Pay for military services rendered was essentially nonexistent. Military duty was concieved of as a duty to the state which meant that warfare was part of a citizen's responsibilities. Prior to military salaries, soldiers obtained pay through their victories; they sacked cities and confiscated booty which came to be their reward for military service. Not until the early fifth-century B.C. did payments for military service become common. The Athenians initiated their pay system in a time of peace during the thirty-year truce between the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League .
Although their military payments were smaller than their nonmilitary funds, some soldiers who had no specialized skills in civilian fields found an adventurous and profitable lifestyle through mercenary work. The pay system initiated in Athens gave rise to a new aspect of military duties and the increased growth of professionalism in warfare. Mercenaries also began to play significant roles in battles over both domestic and international disputes, henceforth, leading to a growing theater of war in the Mediterranean states who were no longer bound by their own domestic limits but could now purchase international mercenaries.
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