A small shield, Iphicrates, observing that the ancient Clipeus was cumbrous and inconvenient, introduced among the Greeks a much smaller and lighter shield, from which those who bore it took the name of peltastae. It consisted principally of a frame of wood or wicker-work, covered with skin or leather. An elegant form of the pelta is exhibited in the preceting cut, representing Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons, in the act of offering aid to Priam. - Smith, 1873