An
Explanation
of
MilitarySlavery 83
old
lifestyle.
Cattlenomadswhocontinued
herding
mostoften
retainedtheiroldabilities;althoughtheirlocale
changed,
their
activitiesremainedthesame,sotheirdescendentsstayed
hardy
and
fought
well.The
unreliability
ofthesesoldiers
lay
notin
their
militaryaptitude
butintheir
political
unruliness.
Asvictorious
troops,
the
marginal
areasoldierswho
brought
a
dynasty
to
power
felt
privileged; they
and theirdescendents
placedgreat
demandson
therulerandconsideredthemselves
entitledtowhateverhe
gave
them.
Thesesoldiersconsideredthe
rulerintheirdebtandtoleratedhim
only
asanarbiter.
They
pressedhimforconcessions,
squabbledamong
themselves,and
obeyed
him
only
whenit
suitedthem.Inshort,therulercould
not
impose
hiswillonthembuthadto
toleratethemasaninde-
pendent
force.Withtime,however,therulerwouldfindtheir
attitudesand
power
intolerableashe
increasingly
tookonthere-
sponsibilitiesand
challenges
ofa
sovereign.Especially
whenthe
marginal
areasoldiersweretheruler’s
kinsmendid
theygrow
fatandclamor
loudly
for
privileges,
sohewasforcedto
sever
his
dependence
onthem:"Arulercanachieve
poweronly
with
the
help
ofhis
ownpeople
[Eventually,
however,]theruler
showshimself
independentofhis
people,
claimsallthe
glory
for
himself,and
pushes
his
peopleawayfrom
it
withthe
palms
(of
his hands). As aresult,his own
people
become, in
fact,
his
enemies.
’’63
Therefore,aboutthree
generations
afterthe
founding
ofa
dynasty,
someofthe
grandsons
ofwarriors
lapsedintocomfort-
ableindolence andothers made
unacceptable claims on the
ruler.Asthedescendentsof
marginal
areasoldiersbecameun-
reliable,
the
army
hadto
lessen
its
dependenceonthemandre-
place
themwithnew
troops.
Inorderto
prevent
them[his
people]
from
seizingpower,
andin
order
tokeepthem
away
from
participation
(in
power),
theruler
needsotherfriends,
not
of
hisownskin,whomhecanuseagainst
(his
own
people)
andwhowillbehisfriendsin
theirplace.These
(newfriends)becomeclosertohimthan
anyone
else.
n4
63.
Muq,
1:372.
64.Ibid.