Herodotus tells us that in the army of Xerxes the Medes were armed exactly as the Persians, carrying on their heads a soft felt cap, on their bodies a sleeved tunic, and on their legs trousers.

Their offensive arms, he says, were the spear, the bow, and the dagger.

They had large wicker shields, and bore their quivers suspended at their backs.

Sometimes their tunic was made into a coat of mail by the addition to it on the outside of a number of small iron plates arranged so as to overlap each other, like the scales of a fish.

They served both on horseback and on foot, with the same equipment in both cases.
There is no reason to doubt the correctness of this description of the Median military dress under the early Persian kings.