{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}} {{Use British English|date=June 2018}} {{Short description|Account of mercenary warfare in Ancient Greece}} [[File:Altikulac Sarcophagus Dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia attacking a Greek psiloi early 4th century BCE.jpg|upright=1.5|thumb|A Greek mercenary (left) in the service of an [[Achaemenid]] Dynast of [[Hellespontine Phrygia]] (center) attacking a Greek [[psiloi]] (right) at the time of [[Pharnabazus II]], [[Altıkulaç Sarcophagus]], early [[4th century BC]].<ref name="CBR137">{{cite book |last1=Rose |first1=Charles Brian |title=The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521762076 |page=137|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9gaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |language=en}}</ref>]] There is evidence of [[mercenary|mercenaries]] (''misthophoroi (plural), misthios (singular male), misthia (singular female)'' in Greek) being hired in [[Ancient Greek warfare|Ancient Greece]] from the 6th century BC. The [[Tyrant#Archaic tyrants|tyrants]] of that time hired [[Bodyguard|bodyguards]] from other city-states.<ref name="GS411">{{harvnb | Speake | 1994 | p=411}}</ref> It is not known if earlier [[Aegean civilizations|Aegean]] armies and navies, such as the [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] and [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaeans]], used mercenaries.
Mercenary troops from [[Caria]] and [[Ionia]] are known to have fought with [[Psamtik I]] against the [[Assyria]]ns.<ref>{{harvnb | Bury | Meiggs | 1975 | p=84}}</ref> These were the "[[bronze]] men from the sea" whose arrival in Egypt, according to [[Herodotus]], was foretold to Psamtik by an [[oracle]]. They entered the country as raiders but Psamtik made a truce with them and hired them to his cause. Afterwards, he granted land to them alongside the [[Nile]] and they are traditionally held to have been the first Greeks to settle in Egypt.<ref>{{harvnb | Herodotus | 1975 | p=191 | loc=Book Two}}</ref>
In the [[5th century BC]], [[Arcadia (region)|Arcadia]]n soldiers fought for [[Xerxes I]] in 480 when he led the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Persian invasion of Greece]]. Later in the century, many Greek mercenaries were employed by Persian [[satrap]]s, especially in [[Anatolia]]. During the [[Peloponnesian War]], mercenaries from [[Thrace]] and other outlying regions were hired by both sides as [[hoplite]]s and [[peltast]]s. In [[401 BC]], many Greeks supported [[Cyrus the Younger]] in his campaign against [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]] and fought at the [[Battle of Cunaxa]]. The [[Ten Thousand]] (401–399) were a Greek mercenary army made famous by [[Xenophon]], one of their generals, when he wrote his ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]''.<ref name="GS411"/>
Through the 4th century BC, mercenaries were widely employed as is shown by the careers of such as [[Iphicrates]], [[Chares of Athens|Chares]] and [[Charidemus]]. Many fought for the Persians when they reconquered Egypt. The majority of the [[Phocis|Phocian]] army in the [[Third Sacred War]] were mercenaries. [[Philip II of Macedon]] was heavily reliant upon mercenaries until he had built up the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian army]] which became his legacy to [[Alexander the Great]]. Alexander in his turn was confronted by Greek mercenaries when he invaded the Persian Empire. Mercenary service continued to flourish through the [[Hellenistic period]].<ref name="GS411"/>
==2nd millennium BC== The term ''misthophoros'' originally applied to someone who worked in return for payment by salary. That included hired labour and the word was very soon applied to hired professional soldiers and sailors.<ref name="SSAcad">{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/6176302 | title=Ancient Greek Mercenaries in Antiquity | last=Skarmintzos | first=Stephanos | website=Academia | date=2018 | access-date=21 June 2018}}</ref> Armed forces in [[Minoan civilization|Minoan Crete]] and [[Mycenae]] may essentially have been citizen armies and navies but, according to the [[Trojan War]] legend, the Mycenaeans relied heavily on their alliance with other Greek city-states. Whether or not either side employed mercenaries is open to speculation but what can be said is that complete details of the organisation and structure of Bronze Age armies are unclear to us and the employment of mercenaries cannot be excluded.<ref name="SSAcad"/>
After the Egyptian [[Pharaoh]] [[Rameses II]] (r.1279–1213 BC) defeated the [[Sherden]] sea pirates at the beginning of his reign, he hired many of them to serve in his bodyguard. It has been suggested that some of them were from [[Ionia]]. In the reign (1213–1203 BC) of his successor [[Merneptah]], Egypt was attacked by their Libyan neighbours and some experts believe that the Libyan army included mercenaries from Europe. Among them were people termed ''Ekwash'' and it has been proposed that this meant [[Achaea]]n, but there is no certainty of that as other evidence points to an attempted encroachment by Libyans only upon neighbouring territory.<ref>{{harvnb | Drews | 1995 | p=54}}</ref>
==8th and 7th century BC==
Ancient literary sources reveal that during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Greek mercenaries were hired by several eastern kingdoms, including Assyria, Syria, Cilicia, and Palestine.<ref name="Rebecca Ann Dunham">[https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/E0/01/08/38/00001/UFE0010838.pdf The Origins of the Kouros, Rebecca Ann Dunham, University of Florida]</ref>
In either 669 or 668 BC, the first [[Battle of Hysiae (c. 669 BC)|Battle of Hysiae]] was fought between the armies of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] and [[Sparta]]. As [[Hysiae, Argolis|Hysiae]] is in [[Argolis]], it is assumed that the Spartans had invaded. The Argives won the battle and so repulsed the invasion.<ref name="BM524">{{harvnb | Bury | Meiggs | 1975 | p=524}}</ref> Argos, then ruled by [[Pheidon II]], thus confirmed its continuing dominance in the [[Peloponnese]], unbroken since the [[Dorian invasion]] and it is thought that this was the peak of Argive power.<ref name="BM524"/> The battle marked a turning point in both Greek and military history as it caused the Spartans to adopt the [[phalanx]] of [[hoplite]]s as their key strategy in place of the loose spear-throwing formations prevalent until then. The phalanx was to revolutionise warfare.
