They were barbarians: plunder appeared to them easier and even more honorable than productive work.
War, once waged simply to avenge aggression or as a means of enlarging territory that had become inadequate, was now waged for the sake of plunder alone, and became a regular profession.
The growth of slavery had already begun to brand working for a living as slavish and more ignominious than engaging in plunder.
"[1]According to Engels, the Greek Heroic Age was a typical example of military democracy.
[1] Lewis Henry Morgan spoke of two features: "the military state of society, and the system of administration consisting of an elective and removable supreme chief, a council of elders and a popular assembly.