A theory about this group posits that a translator mistook their name for a word meaning “companion” or “follower.” A possible member of this group was forced to guard a beautiful gold-decorated plane-tree. In an account set in Thessaly, this group is the first chosen to form an army, but (-5[1])without their general Hydarnes the Younger. Gold and silver pomegranate-shaped spear butts were wielded by this group, who are sometimes conflated with the imperial (-5[1])guard’s (*) “Apple Bearers.” This was the first group chosen by Mardonius to remain in Greece. The Median failure to break Leonidas’s lines forced Xerxes to dispatch this 10,000-strong (10[1])unit (10[1])in his second assault at Thermopylae. (10[1])For 10 points, “when one died, another immediately replaced him” (10[1])aptly describes what elite Persian infantry unit? ■END■ (10[1])