It is in the 7th century that mercenaries are mentioned in the [[lyric poetry]] works of [[Alcaeus of Mytilene|Alcaeus]] and [[Archilochus]].
Argos went into decline after the death of Pheidon c.655 but tyrannies became common throughout the Greek world, starting with [[Cypselus]] of [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] from c.655 to c.625.<ref name="BM106">{{harvnb | Bury | Meiggs | 1975 | p=106}}</ref> He was succeeded by his son [[Periander]] to c.585. He was contemporary with [[Thrasybulus]], tyrant of [[Miletus]] from c.615 to c.590. These three turned Corinth and Miletus into major trading centres and there was an alliance between the two.<ref name="BM107">{{harvnb | Bury | Meiggs | 1975 | pp=107–108}}</ref> The tyrants hired mercenaries to form their personal bodyguards and to accompany their merchant vessels on trading missions to protect them from pirates.<ref name="SSAcad"/> Thrasybulus had the additional problem of annual attacks being mounted by the [[Lydians]] but he strengthened the Milesian defence system and was able to withstand the attacks from Lydia. He eventually concluded a peace treaty with [[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]].<ref name="BM107"/>
[[Ostraca]] discovered at the Judean fortress of [[Tel Arad]], dated to around 640 BC, contain Hebrew inscriptions that suggest a Greek presence in the Near East. These messages, addressed to a man named Eliashib, instruct the delivery of wine, bread, and oil to the "Kittim", referring to Greek mercenaries in the service of Judah.<ref name="Rebecca Ann Dunham"/>
Greek mercenaries were also serving the king of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]].<ref name="Rebecca Ann Dunham"/>
In the first half of the first millennium BC, Egypt was under the control of foreign powers, including Assyria, Libya, and the Kushite Kingdom. [[Psammetichus I]], an Egyptian prince, aimed to restore native rule and turned to Ionian and Carian mercenaries for support. After successfully regaining independence, he established the 26th Dynasty and rewarded the mercenaries with positions in his army and also granted them land at [[Naucratis]] to found a new settlement.<ref name="Rebecca Ann Dunham"/>
==6th century BC== A noted Cretan mercenary of this time was [[Hybrias]]. He was also a [[lyric poetry|lyric poet]] and left a [[skolion]] (drinking song) called the ''spear-song'' in which he proclaimed himself a great warrior: "I have great wealth – a spear, a sword and a fine shield to save my skin. With these I plough, I reap, I tread the sweet grapes and am called master of my serfs. All those that dare not hold the spear and sword and fine shield to save their skin, all bow and kiss my knee, calling me master and great king".<ref name="PJSpec">{{cite web | url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-mercenaries-of-is-and-ancient-greece | title=The mercenaries of IS and ancient Greece | last=Jones | first=Peter | website=The Spectator | date=16 January 2016 | access-date=18 June 2018}}</ref>
==5th century BC== Between the decline of the Archaic tyrants and the [[Peloponessian War]] there was little need for mercenaries in Greece, due to the prominence of citizen armies. However, a considerable number of Greeks could be found in the service of barbarian nations.<ref name="LPM17">{{harvnb | Marinovich | 1975 | p=17}}</ref>
==4th century BC== Greek [[hoplites]] were widely admired for their skill as soldiers. The demand led many Greeks who faced poverty or exile to enlist as mercenaries in the pay of another state. Others, not so burdened with worry, became mercenaries through a desire for loot and adventure.<ref name="PJSpec"/> In many Greek states, including Athens, the threats from Persia and Macedon required strong defensive forces. One of the main problems in creating and maintaining military strength was that peasant citizens could not afford to abandon their smallholdings for long periods of service and so the demand for professional soldiers increased. The orator [[Isocrates]] was highly critical of Athens for employing mercenaries whom he denounced as the "common enemies of mankind". Athenian citizens, he said, must not be "rejoicing in the atrocities of such violent, lawless brigands".<ref name="PJSpec"/>
[[Aristotle]] accepted that mercenaries were competent but he doubted their courage and loyalty. In his view, mercenaries "become cowards when the danger seems too great for them", being the "first to run" when defeat is imminent. Aristotle argued in favour of citizen soldiers who see flight from battle as a disgrace, preferring death with honour. Mercenaries, said Aristotle, "fear death more than shame".<ref name="PJSpec"/>
