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thread moved to Roman Military History & Archaeology
gr,
Jeroen Pelgrom
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I don't know anything in great detail but I do know that the Egyptian armies of the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms included conscripts.
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"Medicus" Matt Bunker
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Hey, good stuff, Matt! Strictly speaking, the question is probably unanswerable, since it could very well have happened in pre-historic times (before writing, that is) so the details are completely unknown. Presumably you'd settle for the earliest *known* draft? Egypt may be a good bet for that, though something in Sumeria or thereabouts might win. In any case, you're not likely to be able to find all the details you want--historical sources just aren't that perfect, unfortunately.
By the way, to most of us, "draft" assumes "involuntary", though certainly some conscripts would have been more willing than others. And would this count a simple system of men of any particular status being required to serve under specified conditions? Because laws like that were very common all through ancient times, and were not always considered "conscription".
But I think you can count the Romans out as "first" or "earliest known" by a couple thousand years!
Good luck and Vale,
Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
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Well analysed, Jesper.
The Romans may have had the first professional standing army, though.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Quote:The Romans may have had the first professional standing army, though.
No, I think even there you may be able to go back to Egypt or Sumer, though I don't recall the specifics. Egypt's army was definitely well organized and even had units very similar in basic size to legions, but I don't know how many of these units--or in what historical period--might have been considered permanent or professional. They did use Sherdana mercenaries as professionals, though. There was clearly some sort of permanent military organization in places like Mycenaean Greece, but it would take a little analysis to determine if that was "professional" rather than a more feudal system, and that would end up bantering semantics, I expect! Hittites and Assyrians are also good possibilities, I just don't know them well enough. Macedonians spring to mind, of course, but they actual date later than a lot of Roman military history!
Of course, an army can be professional and full-time without actually being permanent, and vice-versa. You can have a permanent army of professional conscripts, or part-time conscripts--the organization could be considered permanent even if the troops only serve short terms, I guess. Okay, I'm into hair-splitting...
Valete,
Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
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