 The xyston is usually mentioned in context with the "hetairoi" (), the cavalry forces of ancient Macedon.After Alexander the Great's death, the "hetairoi" were named "xystophoroi" (, "spear-bearers") because of their use of the xyston lance.In his Greek-written "Bellum Judaicum", the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus uses the term "xyston" to describe the Roman throwing javelin, the "pilum".