Mercenaries

This type of bravery is displayed in various circumstances, and particularly in war by professional soldiers.

whereas professional soldiers were relying from the outset on superior strength, and when they discover they are outnumbered they take to flight, fearing death more than disgrace.

Also experience renders them the most efficient in inflicting loss on the enemy without sustaining it themselves, as they are skilled in the use of arms, and equipped with the best ones both for attack and defence.

So then Phoebidas and two or three with him fell fighting, and when this happened the mercenaries all took to flight.

But since the peltasts who were mercenaries in the service of the Thebans clung boldly at his heels, and kept calling out to Chabrias because he was not doing the same, the horsemen of the Olynthians — for they were now serving with the Lacedaemonians in accordance with their sworn agreement — wheeled about and, once in pursuit of the peltasts, chased them on up a slope and killed very many of them;

He also occupied himself, during the whole time that he spent there awaiting the mercenaries under Polytropus, in repairing all those portions of the city wall which needed it.

In addition to all this, on the charge that, when I was on military service and had collected mercenaries with Ameinias (seeing that I was well-provided with funds from other sources, and had collected from Mytilene from your proxenus Apollonides and the friends of our city three hundred Phocaic staters, and had spent that sum upon these troops, in order that a matter might be prosecuted which was …

the rest should be mercenaries.

Not an imposing army—on paper—of ten or twenty thousand mercenaries!

Of mercenaries I propose—and beware of the mistake that has so often thwarted your efforts.

next, that our generals may not lead mercenaries to the plunder of our allies without even coming in sight of the enemy, so that the profit is all their own, while the State at large incurs the hatred and the abuse, but that they may have their own citizens at their back, and may so deal with our enemies as they now deal with our friends.

Yes, you may say, as to that indeed the speakers are proved wrong, but the mercenaries are really acting abominably in ravaging the shores of the Hellespont, and Diopithes is wrong in detaining the merchantmen, and we must not sanction it.

he is actually dispatching mercenaries and forwarding supplies, and he is expected in person with a large force.

Never have I suggested that we should give the worker’s wages to the drone, or that we should ourselves remain inactive, idle, and helpless, and only learn by report that So-and-so’s mercenaries have won a victory.

And we have reached such a degree of imbecility that, although we are ourselves in need of the necessities of daily existence, we have undertaken to support mercenary troops and we do violence to our own allies and extort money from them in order to provide pay for the common enemies of all mankind.

Now, however, we use mercenaries as heavy-armed troops but compel citizens to row the ships, with the result that when they land in hostile territory these men, who claim the right to rule over the Hellenes, disembark with their cushions under their arms, while men who are of the character which I have just described take the field with shield and spear!

But, for all that, we are so enamored of these mercenaries that while we would not willingly assume the responsibility for the acts of our own children if they offended against anyone, yet for the brigandage, the violence, and the lawlessness of these men, the blame for which is bound to be laid at our door, not only do we feel no regret, but we actually rejoice whenever we hear that they have per …

But in those days there was no body of professional soldiers, and so, being compelled to collect mercenaries from the several states, they had to spend more money on bounties for their recruiting agents than on pay for the troops.

But the King, not withstanding that his foes had suffered so severe a loss, felt so thorough a contempt for his own forces that he invited Clearchus and the other captains to a parley, promising to give them great gifts and to pay their soldiers their wages in full and to give them safe convoy home;

On the contrary, although they admit that in all their wars they have no soldiers of their own nor generals nor any of the things which are serviceable in times of danger, but have to send and get all these from us, we have gone so far in our passion to injure ourselves that, whereas it lies in our power to possess the wealth of the barbarians in security and peace, we continue to wage war upon ea …

I marvel that so many who maintain great forces hire mercenary armies and expend so much money on them, although they know that such help has been the cause of greater injury than of salvation to those who relied upon them, and have made no effort to gain the friendship of a city which possesses such power that it has ere now often saved every Hellenic state and indeed all Greece.

But despots hire their guards like harvesters.

No, no, he will need them, of course, said Simonides.

Or once more, when the citizens go campaigning, what is more useful to them than mercenaries?