Heroes

What many people don’t understand about wars in the ancient times is that when a soldier killed a civilian abroad, there was not always a state that could call this an act of war and answer with a retaliation of an army, as it would be the case in modern times. There weren’t even independent bodies of news reports available to rely on regarding the standing of international affairs. And in general, human life was worth the strength of their arm or the cunning of their intellect.
If an army big or small was knocking on your door you would often be faced with the option of cooperation or death.
In circumstances like this, it was not unheard of that armies would grow in power while advancing trough enemy lands, by assimilating the strongest of the population to their ranks, or by luring the neighbors into join forces with the promise of an easy victory and subsequent looting.
The loyalty of soldiers was of a very volatile nature, where the mercenaries of yesterday would gladly put down their arms, or even join forces with the opposing force if the outcome of a battle was looking dire.
War itself was waged on a personal level where the charisma of the leader could be of more importance than the actual tactical skills or the resources available to the state.
On rare occasions leaders would rise from the ranks, who had the ability to rally their troops for their cause on a long term basis, and secure a force that was willing to sacrifice their lives for them. They would than advance through distant lands, and build an ever increasing army on the basis of this core.
While industrial age wars are decided by the productivity and technological advancement of a state, and military structure of their armed corps, where the individual soldier is a mere instrument of death without the freedom of choice to choose sides on a day to day basis, the soldiers of the antic were adventurers living a form of life that was from a broader perspective just as complete as that of a merchant or a farmer.
In many cases the funding of even the greatest armies of their times were dependent on occasional looting, ransom, bribes and gold from the enemies of the enemy. The states of Carthage, Greece, Rome and so on... were themselves afraid of their military, and with good reason. The military coup was a quite established way of coming to power. Governments, as far as they even existed wanted to maximize the security provided by their military, but minimize the power of their elected leaders to prevent the risk of being overthrown by them.
Only by counting in this factor of a lack of nationalism, and the not so absolute support of the homeland, can we understand the unbelievable achievements, and the almost inevitable sudden falls of the few great personalities of the distant past.