Warfare is an integral part of society, affecting trade, the economy and the very makeup of it regarding class, religion and race. However, it also is a reflection of that society and era. Civilizations like the Ancient Greeks, Romans, medieval Europeans, South American natives, and Mongols shaped their individual styles of warfare by drawing upon societal elements like social classes, economics and lifestyles. At the same time, eras of nationalism coupled with technological, economic and political revolutions completely overhauled existed methods of war. One of the primary examples where societal values and changes to them affect warfare was Ancient Greek society. By the eighth century B.C., advancing practices in agriculture resulted in a Greek city polis, whose democratic political process awarded political, social and economic privileges to a growing farmer class. These …show more content…
Under the Roman Empire and into the early decades of medieval Europe, the size of an army depended upon the size of the aristocratic class and the cost of cavalry units. Cavalry units were expensive in their need for supplies, armour, riding equipment in addition to weapons and weaponry training. The introduction of simpler and cheaper weapons like the pick axe and the bow and arrow in the middle to late medieval European era, armies could depend on these weapons to fight and therefore the growing “middle class” that could afford these weapons. Hundreds of socially inferior soldiers easily fell noble officers without the years of training cavalry previously required. Without a financial restraint on warfare that cavalry instigated, the number of possible employed soldiers was unrestricted. Victory now depended on the quantity of soldiers rather than the quality. Mercenaries were replaced as local populations were cheaper, easier and often more loyal to employ in armies. The size of the army was dramatically