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THE ARMY AND NAVY. 155when the very slaves were armed, usually under the promiseof their freedom, if they should do their duty. 1The militia of a country may, under certain circumstances, very nearly resemble a standing army. Yet theprinciples on which the two are founded, are very different.The citizen who serves as a soldier, has for his object thelefence of his family and his property; and hence thenaxim in states, where the army is composed of citizens, thatle who has the most to lose, will make the best soldier. InRome the poorer class, (capite censi,) till the times of\larius, was excluded from military service ;and it seemshave been hardly otherwise in Athens. 2 Yet this poorerilass was or grew to be the most numerous ;accustomed to)rivations, those who composed it were perhaps for that'eason the best fitted for the duties of war. When, on thecontrary, standing armies are formed, property ceases to beegarded and the; greatest number of enlistments is maderom the needy part of the community. What a contrast>etween this and the Grecian institutions !Considering therefore the moderate extent of the Greciantates, it was the less to be expected that any of them could.ssemble a large army,if the slaves were not enrolled. Eveninhere every one was put in motion, the number remainedimited ;not more than ten thousand Athenians fought onhe plain of Marathon. Large armies could be collectednly by the union of many states the most numerous;everollected in Greece, during its independence, was in theattle of Platsese. 3 But these considerable alliances wereommonly of a temporary nature and for that reason;thert of war could not be much advanced by them. Fromhe battle of Platseee till the age of Epaminondas, that is,uring the most flourishing period of Greece, a Grecianrmy of thirty thousand men was probably never assembled1 one place.The Persian wars seem to have been suited to promote:teimprovement of military science. But after the battlef Plataeae, it was the navy and not the land forces which1Thucyd. iv. 5.2Harpocration In Btjrs^ Yet it is evident from the passage,that the caseas different in the time of Demosthenes,8About 111,000 men. But only 38,000 were heavily armed j and of thejtroops, 37,000 were Spartan Helots. Herod, ix. 2$, 30.