DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0429
OF THE MIUTARi AFFAIRS OK GREECE,
407
foreign wars till twenty ; the Spartans seldom till thirty. The younger
men in both cities, with those who, by reason of their age, were discharg-
ed from military service, were left at home to defend their habita-
tions.
Some persons were excused by reason of their age ; for having spent
their youth and strength in serving their country, it was but reasonable
to discharge them from farther service, that they might end their days in
peace. After threescore years, it seems to have been usual in most places,
to allow them liberty of retiring. At Athens, no man above forty was
pressed to serve in the wars, except in times of extreme danger (1),
Others were exempt on account of their functions ; such wer e, at Athens,
oi TsAog vrpiuixtvot, the farmers of the public customs (2), whose presence
was required in the city during the whole time of their employment, and
ieveral of the holy orders, as also the persons appointed to dance at Bac~
chus's festival (3).
Others were excluded from serving in the wars ; such were the slaves,
and such others as lived amongst them, but were not honoured with the
freedom of their cities. These were never admitted except in cases of
extreme danger, when there remained no other means of preserving the
commonwealth. Of this custom I have already given a large account in
one of the foregoing books (4).
All that served were entered into a public roll ; whence the levy was
called xaroLygaQv, xarvXoyos, ^oroAoy i'a ; and to make a levy xccraXoyov,
or xa<ray£a0ijv <irois7<fdai. Amongst the primitive Grecians, it seems to
have been frequently made by lots, every family being obliged to furnish
out a certain number, and filling up their proportion by the chance of
lots: whence Mercury, in Homer (5), pretending to be one of trie sons
of Polyctor the Myrmidon, adds, that he was appointed by lot to follow
Achilles to the Trojan war.
Iw (WZTatwitAX^svoc. KA)t'/>a> Act^Sv evQacT'e^SfrSat/.
'Twas I, who, when the lots were drawn,
Wasdoom'd to follow Peleus's mighty son.
For the appointment of all persons of a certain age to be ready to serve
in the wars, seems only to be an institution of later ages ; whereas all
such like things were formerly managed at the pleasure of the supreme
magistrate.
The soldiers were all maintained at their own expenses ; no name was
more opprobrious than that of a mercenary, it being looked upon as a
disgrace for any person of ingenuous birth and education to serve for
wages. For all this, it was not permitted any person to absent himself,
except upon reasons allowed by the law ; and whoever was found thus
to have transgressed, was at Athens deprived of his voice in all public
business, and, in a manner, of all other rights of citizens, and was for-
bidden to enter into any of the public temples (6). And lest any of the
persons appointed to serve should make their escape, we find they were
branded with certain marks, called i\yyua.sa. These are mentioned by Ve-
(1) TJIpianus in Olynthiac. iii,
(2) Demosthenes in Ne«ram,
(3) Idem Midiana
(4) Lib. i. cap. 10. (5) Iliad 6.
(6) iEschines Ctesiphontea, Demosthenes
Timicratea,
407
foreign wars till twenty ; the Spartans seldom till thirty. The younger
men in both cities, with those who, by reason of their age, were discharg-
ed from military service, were left at home to defend their habita-
tions.
Some persons were excused by reason of their age ; for having spent
their youth and strength in serving their country, it was but reasonable
to discharge them from farther service, that they might end their days in
peace. After threescore years, it seems to have been usual in most places,
to allow them liberty of retiring. At Athens, no man above forty was
pressed to serve in the wars, except in times of extreme danger (1),
Others were exempt on account of their functions ; such wer e, at Athens,
oi TsAog vrpiuixtvot, the farmers of the public customs (2), whose presence
was required in the city during the whole time of their employment, and
ieveral of the holy orders, as also the persons appointed to dance at Bac~
chus's festival (3).
Others were excluded from serving in the wars ; such were the slaves,
and such others as lived amongst them, but were not honoured with the
freedom of their cities. These were never admitted except in cases of
extreme danger, when there remained no other means of preserving the
commonwealth. Of this custom I have already given a large account in
one of the foregoing books (4).
All that served were entered into a public roll ; whence the levy was
called xaroLygaQv, xarvXoyos, ^oroAoy i'a ; and to make a levy xccraXoyov,
or xa<ray£a0ijv <irois7<fdai. Amongst the primitive Grecians, it seems to
have been frequently made by lots, every family being obliged to furnish
out a certain number, and filling up their proportion by the chance of
lots: whence Mercury, in Homer (5), pretending to be one of trie sons
of Polyctor the Myrmidon, adds, that he was appointed by lot to follow
Achilles to the Trojan war.
Iw (WZTatwitAX^svoc. KA)t'/>a> Act^Sv evQacT'e^SfrSat/.
'Twas I, who, when the lots were drawn,
Wasdoom'd to follow Peleus's mighty son.
For the appointment of all persons of a certain age to be ready to serve
in the wars, seems only to be an institution of later ages ; whereas all
such like things were formerly managed at the pleasure of the supreme
magistrate.
The soldiers were all maintained at their own expenses ; no name was
more opprobrious than that of a mercenary, it being looked upon as a
disgrace for any person of ingenuous birth and education to serve for
wages. For all this, it was not permitted any person to absent himself,
except upon reasons allowed by the law ; and whoever was found thus
to have transgressed, was at Athens deprived of his voice in all public
business, and, in a manner, of all other rights of citizens, and was for-
bidden to enter into any of the public temples (6). And lest any of the
persons appointed to serve should make their escape, we find they were
branded with certain marks, called i\yyua.sa. These are mentioned by Ve-
(1) TJIpianus in Olynthiac. iii,
(2) Demosthenes in Ne«ram,
(3) Idem Midiana
(4) Lib. i. cap. 10. (5) Iliad 6.
(6) iEschines Ctesiphontea, Demosthenes
Timicratea,