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.[1]
There is evidence of mercenaries (misthophoroi (plural), misthios (singular male), misthia (singular female) in Greek) being hired in Ancient Greece from the 6th century BC. The tyrants of that time hired bodyguards from other city-states.[2] It is not known if earlier Aegean armies and navies, such as the Minoans and Mycenaeans, used mercenaries.
Mercenary troops from Caria and Ionia are known to have fought with Psamtik I against the Assyrians.[3] 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.[4]
In the 5th century BC, Arcadian soldiers fought for Xerxes I in 480 when he led the Persian invasion of Greece. Later in the century, many Greek mercenaries were employed by Persian satraps, especially in Anatolia. During the Peloponnesian War, mercenaries from Thrace and other outlying regions were hired by both sides as hoplites and peltasts. In 401 BC, many Greeks supported Cyrus the Younger in his campaign against 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.[2]
Through the 4th century BC, mercenaries were widely employed as is shown by the careers of such as Iphicrates, Chares and Charidemus. Many fought for the Persians when they reconquered Egypt. The majority of the Phocian army in the Third Sacred War were mercenaries. 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. Alexander in his turn was confronted by Greek mercenaries when he invaded the Persian Empire. Mercenary service continued to flourish through the Hellenistic period.[2]
^Rose, Charles Brian (2014). The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy. Cambridge University Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780521762076.
^ abcSpeake 1994, p. 411
^Bury & Meiggs 1975, p. 84
^Herodotus 1975, p. 191, Book Two
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