Ghiscari legions were the traditional military units of the Ghiscari Empire. Trained to fight with spear, sword and shield, they were the backbone of the Empire's domination over the continent of Essos. Even after the Doom of Valyria, four hundred years before the War of the Five Kings, and the resulting nigh-extinction of dragons throughout east and central Essos, the age of foot soldiers was still considered dead in the face of the emergence of Dothraki khalasars. Infantry were no match against the lightning strikes of Dothraki light cavalry armed with their arakhs and bows.