MILITARY SYSTEMS. 487 



ancient Mexicans, wlio had respectively several grades; and 

 as also among the ancient Hebrews. 



520. One further general change has to be noticed the 

 change from a state in which the army now assembles and 

 now disperses, as required, to a state in which it becomes 

 permanently established. 



While, as among savages, the male adults are all warriors, 

 the fighting body, existing in its combined form only during 

 war, becomes during peace a dispersed body carrying on in 

 parties or separately, hunting and other occupations; and 

 similarly, as we have seen, during early stages of settled life 

 the armed freemen, owning land jointly or separately, all 

 having to serve as soldiers when called on, return to their 

 farming when war is over : there is no standing army. But 

 though after the compounding of small societies into larger 

 ones by war, and the rise of a central power, a kindred system 

 long continues, there come the beginnings of another system. 

 Of course, irrespective of form of goverment, frequent wars 

 generate permanent military forces; as they did in early 

 times among the Spartans ; as later among the Athenians ; 

 and as among the Eomans, when extension of territory 

 brought frequent needs for repressing rebellions. Eecognizing 

 these cases, we may pass to the more usual cases, in which 

 a permanent military force originates from the body of armed 

 attendants surrounding the ruler. Early stages show us 

 this nucleus. In Tahiti the king or chief had warriors 

 among his attendants ; and the king of Ashantee has a body 

 guard clad in skins of wild beasts leopards, panthers, &c. 

 As was pointed out when tracing the process of political 

 differentiation, there tend everywhere to gather round a pre 

 dominant chieftain, refugees and others who exchange armed 

 service for support and protection ; and so enable the pre 

 dominant chieftain to become more predominant. Hence the 

 comites attached to the princeps in the early German com 

 munity, the huscarlas or housecarls surrounding old English 



