CHAPTER  III

THE    ARMY   IN   THE   FIELD

A  CAMTAiGX  in  ancient  Greece  was  a  very  different  thing  from
a  campaign  in  modern  times  :  the  armies  were  so  much  smaller
— 14,000  was  an  exceptionally  large  force — and  the  distances
which  the  army  had  to  traverse  were  so  insignificant:  a  couple  of
marches  would  frequently  suffice  to  bring  the  men  within  sight
of  the  enemy.  This  latter  fact  explains  why  the  order  given  to
the  troops,  when  called  out,  to  bring  with  them  three  days'
provisions,  was  usually  a  sufficient  solution  of  the  commissariat
problem,  and  not  such  an  inadequate  measure  as  at  first  sight
appears.  And  further,  not  only  were  the  distances  short,  but
the  strategy  was  of  the  simplest,  and  the  duration  of  the  cam-
paign usually  of  the  shortest :  the  two  armies  started  out,
marched  till  they  met,  had  a  fight,  and  went  home.  Marching
was  attended  with  but  little  difficulty  :  the  country  to  be  crossed
was  well  cultivated ;  there  were  roads  and  bridges  to  use ;  it
was  not  customary  to  attack  an  army  on  the  march,  and  there-
fore measures  to  guard  against  such  an  attack  were  almost
unknown  ;  it  was  unusual  even  to  send  reconnoitring  parties
ahead.  The  regular  troops  were  followed  by  a  huge  baggage
train,  for  every  hoplite  had  at  least  one  man  to  carry  his  w^eapons
and  knapsack.  There  were  waggons  and  beasts  of  burden  to
carry  provisions ;  there  were  sutlers  and  camp-followers  of  all
descriptions ;  there  were  the  wounded,  and  there  might  be
prisoners  and  spoil.  The  Spartans  alone  seem  to  have  endea-
voured to  maintain  some  sort  of  order  ^  in  this  following.
