Efficiency of Mercenaries
At first the struggle was confined to these two forces,
note
and was maintained with spirit. But the light-armed
troops coming gradually to the support of such of them as
were wavering, in a very short time the whole of the mercenaries on either side were engaged. They fought sometimes
in close order, sometimes in pairs: and for a long time so entirely without decisive result, that the rest of the two armies,
who were watching in which direction the cloud of dust inclined,
could come to no conclusion, because both sides maintained
for a long while exactly their original ground.
But after a time the mercenaries of the tyrant
began to get the better of the struggle, from
their numbers, and the superiority in skill obtained by long
practice. And this is the natural and usual result. The
citizens of a democracy no doubt bring more enthusiasm to
their battles than the subjects of a tyrant; but in the same
proportion the mercenaries of sovereigns are naturally superior
and more efficient than those of a democracy. For in the
former case one side is fighting for liberty, the other for a
condition of servitude; but in the case of mercenaries, those
of the tyrant are encouraged by the certain prospect of reward,
those of a democracy know that they must lose by victory:
for as soon as a democracy has crushed its assailants, it no
longer employs mercenaries to protect its liberties; while a
tyranny requires more mercenaries in proportion as its field
of ambition is extended: for as the persons injured by it are
more numerous, those who plot against it are more numerous
also; and the security of despots rests entirely on the
loyalty and power of mercenaries.
