The velites were the light infantry of the Roman armies. Before the Marian reform, when the legions were made up of Roman citizens according to their rank of wealth, the velites were drawn from the poor centuries (less poor, however, than the simple carriers).
Indeed, each citizen then had to buy his own equipment; that of vélite was the most economical, as it was limited to a sling or a few javelins. The velites wore no armour, at most a light shield. They advanced as skirmishers in front of the legions and opened the fight with their throwing weapons, before retiring behind the infantrymen better armed than them for hand-to-hand combat. Under the Republic and at the beginning of the Empire, each legion had 1,200 velites.
The velite shows well the Greek influence on the primitive Roman armies; influence which then gradually disappeared, but without causing the velite to disappear. This one is very similar to the gymnète of the Greek armies both in its social origin and in its equipment or its tactical role.