AnExplanationofMilitarySlavery 81
largelydisappeared
fromthearmiesofthe
government.
It
was
notuntilmoderntimes,1238/1823,
when
Mu.hammad
CAlcon-
scriptedEgyptian
peasants,
that
theyagain
reenteredthe
army.
Mu.hammad
cAli
undertook
thisnovelmeasure
partly
because
hisNubianrecruitsdiedoff;but,more
importantly,
hehadseen
thesuccesstheFrenchhadwith
anational
army.
Recruitment
While
steppe,
desert,andmountain
soldiers
provided
asource
of
greatpower,they
hadtheirownparticular
drawbacks.How-
ever
mightilytheybegan,theyrapidly
becameunreliable
after
conquering
a
government
area,ineitheroftwo
ways:
someset-
tleddownandlosttheirmartialstrength;
othersretainedthat
strength
butbecameunruly.
Ineither
case,they
becameunde-
pendable
and had
tobe
replaced
withfreshsoldiers.
Marginal
areamen
could,
ofcourse,deteriorateandbecome
unruly
si-
multaneously,
butforthe
sakeof
clarity,
I shall
analyze
these
processesseparately.
The
strikingcontrast
betweenthewarriorsofone
generation
andtheir effete
grandsons
has
provoked
much
speculation.
Though
the
rapiddegeneration
of
marginal
area
soldiersisa
conspicuouspattern,
itscausesremainvague.Originally,
cour-
age
andhardiness
characterizedthe
marginal
areasoldier;these
were
notinnate
qualities
butwere
acquiredbyliving
inaharsh
environment,which helefton
entering
a
polity.
The milieu
whichhad
forged
those
qualities
wasnecessarytomaintaining
themtoo.Oncetheyundertook
thesofterlifeasrulers,
marginal
areasoldiers
began
tolosethe
veryqualities
whichhad
brought
them
military
success."Whenever
people
settleinfertileplains
andamassluxuriesandbecomeaccustomedto
alifeofabun-
dance and
luxury,
their
bravery
decreasesto the
degree
that
theirwildnessanddeserthabitsdecrease.
’’6
Asanewworldofamusements,affluence,
andculture
opened
60.
Muq,
1:282.John
ofSalisbury(d.1180)put
itasfollows:"Ifinwarmen’s
bodiesarewoundedwithswords,inpeacetheyare
nolesswoundedwith
plea-
sures."TheStatesman’sBook,
translatedandselected
by
J.
Dickinson(NewYork,
1963),p.
14.