Matthew Trundle

Excellent book on a topic of Greek's involvement in mercenary trade in the ancient times and effects of it not only between Greek city states but also on international level.

First thing to note is that this is not what you might call easy read because of large amount of references to other works and Greek sources (and I mean large amount because references are literary everywhere). This can slow down the reading (sentences are interrupted with notes and references almost constantly, I think conclusion chapter is the only part of the book free of these) and first part - discussion of terms used for mercenaries by the Greek's at one point turned into a very, extremely slow read. But then it takes off and provides truly fascinating information.

Author provides such an excellent context for the subject that at the end reader will truly understand that in ancient world mercenaries were not just ad-hoc troops fighting here and there but seriously considered, very effective and influential political tool that helped respective Greek city states to project the power and play their role in the international arena. Mercenaries were used not just as envoys and signs of friendship but also as feelers of sorts, sent deep into the unknown territory to witness and report back on the events beyond the Greek world and as such they basically acted as a type of diplomatic mission.

What comes to mind here are Swiss mercenaries - they fought and lived in a similar organized manner, and were for all means and purposes extensions of their governments (that were in turn parts of the Swiss confederation). In our modern times it would be modern day PMCs (let us not fool ourselves these are never without government direction), WW2 volunteers fighting for Nazi Germany, and various "independent" mercenary outfits controlled by intelligence services (like was case in Spain Civil War, wars in Africa and today in Eastern Europe), but with a twist - although while there are similarities due to the nature of the world at the time Greek mercenaries were more closely tied with their employers and were much more loyal to the cause (while provided remuneration of course), at some points even more loyal to the employer's cause than employer's own people.

In all of these cases mercenaries were always specialist troops, providing military know-how to solve employers issues - again something that remains true even today. In case of Greeks this included heavy shock infantry, light infantry, and sea fleet operations, which were all high level military skills at the time (and remain very complex and sought after even today).

Author gives very detailed accounts on how mercenaries troops were raised, led, provisioned (with wages but also with the equipment) and used by their employers. It becomes clear that ancient world was not a simple affair but very complex structure that connected various people and nations around the Mediterranean basin and also between Southern Europe all the way into the Asia and Northern Africa. Ability to import and use specialized troops, especially during the 5th and 4th century BC when wars became more common, not to say constant (again very similar to our times), was something that kept nations and rulers alive, and this made mercenary market very alive.

Especially of note is role of coinage - very interesting chapter showing that coins had not just monetary but also identification role, something that might be lost to us in modern times.

Another chapter that I found very interesting is chapter on mercenary generals. It becomes clear very fast that true mercenary generals were very few, majority were very closely tied to their city state and were acting on their behalf by leading mercenary armies. Again, very similar to our own times.

Excellent book, full of information, highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)