Ancient Greek mercenaries

In 401 BC, many Greeks supported Cyrus the Younger in his campaign against Artaxerxes II and fought at the Battle of Cunaxa.

Philip II of Macedon was heavily reliant upon mercenaries until he had built up the Macedonian army which became his legacy to Alexander the Great.

[5] Armed forces in 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.

[5] 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.

Among them were people termed Ekwash and it has been proposed that this meant Achaean, but there is no certainty of that as other evidence points to an attempted encroachment by Libyans only upon neighbouring territory.

[7] 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.

[7] The battle marked a turning point in both Greek and military history as it caused the Spartans to adopt the phalanx of hoplites as their key strategy in place of the loose spear-throwing formations prevalent until then.

[9] The tyrants hired mercenaries to form their personal bodyguards and to accompany their merchant vessels on trading missions to protect them from pirates.

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".

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.

Aristotle argued in favour of citizen soldiers who see flight from battle as a disgrace, preferring death with honour.