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5also problematic for the Greek warrior heritage which was based on volunteer citizensoldiersrather than career mercenaries. 5 The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) led toan increase in the demand for mercenaries and they eventually comprised the bulk ofthe army of Alexander the Great (336–323 BC). 6A similar pattern occurred in Rome. The Roman Army originally consisted of Romancitizen infantry supported by mercenary archers and cavalry known as auxiliaries. TheRoman Navy relied almost completely on auxiliaries and slaves. Later, the Romangovernment found it increasingly difficult to recruit sufficient troops for its campaignsand offered citizenship to foreigners as an inducement for twenty-year contracts ofenlistment. The Romans also noted the successes of Hannibal’s predominantlymercenary army during the Second Punic War (221–201 BC). 7 From 27 BC on, theImperial Roman Army replaced its citizen-soldiers with mercenaries (who were earningcitizenship) and hired auxiliaries. Foreign mercenary soldiers were preferred for useas personal bodyguards such as the Imperial Praetorian Guard as they were less likelyto be swayed by local public opinion. So critical were these hired troops to the Romanfighting forces that a decline in their quality almost certainly contributed to the fall ofthe Western Empire in 476. 8During the Middle Ages, feudal rulers employed foreign professional soldiersbecause they were better trained than agricultural serfs called to the colours by a liegelord.9 During the Hundred Years War (1337–1453), compulsory training at arms and thefrequent experience of warfare reduced the need for mercenaries. Despite this trend,aristocratic warriors-for-hire, known as ‘knights errant’, were a feature of medievalwarfare. Medieval armies also included specialist mercenary artillerymen, crossbowmenand engineers. 10 Some medieval mercenaries, such as the Englishman John Hawkwood,5 See Y Garlan, War in the Ancient World: A Social History, Chatto & Windus, London, 1975; and H WParke, Greek Mercenary Soldiers: From the Earliest times to the Battle of Ipsus, Clarendon Press,Oxford, 1970.6 J Warry, Warfare in the Classical World, St Martin’s Press, New York, 1980, pp. 40–85.7 See Garlan, War in the Ancient World; and B Caven, The Punic Wars, St Martin’s Press, New York,1980.8 See D B Saddington, The Development of the Roman Auxiliary Forces From Caesar to Vespasian (49BC – AD 79), University of Zimbabwe, Harare, 1882; and A E R Boak, Manpower Shortage and theFall of the Roman Empire in the West, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1955.9 H W Koch, Medieval Warfare, Bison Books, London, 1978, pp. 84–85.10 Ibid., pp. 128–37, 170–71.