[[Stephanus of Byzantium]] referred to the city Daedala in India as an Indo-Cretan city, likely because it was a settlement of [[Cretan]] mercenaries.<ref>{{cite book| last = Woodthorpe Tarn| first = William | title = The Greeks in Bactria and India | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]|date=June 2010| page = 250| isbn = 978-1108009416}}</ref><ref name="topostext.org">[https://topostext.org/work/241 Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, D216.8]</ref> [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poems describe Greek soldiers serving as mercenaries for Indian kings, portraying them as "the valiant-eyed Yavanas, whose bodies were strong and of terrible aspect".<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Indian Theatre|author1=Pande, L.V.|author2=Varadpande, M.L.|date=1987|volume=1|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=9788170172215|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyxOHOCVcVkC|page=235|access-date=2014-12-13}}</ref> [[Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher]] suggested that some figures in [[Gandhara]] sculptures may represent Greek mercenaries.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Greeks in Bactria and India|author=William Woodthorpe Tarn|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1108009416|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC|page=250}}</ref> Additionally, the [[Cilappatikaram]] mentions Yavana soldiers, which scholars, including Professor Dikshitar, believe refers to the Greek mercenaries employed by Tamil kings.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient Indian and Indo-Greek Theatre|author=M.L. Varadpande|date=1981|publisher=Humanities Pr|isbn=978-0391024090|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JYuJWxLv-U0C|page=107}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==Sources== ===Books=== * {{cite book | last1=Bury | first1=J. B. | author1link=J. B. Bury | last2=Meiggs | first2=Russell | author2link=Russell Meiggs | title=A History of Greece | year=1975 | orig-year=first published 1900 | publisher=MacMillan Press | location=London | isbn=0-333-15492-4| edition=Fourth }} * {{cite book | last1=Drews | first1=Robert | author1link=Robert Drews | title=The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 BC | year=1995 | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn=0-691-02591-6}} * {{cite book | title=Dictionary of Ancient History | editor1-last=Speake | editor1-first=Graham | publisher=Penguin Books | location=London | year=1994 | isbn=0-14-044034-8}} * {{cite book | last=Herodotus | author-link=Herodotus | title=The Histories | editor1-last=Burn | editor1-first=A. R. | editor2-last=de Sélincourt | editor2-first=Aubrey | publisher=Penguin Books | location=London | year=1975 | orig-year=first published 1954 | isbn=0-14-051260-8}} * {{cite book | last=Thucydides | author-link=Thucydides | title=History of the Peloponnesian War | editor1-last=Warner | editor1-first=Rex | editor2-last=Finley | editor2-first=M. I. | publisher=Penguin Books | location=London | year=1972 | orig-year=first published 1954 | isbn=0-14-044039-9 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpelopo000thuc }} * {{cite book | last1=Marinovich | first1=Lyudmila| author-link=:ru:Маринович, Людмила Петровна | title=The Greek Mercenarism of the 4th Century B.C. and the Crisis of the Polis. | year=1975 | publisher=Наука |url=http://www.sno.pro1.ru/lib/marinovich_grecheskoe_naemnichestvo/index.htm}}
===Online=== * {{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/6176302 | title=Ancient Greek Mercenaries in Antiquity | last=Skarmintzos | first=Stephanos | website=Academia | date=2018 | access-date=16 June 2018}} * {{cite web | url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-mercenaries-of-is-and-ancient-greece | title=The mercenaries of IS and ancient Greece | last=Jones | first=Peter | website=The Spectator | date=16 January 2016 | access-date=16 June 2018}} * {{cite web | url=http://www.markedbyteachers.com/university-degree/historical-and-philosophical-studies/how-did-the-use-of-mercenaries-contribute-to-the-decline-of-the-greek-citizen-soldier-during-the-hellenistic-period-1.html | title=How did the use of Mercenaries contribute to the decline of the Greek citizen-soldier during the Hellenistic period? | last=Skarmintzos | first=Stephanos | website=Academia | date=2018 | access-date=16 June 2018}} * {{cite web | url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Warfare/ | title=Ancient Greek Warfare | last=Cartwright | first=Mark | website=[[World History Encyclopaedia]] | date=27 March 2018 | access-date=16 June 2018}} * {{cite web | url=https://lorcanobrien.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/greek-mercenaries-aspects-of-greek-mercenary-warfare-from-the-earliest-times-and-case-studies-on-the-impact-of-mercenaries-on-warfare-in-the-fourth-century/ | title=Greek Mercenaries: Aspects of Greek Mercenary Warfare from the Earliest Times, and Case Studies on the Impact of Mercenaries on Warfare in the Fourth Century | last=O'Brien | first=Lorcan | website=WordPress | date=16 August 2012 | access-date=16 June 2018}}
[[Category:Mercenary units and formations of antiquity]] [[Category:Military history of ancient Greece]]