shaped like a large pelta.

Takabara Later Persian infantry were equipped with shields, a.k.a. taka. A takabara is not necessarily equivalent to a peltast. Basically, the separate components of the sparabara - archer and spearman-shieldbearer - were rolled into a single takabara.

More Achaemenid Persians

Introduction
A Persian Primer
A Great Power Emerges 550 - 500BC
Attack on the West 500 - 400BC
Civil War 400-338BC
The End 338-329BC
Sparabara House Rule