Fig. 167.
mercenary system was introduced. This began as early as the time of the Peloponnesian war, and gradually gained ground. Originally they hired troops from foreign nations of a kind which were wanting in their own army; thus, javelin throwers were brought from Rhodes, and archers from Crete, but in the course of the fourth century the actual Hellenic population, and in particular that of Attica, became more and more unwarlike, and as the princes of Macedonia and other non-Hellenic states began to form standing armies of well-disciplined mercenary troops, the Hellenic republics were forced to follow this example as their own military power diminished. This mercenary system did a great deal to undermine the independence of Greece, and facilitate its subjection under the Macedonian dominion. Even in the time of the Peloponnesian war, the Arcadians were willing to fight for anyone who would pay them, against their own countrymen; in the expedition of the Ten Thousand, they formed an important part of the troops of
Fig. 168.
the younger Cyrus, and by no means the worst part. As the population was impoverished by many wars, they became more willing to respond to the invitation of any capable Condottiere, and collected from all states, but chiefly from Peloponnesus; and it sometimes happened that the members of a single state or tribe united together as a special division of the army. As the warlike spirit disappeared among the citizens, who were unwilling to undergo the fatigues of service, these standing mercenary troops, under the command of excellent generals, became more and more disciplined and capable. The pay for a common soldier was usually four obols a day (about fivepence), half of which was pay and the other half ration-money; this amount was sometimes increased. The captain of a company received twice as much, the general four times, but the prospect of booty was even more attractive than the money; for according to the conditions of warfare of that time, every campaign was a predatory and ravaging expedition, and the mercenary troops who went to war from purely personal motives spared neither friend nor foe, and herein simply followed the example of their leaders.
Fig. 169.
We must now say a few words about Greek arms, in which, as already mentioned, very few changes took place. The full armour of a Homeric hero consisted of greaves, cuirass, helmet, shield, sword, and one or two spears, and in all essentials this was also the armour of the heavy-armed soldiers of the historic