34 TheIslamicateContext
clothing.
Theretainersdressedassoldiersstrolledfarfromthe
armsdepots,
relaxed
in
themanneroffree
men;
thesoldiers
dressedasretainers
stayed
nearthe
arms,going
abouttheirusual
tasks.
Seeing
this,the
enemy
imitatedits
opponents;
thesoldiersre-
laxedandstrollednonchalantlyoutsidethecamp
whiletheretain-
erssettoworkatthecorv6e.Atthis
point
the
signal
went
up;Iphic-
rates’soldiers
rapidly
tookto
arms,
rantothe
enemycamp,
and,as
theretainersthereran
away
andthesoldiers
sought
their
weapons,
they
killedsomeand
captured
others.
49
Inemergencies,thegovernment
oftenlookedtothelast
pool
of
manpower:
slaves.
Althoughignored through
the calmer
stages
ofwarfare,slavescouldfindthemselvesenrolledinthe
army overnight
when a crisis struck. In mass-slaveholding
societies,thismeasurecouldimmediatelyproduce
thousandsof
newsoldiers--forexample,
inancient Greeceand Rome, in
Brazil,Peru,theBritishWestIndies,andeveninthe
American
Confederacy.
5
These
emergencytroops
costboth
government
andslaveowners
heavily,
andtheirallegiances
were
probably
less
firm
thanthoseofslaveswho
foughtalongside
theirmasters,so
thismeasurewas
usually
reservedforextremesituations.Even
then,
theseslaves
usuallyfoughtdiligently
forthesamereasons
ofself-interestasothersdid.
’51
Finally,
lestI
give
the
impression
thatslaveswere
always
belli-
cose,
letmementionaslavewho
may
haveavertedabattle.The
story
hasitthattheArabians
peacefullyconquered
thecastle
of
Shuhriyfij
aroundthe
year
19/640thankstotheeffortsof
one
oftheirslaves.A
participant
recounts:
Wehad
besiegedShuhriyfij
foratleastamonthandthoughtwe
werenear
victory.
Oneday,afteranattack,wereturnedtoour
49.
Polyaenus,Strategematum
libri
octo,
iii.
9.52.
- Greece:
Sargent,pp.208-11;Garlan,pp.44,45,
48.Rome:
Ktihne,pp.
189,193,204;Westermann,
p.
61;Rouland,
pp.
46-47;
Treggiari,p.
68.Brazil:
A.G.B.andH.
J.
Fisher,
Slavery
andMuslim
Society
in
Africa
(Garden
City,
N.Y.,
1971),p.
160.Peru:
Bowser,p.309.Venezuela:Lombardi,p.37.BritishWest
Indies:
Buckley,pp.
43-53,
explains
howthis
possibility successfullyop-
posed;
Handler,
pp.
110-11.U.S.:CW,
pp.
280-81.
- Westermann,
p.
61.