Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

62 GREEKS BECOME MERCENARIES.mercenary troops, were created. In tlie Peloponnesian war,and during the period of her greatest splendor (465-429B. c), Athens made use extensively of mercenary troops, andother Greek states soon followed suit.Down to the Peloi^onnesian war the Athenians had retainedtheir civil and military virtues in full force.But thisinternecine struggle ruined the population, devastated Greece,and familiarized the Greeks with serving for gold. Periclesfound it necessary to pay the troops.The hoplites had nothingleft to subsist upon.Asia, on a limited scale ;They had ah-eady served for pay inbut after the Peloponnesian war, theOriental princes or satraps, Carthage, or indeed any otherpeople or prince who needed them, had no difficulty in collectinglarge bodies of Greek mercenaries. From this paidforeign ser^'ice it was but a step to the point where theGreeks were willing to serve inpreference him who paid themost. The jiayj^aried from five to twenty cents a^ay. Thebest ofthe Greek population embraced arms as a profession,engaged mostly abroad, and left the poorer material at home.Greek cities themselves had to hire soldiers.The better citizenswoidd no longer serve.They procured substitutes, andthe armies, often kept standing, were filled up with wretchedstuff. But in most of the Greek cities there remained a betternucleus, a corps cV elite., in which alone the highest citizenshad a place. Though this was small, it was a leaven. Suchwas the Theban Sacred Band, or Band ofbound together by ties ofLovers, which wasaffection and oaths of fidelity, and,but three hundred strong, so often saved the day for Thebes.This gallant body was finally cut to pieces at Chaeronsea.would not yield a foot.in hand.Every man fell where he stood, swordWhile the armies of Greece were thus degenerating, theschools, in which, in addition to gymnastics, were taughtIt