Glossary · Term
Mercenary
A mercenary is a soldier who fights for pay in the service of a foreign power. Many empires relied on mercenaries, including the Achaemenid, Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires and above all Carthage, whose army was largely made up of hired troops. Dependence on mercenaries could bring loyalty problems, as in the Punic Empire's Mercenary War.
Mentioned in 44 profiles
Achaemenid EmpireDeclineAlmohad CaliphateMilitaryAlmoravid EmpireMilitaryAztec EmpireFoundationBrazilian EmpireMilitaryByzantine EmpireMilitaryKhazar KhaganateMilitaryKongo EmpireMilitaryPolish-Lithuanian CommonwealthMilitaryPortuguese EmpireMilitaryPtolemaic EmpireMilitaryPunic EmpireFoundation, Military, DeclineSeleucid EmpireSocioeconomy, MilitaryRepublic of HondurasMilitary, SummaryKnossosSocioeconomyDelphiMilitaryByzantiumGovernanceCeltiberiansMilitary, SummaryOdrysian KingdomMilitaryBosporan KingdomMilitaryRhodesMilitaryAntigonid Kingdom of MacedoniaMilitaryAchaean LeagueMilitaryPapal StatesMilitaryCounty of ToulouseMilitaryDuchy of LorraineMilitaryRepublic of GenoaMilitaryPrincipality of AchaeaMilitary, GovernanceCanton of ZürichMilitaryState of the Teutonic OrderMilitary, DeclineOld Swiss ConfederacySocioeconomy, Military, Impact, SummaryKingdom of Hungary (1301-1526)MilitaryDuchy of MilanSocioeconomySwiss ConfederationMilitaryUnited Kingdom of IsraelMilitaryKingdom of PontusMilitaryAlansMilitaryBuyid dynastyFoundationSultanate of RumMilitaryEmpire of TrebizondMilitaryUdaipur StateMilitaryJohor SultanateMilitaryHyderabad StateMilitarySultanate of ZanzibarMilitary
Mentioned in 56 state histories
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Mercenary. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mercenary
- MLA
- “Mercenary.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mercenary. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Mercenary.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mercenary.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Mercenary’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mercenary (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