MILITARY SYSTEMS. 481 



of the tribe is completely set aside, and the soldiers are wholly under 

 the command of the agyd. . . . The office of agyd is hereditary in a 

 certain family, from father to son ; and the Arabs submit to the com 

 mands of an agyd, whom they know to be deficient both in bravery and 

 judgment, rather than yield to the orders of their sheikh during the 

 actual expedition ; for they say that expeditions headed by the sheikh, 

 are always unsuccessful.&quot; 



It should be added that in some cases we see coming into 

 play further motives. Forster tells us that in Tahiti the 

 king sometimes resigns the post of commander-in-chief of 

 the fighting force, to one of his chiefs : conscious either of his 

 own unfitness or desirous of avoiding danger. And then in 

 some cases the anxiety of subjects to escape the evils follow 

 ing loss of the political head, leads to this separation ; as 

 when, among the Hebrews, &quot; the men of David sware unto 

 him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, 

 that thou quench not the light of Israel ; &quot; or as when, in 

 France in 923, the king was besought by the ecclesiastics 

 and nobles who surrounded him, to take no part in the im 

 pending fight. 



At the same time the ruler, conscious that military com 

 mand gives great power to its holder, frequently appoints as 

 army-leader his son or other near relative : thus trying to 

 prevent the usurpation so apt to occur (as, to add another 

 instance, it occurred among the Hebrews, whose throne was 

 several times seized by captains of the host). The Iliad shows 

 that it was usual for a Greek king to delegate to his heir 

 the duty of commanding his troops. In Merovingian times 

 kings sons frequently led their fathers armies ; and of the 

 Carolingians we read that while the king commanded the 

 main levy, &quot; over other armies his sons were placed, and to 

 them the business of commanding was afterwards increas 

 ingly transferred.&quot; It was thus in ancient Japan. When the 

 emperor did not himself command his troops, &quot; this cha/ge 

 was only committed to members of the Imperial house,&quot; 

 and &quot; the power thus remained with the sovereign.&quot; In 

 ancient Peru there was a like alternative. &quot; The army was 



