Why were slave armies used?
Upvote:3
The things differed a lot between civilizations, status of slaves and the rewards promised for going to war.
First of all, there was no single, the same notion of "slavery" throughout history.
What in Muslim world is translated as "slave" could have a different meaning at the time and place where it was used. For instance, one could translate it as "vassal" or "recruit" and that would not be much less correct.
For instance, any mobilized soldiers are not de-facto free in any European army. They are not called "slaves", but what's the difference anyway?
Eastern societies throughout history were very hierarchical in such a way, that only the sultan could be called the single free person, with even his vizier could be considered a "slave", and the sultan had life-and-death power over him. Of course, this is not entirely translatable into European languages where we have traditional nobles, slaves, serfs, vassals, etc, and even in Europe the notions differ between cultures.
That said, Ancient Greeks and Romans had a few good examples of using slaves as soldiers in desperate circumstances. In all those known cases the slaves were promised freedom upon victory, so they were sufficiently motivated.
More post
- 📝 Why didn't Stalin use force to bring Tito into line?
- 📝 What sources or documentation exists to indicate Stalin's level of popularity in Russia today?
- 📝 Did Jinnah in 1947 or 1946 forsake his demand for Pakistan on the condition of maximum autonomy for the provinces within the united India?
- 📝 Why does the Uruk King List say Antiochus I Soter ruled for 22 years?
- 📝 Do we know who the Italian is?
- 📝 What were the potential consequences of Israel's strike on the Osirak reactor?
- 📝 When did the practice of formal declaration of war start?
- 📝 How many troops died on D-day?
- 📝 Were the popes during the Avignon era still considered bishop of Rome?
- 📝 What were Greek and Roman sails made from?
- 📝 The monumental/architectural sculptures of Petra - has there been any research on the likely craftsmen who executed them?
- 📝 Why are the Portuguese so obsessed with salted codfish?
- 📝 Where did Carlson's Raiders get Boys anti-tank rifles in 1942 and why?
- 📝 Did one or both sides of the cold war plan to strategically attack the others' food production?
- 📝 What other war crimes trials, besides those of Nazi war criminals, were held after WWII?
- 📝 How advanced were the people of Indus valley civilization in engineering?
- 📝 Why require every ploughman to make his own plough?
- 📝 Unknown Symbol on an Atomic Bomb
- 📝 Why America waged war against Vietnam?
- 📝 In this cartoon from Puck, what indicates the identities of France and Britain?
- 📝 Roman Legion composition
- 📝 Why were there no internment camps for German-American citizens in USA during WW2?
- 📝 How and why did limerence come to be idolized as it is in modern Western society?
- 📝 What were the requirements in order for a man to become a burgher (or citizen) in German cities in the middle ages?
- 📝 What's the history of bus hijacking & burning during the Troubles?
- 📝 Was there a Japanese equivalent of the Gestapo during WW2
- 📝 I would like to identify the airplane in this photo
- 📝 What was the name of the father of Mesha, king of Moab?
- 📝 What were the rights and statuses of different types of Roman colonies?
- 📝 Did the turret shown in this picture belong to a German battleship?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why were slave armies used?
- 📝 Why were Navajo code talkers used during WW2?
- 📝 Why were slave owners even offered compensation via the 1837 Act if they'd lost the power in parliament to stop abolition in 1833?
- 📝 Why were balls used on the Medici coat of arms?
- 📝 Why were the Mongolian armies able to to use greater percentages of archers than (Medieval) Europeans?
- 📝 Were slave armies used?
- 📝 Were groups (or 'companies') of dogs used to attack enemy armies in medieval battles?
- 📝 Why were swords used in battle?
- 📝 Why were the ship names "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" used together?
- 📝 Where and why were capital letters first used in English headlines?
- 📝 Why were air rifles not used more in combat?
- 📝 Why were greatswords used in the Middle Ages given their downsides?
- 📝 Why were old fortifications shaped like stars and not like circles?
- 📝 Why were ships-of-the line not supposed to open fire on frigates during fleet actions?
- 📝 What drugs were used in England during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 Why Were Madagascar and New Zealand Discovered So Late?
- 📝 Why were the Romans unable to conquer Germania?
- 📝 Why were so many more Jewish men than Jewish women killed during the Holocaust?
- 📝 Was murdering a slave illegal in American slavery, and if so, what punishments were given for it?
- 📝 Why were there no internment camps for German-American citizens in USA during WW2?
- 📝 When were swords last used in European warfare?
- 📝 Why were Spain and Portugal neutral / not invaded in WWII?
- 📝 Why were there no nuclear detonations in 1959?
- 📝 Why were the Allies so much better cryptanalysts?
- 📝 Why were there no religious wars in Poland?
- 📝 Why were women targeted as witches?
- 📝 Why were helmets and other body armour not commonplace in the 1800s?
- 📝 ‘Avoid sleeping on your back’ & ‘breathe in toilet smells’ were seen as precautions against the Black Death. Why did doctors think these would work?
- 📝 Why did it take so long to abandon sail after steamships were demonstrated?
- 📝 Why were the West African islands uninhabited?