Mercenaries Were More Common in Greek Warfare Than Ancient Historians Let on

Smithsonian Magazine ^ | October 6, 2022 | Sarah Kuta

[SunkenCiv]

...The new study supports the results of an earlier chemical analysis of the soldiers' teeth. Published last year... the paper found that roughly two-thirds of soldiers who died during the 480 battle were not of Greek origin and that one-fourth of troops who died in 409 were not local to the area...

That’s likely because paying soldiers to fight did not fit the prevailing narrative of "heroic Greek armies of citizens and the armored spearmen known as hoplites" rising up to defend Himera that Greek writers wanted to portray, study co-author David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard University, tells the New York Times' Franz Lidz...

Researchers have been studying the necropolises near Himera since the early 1990s. Most Himerans were buried in individual graves, so when archaeologists came upon mass graves, they had a hunch that some of the people buried in them were soldiers for hire. Along with the remains of otherwise healthy men between the ages of 18 and 50, researchers also discovered swords, arrowheads and other weapons in the graves.

The Himerans gave the mercenaries "respectful but impersonal" burials in mass graves in their cemetery, per Science. They appear to have taken greater care with the bodies of Greek soldiers, placing them in smaller group graves along with burial objects, according to the researchers. The surviving Carthaginians, meanwhile, would’ve likely retrieved the bodies of their fallen comrades and taken them elsewhere for burial. So, while the research reveals new information about the genetic backgrounds of soldiers who fought at Himera, it also offers a window into how ancient Greeks saw themselves and others.

[SunkenCiv]

A depiction of Greek citizen soldiers, known as hoplites, fighting.

Grant Mitchell via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.0

[SunkenCiv]

By contrast, the armies of Carthage were largely made up of mercenaries. It's not unlikely that these dead guys had served Carthage before, and that the victorious Carthaginian forces had members who had formerly fought for Himera.

• Huge necropolis unearthed in Sicily [ Himera , 6th-5th c BC ] [11/15/2008]
• Ancient Mass Graves of Soldiers, Babies Found in Italy [ Himera battled Carthage ] [12/21/2008]
• The diverse genetic origins of a Classical period Greek army [PDF]

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I can’t even begin to comprehend the brutality of that type of warfare.

[SunkenCiv]

Some of those wounds look severe, but if they’d had Bactine, the Himerans could have turned tragedies into triumphs.

[irishjuggler]

It’s fascinating the extent to which mercenaries played an enormous though underreported role in some of history’s most significant conflicts. I’ve been reading a lot lately about the history of Spain and the centuries-long reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims by the Christians. The over-simplified narrative has always been Jihadists vs. Crusaders. But the truth is far more nuanced. You had periods when Christian mercenaries fought alongside Muslim emirs who paid well

[Cronos]

You also have the celebrated 1683 battle of Vienna.

The Muslim Ottomans were besieging the Christian Holy Roman empire.

But, Christian France was an ally with the Turks. And the Calvinists among the Hungarians actually fought on the Ottoman side against the HRE.

On the othe side Sunni Muslim Lipka Tatars fought on the Polish side against the Turks.

[SunkenCiv]

Himera's sister city was the nearby Hermera. ;^)

Bit of a slow week.

The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, alpha sort:

• Ancient Arrowhead Made of Meteorite Material Found in Switzerland, Mystifying Archaeologists [08/03/2023]
• Ancient fossil in Brazil genetically similar to modern populations [08/04/2023]
• A child's ornate necklace highlights ancient farmers' social complexity [08/04/2023]
• A 46,000-year-old worm found in Siberian permafrost was brought back to life, and started having babies [07/29/2023]
• It's a miracle, say family of Japanese soldier killed in WWII, as flag he carried returns from US [07/29/2023]
• Man finds 8,000-year-old dolphin bones in back garden [08/04/2023]
• President Warren G. Harding Died at This San Francisco Hotel Exactly 100 Years Ago. Or Did He? [08/02/2023]
• Rare Roman Gemstone Engraved with Mythological Figure Is Discovered in Italian Lagoon [08/04/2023]
• Researchers reconstruct earliest known composite-tiled roofs [08/05/2023]
• See stunning likeness of Zlaty kun, the oldest modern human to be genetically sequenced [08/01/2023]
• Serbian Coal Miners Uncover Roman Ship Near The Ancient City Of Viminacium [08/05/2023]
• Taliban Destroys What's Left of Afghanistan's Universities-Welcome to the fate of a thinking person in Afghanistan. [08/04/2023]
• US soldiers seen liberating thousands of Jews from Nazi train: Found video [08/04/2023]
• Unearthed video shows US troops saving Jews from Nazi train [08/04/2023]
• What's the difference between medieval inns, taverns and alehouses? [07/31/2023]

[ansel12]

Switzerland was created by Swiss mercenaries and their wealth.

To this day it is sometimes described as an Army that is a nation, but that was especially true in the past.

[M Kehoe]

Mercenaries have fought in all our wars.

Just saying

5.56mm

[SunkenCiv]

How was Switzerland Formed? -The History of Switzerland
Knowledgia
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April 19, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMmchavfwwI